Which types of structural framing systems and materials are most commonly used in the US for residences? For office buildings?
What factors determine why these are the most used materials?
Why do different teams of designers and subcontractors link and share their models during the design process?
What are the advantages of linking models?
Are there any disadvantages to linking models?
How do you think design coordination was done before we started using digital models?
Before a digital model, coordination must have meant drawing over the other person’s 2D, paper model. This makes it really hard to change, and especially hard to link/re-upload (and they’re probably not giving you their most perfect up-to-date model they’ve drawn, because you’re going to draw all over it). Digital coordination allows for linking, which makes it very easy to add your model right onto theirs—and be able to adapt quickly to any changes they make. You get to see the entire model in a way that perfectly sets up your additions to it, whereas before digital models, you were probably getting a blank drawing that you would have to fill in.
What strategies can design teams use to find and avoid clashes prior to the start of construction?
Constant communication between the two firms, and also having a clear communication channel that all workers can effectively use. It may be helpful to have certain workers of one team meet another (or zoom/call/email/etc), rather than always having the inter-team communication be through the leadership. It’s helpful to have larger project-level goals discussed by the leadership, but minor discussions about specific design/structural choices will have a quicker turnaround and be more effective if done by the workers directly.
At what point in the project development process should design coordination start?
It won’t be needed in the very earliest stages of the process, while the architect is working on the conceptual model. Once the architect has been able to visualize the conceptual model, and has begun to play around with how it roughly looks, then there should be confirmation with a structural team that this idea will generally work (or broad suggestions to make the broad model more viable). As the architectural team gets close to finalizing the model, down to walls/floors, full design coordination with the structural team should begin, with the structural team starting from the areas that are least likely to change down the final stretch.