- Original Design
In this design task, I set two parameters: top height and top rotation. The original design has a top height of 700' and a top rotation of 120°, with a gross floor area of 1437542 SF.
- Recommended Design
To refine the design, I analyzed the estimated construction cost and views from the building. For cost analysis, I calculated the value for each floor level based on floor area and a coefficient increasing with floor height. For views, I defined a view index as the ratio of unblocked lines to all examined lines.
- Analyzing results
Based on these analyses, I recommend a design with a top height of 670' and a top rotation of 90°. I prioritized View Index over Cost since the tower is a landmark and requires attractive views to attract visitors. I sorted all components based on View Index and ranked design options with the same index according to their cost, from low to high.
Interestingly, the higher-ranked options have a top rotation of 90°, indicating that this angle effectively avoids view obstructions. Additionally, the height of the building significantly influences the construction cost, so a lower height is preferable to reduce costs.
- Dynamo Graphs
The custom node I developed serves the purpose of iterating the examination for each set of parameters. It consists of three main parts: updating a Revit model with input parameters, obtaining general information of each design option, and measuring two new metrics.
The first part focuses on updating the Revit model using the input parameters. This likely involves adjusting the top height and top rotation values to generate different design options.
The second part is responsible for retrieving general information about each design option. This includes obtaining data such as the gross floor area, surface area, and volume of the building. These metrics provide a comprehensive understanding of the design options.
Additionally, I have custom nodes dedicated to calculating the construction cost based on the floor height. These custom nodes likely break down the cost calculation into smaller steps or formulas to determine the cost contribution of each floor.
Finally, there are custom nodes for calculating the view index, which is a measure of the unobstructed views from the building. These nodes likely involve analyzing the lines of sight and determining which ones are blocked and which ones are not, ultimately resulting in the calculation of the view index for each design option.
