What are the primary goals of creating a building model? Who are the key stakeholders?
- The key stakeholders include the architects who are getting paid to design the space properly, the engineers who need to verify the structural soundness of the design, the contractors who actually build the design, and the people who end up using the final product
- These stakeholders care the most about the safety and structural integrity of the design, the cost of the materials that will be used to build it, compliance with regulatory bodies, feasibility of implementing the design, the energy efficiency of the building itself, and many other things.
How much detail should you include in your building model? How do you decide?
- As you develop your design, the model should contain very low amounts of detail. This is because at this point, you are figuring out the general spatial structure of the building and there may be things that need to be changed. Too much complexity can make this difficult at this stage.
- As you continue to iterate the design, you can think more about the detail of the more basic components, like the wall type, floor types, etc. Here, a medium level of detail is useful. Then, as you iterate, you can slowly increase the level of detail used.
- The key stages include drafting out your design in a concept design, working through the design development, adding in the specific construction level detail, and finally, the last stage is the highest level of detail and should look as built.
- The concept design stage will be the lowest level of detail, including a simple mapping out of the building, the design development phase should include the electrical, plumbing, and other mechanical systems, the construction documentation phase should add the fabrication and specific material choice details, and the final product should include all features of the final facility as it should be built.
What are the advantages of getting the Revit component families (for furniture, equipment, and fittings) directly from the manufacturer versus from an online sharing website like RevitCity.com?
There are many advantages to doing this. First, the accuracy of the design is very high since it is coming from an actual manufacturer and therefore matches the actual dimensions and specifications of a real manufacturer product. The model will also likely be kept up to date since manufacturers update this type of information and keep it relevant to a modern design. Additionally, the manufacturer might list additional info on either the website, or along with the file, to include specifications about things like energy efficiency, load or weight tolerance, etc. Finally, these products are compliant with regulatory agencies and will ensure the adherence to standards and policies, which could be different from finding a product on an online sharing website.