Multiframe has now been in use for over 15 years and has thousands of users worldwide. However few of those users can claim to have used the software for as long as independent consultant Duncan Bray. He was one of the first 10 or so users of the program and from its humble early days, with a 2D only version running on a Mac Plus, Multiframe has formed one of the cornerstones of Duncan's structural design work.

His specialization is in the area of large and unusual luxury housing structures, many of which can be seen along the coastal beaches of Sydney, Australia. His design projects tend to be one-off problems that require an individual solution. On occasion he also works on industrial projects such as a series of 40m span trusses for an industrial redevelopment in Botany Bay.

One of his more unusual projects involved the structural assessment of a sculpture in Newcastle, NSW. The sculpture, pictured below, is part of the Convict Lumber Yards - a highly significant heritage site for the city of Newcastle. The Yards site is nationally recognized as the earliest surviving example of a convict industrial site. Sites like this formed the basis of industrial expansion after the European settlement of Australia in the late 1700's and early 1800's. After a number of research and planning projects, including archaeological investigations in 1987, 1989 and 1992, the sculpture was commissioned as a visual representation of the overall structure of the origial buildings.

For Duncan Bray, the project represented an interesting structural design problem, with a highly flexible and geometrically complex frame, and a supporting structure that was embedded below ground in the form of steel retaining walls. The location is frequently subject to significant wind gusts and with a span of 30m and the unusual cranked connections in the roof framing, a detailed 3D analysis was essential. Duncan also made use of Section Maker to determine properties for the custom fabricated triangular plate sections used in the structure. The final result was a geometrically interesting structure fabricated in high strength steel that will be a lasting part of the Newcastle streetscape.