Our experimental space. Where we build tools, explore ideas, and share what we're learning — from accessibility tools embedded in design software to books that introduce architecture to kids.
Labs has no client brief. Curiosity is the only requirement.
Labs is the part of Riddell Haus where we build things that don't have a client yet — tools, ideas, experiments that might become something.
Some of it is useful immediately. Some of it is research. All of it feeds back into the design and technology work.
RH Labs is our experimental space — where we explore ideas that don't fit neatly into client work but are too interesting to ignore.
Some projects start as a problem we kept seeing in our own work: a repetitive accessibility task that should be automated, a concept that deserved to be explained better. Others start from pure curiosity: what would it look like to introduce architecture to children through a book and an interactive app? What does good braille signage actually require, and why doesn't Revit make it easier?
Labs is where those questions get taken seriously. We build prototypes, publish what we learn, and share the tools when they're ready. It's also where we develop things that might eventually become commercial products — house plan libraries, educational tools, open-source scripts.
The through-line is the same methodology that runs through everything we do: listen, understand the system, build something real, refine it until it works.
A cross-section of active experiments and finished tools — spanning accessibility, education, and computational design.
Braille signage is a legal and accessibility requirement in most buildings — but generating accurate braille within an architectural model is tedious, error-prone, and completely manual. This tool changes that.
Built inside Revit using Dynamo and Python, the Braille Generator automates the creation of accurate braille text from any input string — placing the correct braille cell geometry directly within the model, at the right size and spacing, wherever the designer needs it.
The goal is to bring accessibility into the design workflow itself, rather than treating it as an afterthought handled in specification documents.
An extension of the braille work — exploring how tactile mapping and wayfinding can be integrated into architectural design documentation. Most accessible signage is added late in a project and disconnected from the model. This research explores what it would look like to design it in from the start.
A children's book that introduces architectural thinking to young readers — not through dry definitions, but through exploration, curiosity, and imagination. The premise: children are already architects. They build forts, rearrange their rooms, imagine what spaces could be. Tiny Architects gives that instinct a name and a language.
Alongside the book, we're building a companion web application that brings the concepts to life interactively — letting kids explore basic spatial design ideas through a simple, tactile digital environment.
A practical guide to Python scripting written specifically for architects and designers — not computer scientists. Most programming resources assume you want to build apps. This one assumes you want to automate Revit, process geometry, or wrangle data in ways your software wasn't designed to do out of the box.
The guide is built around real AEC workflows: level generation, parameter management, sheet automation, data extraction. Every example is something you'd actually want to do.
Labs is fueled by curiosity — ours and other people's. If you have a problem worth exploring or a project that fits the spirit of what we do here, reach out.