The recent housing shortage in Ireland has been widely acknowledged with the pinch being particularly felt in Dublin. The simple laws of supply and demand are fuelling price rises with the cost of residential property at an eight-year high, up 87% since 2013 in Dublin. In response to this demand, house building has increased by 30% since 2016 with 5,626 new homes being built last year. Social housing is also in dire shortage and this is only made worse by the fact that three quarters of Dublin’s 10,000 flats are more than 50 years old and require significant regeneration. Such is the state of the social housing stock it has been suggested it would be more efficient to knock everything down and rebuild rather than renovate. There is a similar, albeit slightly calmer, situation with regards to commercial property. There is currently over 500,000m² of property being built in Dublin with the same amount of space available for development. Commercial property rent rates rose by 4.6% in Dublin in 2017 with an average of €646 per square meter. With so many different opportunities, engineers have been looking for a single software solution that will be suitable for a block of flats, a commercial development or a major infrastructure project. SCIA Engineer is rightly famous for the iconic structures that feature in the bi-annual User Contest but the multi-material modelling software is also flexible enough to use on any scale of project. Some new users are concerned that SCIA is a complicated “large” analysis package but the modelling interface is intuitive, allowing designers to produce simple as well as complex structures quickly and accurately.   New users who have worked in either modelling or design will feel a sense of familiarity when using many of SCIA’s commands and tools. “We have worked on a number of Georgian and Victorian building refurbishments where the client has taken down an old extension to replace it with a new open plan frame structure. SCIA Engineer has been simple to use and provides clear documentation and reports.” - David Seaver, Torque Consulting Engineers, Dublin Using a single solution across all projects means users can benefit from having a single template for modelling, analysis and design which can be used, to Eurocodes, for concrete, steel, composite, timber, glass and even cold formed steel. The IFC/Revit bi-directional compatibility means that SCIA Engineer is ideally positioned to fit into BIM processes and the outstanding reports and documentation can be tailored to set templates for consistency. The latest addition is a post-processing add-on for footfall analysis which, along with the 3D wind load generator, dynamics, stability and non-linear analysis, make SCIA Engineer a ‘one-stop-shop’ for larger commercial structures. CADS’ Field Support team provides outstanding help to ensure users can get on board quickly and make the most of the software. “I bought SCIA Engineer in November and with the flexible expert help from the Field Support Team I quickly got to grips with the software.  I am very impressed with SCIA’s speed and flexibility, particularity while working on a 7 storey insitu concrete frame.” Paul Cuddy, PCA, Roscommon Whatever the size of the project, no matter how simple or complex, SCIA Engineer is an unbeatable solution. Anyone interested can find out more by calling the CADS team 0044 1202 603031 to arrange a demonstration or an unlimited access 30 day free trial.