2 Units
Original Form:
For my building form I began with the twisting simple triangle mass and I adjusted the parameters to be interrelated such that changing one parameter would change multiple. The variables I changed in my dynamo graph were the mid-height and the base rotation to result in varying floor areas, surface areas and volumes.
I loaded in the shape from Revit and inputted various combinations height and degree values into the EvaluateTowerFormCreatedinRevit custom node. Inside that custom node, I call on the two custom nodes I created for this assignment.
After the inputs have adjusted the Revit form, I first utilized the given BuildingForm.MassFloors and BuildingForm.EstimateCostByFloorLevel custom nodes to use in my custom nodes and provide further information about each model. Inside the BuildingForm.EstimateCostByFloorLevel, I adjusted the floor cost starting and ending values to linearly interpolate between 700 and 1500 per the brief.
The first custom node I wrote is a yearly rent revenue calculator which would be helpful for a real estate agent on this project, While the above function calculates the construction cost, I wanted to calculate the revenue from rentable floor area in the building. To do so, I assumed that the building would be divided in three different rent categories. Upon doing research about monthly rent/SF the values in San Francisco are around $5/SF although these values can be adjusted for accuracy. The first 30 floors are set to $3/SF, the next 30 floors as $4/SF and the remaining 15 as the luxurious at $6/SF. These values as well as each floor’s areas and total building cost were input into my custom node.
Custom Node Overview:
The custom node first takes in the inputs for the three rent values and creates a list of the rent for every floor using the List.OfRepeatedItem Node.
Then, the yearly rent is calculated my multiplying the floor areas to the rental value. It is multiplied by 12 to calculate the yearly value and then output.
The second custom node I wrote would assist a structural engineer compare buildings using a seismic mass calculator. This custom node takes in the weight of the curtain wall and floor dead load and with the surface area and total floor area, calculates the total dead weight of the building in kips. For a structural engineer, reducing seismic mass would mean a reduction in inertial earthquake forces leading to a cheaper seismic design and better performing building.
After running combinations of changing mid-height and base rotation, I exported the results to excel and color coded the construction cost, yearly revenue, and seismic mass with green being more favorable and red as least. The construction cost and seismic mass had similar trends, however the results were the opposite of the yearly revenue. Revenue focuses on maximizing floor area while the other two hope to reduce it. This analysis can help a contractor, real estate and structural engineer see the pros and cons between different designs and assist in making the best decision for all of them.
An example of a design option that would least impact each of the trades and meet the floor area requirement would be with an angle of 15 degrees and a mid-height of 300. Final form:
