Module 3 - Points to Ponder

Why is it important to accurately model the land features of your project site with a toposurface?

• What aspects of a building design are most affected by the terrain features?

When designing a project...

• Should the building adapt to the terrain?
• Since it is a retail store of quite some size, I didn’t think it was necessary to adjust to the topography, and rather I built it on a flat base because this store would be a large investment, and I believe I would generate a lot of revenue, as it is kind of like an eataly with shopping for clothes.
• Or, should you adapt the terrain to the building?
• If I were on a hill, I would make it level to allow this building to be put in place. Its sheer size would be a challenge to fit, but ultimately will be a very popular attraction for the customers, making it a place for not only lunch, but also dinner, generating revenue for the restaurant business that is put in there.

What considerations affect a project team's decision-making when deciding the floor-to-floor height to use in a multi-story building?

• From a real estate developer's perspective?
• From a designer's perspective?
• From an engineer's perspective?
• From a builder's perspective?
• From an owner's perspective?

What are the advantages of stacking the levels of a multi-story building vertically?

• Can you share an interesting example of a building that doesn’t vertically stack (where the floor plates change their shaped radically between the floor levels)?
• What were the advantages or reasons for non-vertical stacking?

Why do stairs follow specific proportions with a set relationship between the tread length and riser height?

• How can building modeling help prevent the mistakes that often occur when designing and installing stairs?
• Modeling could ensure for the contractors and engineers and construction workers that the stairs do indeed work and the size and stability of the stairs will never be a problem. In my case, my structure has a lot of support, thus the size of the stairs will not be a problem.

Describe a case when it would be worthwhile to create a new custom component in Revit… How do you decide when customize versus using readily available components?

I think in my case, in further review I could adjust the components to fit my store, because it is so unique. I think it depends on how complex the layout is of the model, while a simple model could use the readily available components, my model would require specific measurements to ensure the full satisfaction of the customer.