Instructions

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

• In general, it allows the designer and engineer to account for all land flaws if the land has been correctly surveyed. Building a home on a hill requires more work before the actual build can start (undeveloped land vs. developed land)

When designing a project...

• Yes and no. If it is easy to adapt the terrain to the building, then that might be the best choice. However, there might be times this is a little harder. My parents live in FL, so there are swamps, unique water tables, sink holes, and hurricanes to plan around. You can’t adapt a hurricane to the house, you have to adapt the house to the hurricane by putting it on stilts if your house is built in certain flood-prone areas. We try to adapt the land to prevent catastrophic failures, but the New Orleans levies and Oroville dam failures show that the most expensive planned projects can still fail. If you live in tornado or hurricane alley, there are certain things you will have in that house that you wouldn't here in CA. Similarly, a house on a mountain side in CA is going to have extra mudslide considerations that a house in Nebraska wouldn’t have. On the flip side, an example of needing to adapt the land to your house is if you live in a heavily wooded area (clearing underbrush, etc. to reduce fire risk).

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

• Designers usually aim for something more robust that is equally creative and aesthetically pleasing (because that’s just how we are). This is similar to the engineer’s decision making, but they will be taking it a step further by assessing structural stability, longevity, etc. They also care about what the owners are looking for, so it’s about maximizing utility and their non-negotiables, but still adding to it in a way that produces the best outcome for the client.
• From the builder’s perspective, I imagine the biggest thing is not wanting to deal with something that is overly complicated with high risk (speaking from the perspective of being a mechanic in the past, none of us wanted the insanely difficult, tedious, and long jobs…especially if there was a risk things could break, which often resulted in millions of dollars when dealing with aircraft. No one wants that burden). This is especially true as for jobs that require more risk. Taller buildings require additional equipment and safety precautions. Sometimes, ensuring those safety precautions take more time than anyone hopes, so I can reasonably see some companies turning away from some projects if everything doesn’t align.
• From the owner’s perspective, I think it’s mostly about what is the easiest and cheapest to maintain over a long period of time. What maximizes the space and utility while reducing cost and excessive fees?
• From a real estate developer’s POV, usually things like county ordinances and permits come into play a bit more (for engineers as well since they have to sign off on contractor plans, etc.). I think they also want to be able to sell something at the end of the day, so if it is extremely unique or excessive, it might be really hard for them to sell.

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

• Cylinders? Technically you can still stack things like this, but they would be secured in place. I might not understand what this question is getting at, because I’m not sure I’ve really heard of a time you can’t add another story to a building, with the exception of permit zones and other random laws. You can’t add as much space in an additional story in an A-frame as you can a square, but you can still add another level.
• You can stack things in a staggered way, which can add more support if done right (especially in areas that are prone to more forces of nature).
• The advantage of adding vertical levels is you can potentially double your square footage and space without having to build outwards. So, if you have a half acre property and you want 5 bedrooms/4.5 bathrooms, it’s better to build up if you also want a big back yard.

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

• The reason I modeled my loft bed was to get the exact measurements for lumber I needed to reduce mistakes (I still mixed some up, but it was easy to recover).

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 made a “component” (not really a component, but got the job done) when I couldn’t find a window shaped the way I want it. In reality, that kind of window wouldn’t be practical and it would be insanely expensive. In general, it’s worth making a component if you really need to see how that component functions in your design and it’s not available. For example, I designed and built my own king lofted bed last summer to increase the space in my room on campus. Since all of the designs are made for twin beds (you might find a full size plan), it was really important that I model everything with exact measurements AND model my room layout to see HOW I was going to fit it, and where (especially with the weird angles and the fact Munger has absolutely no studs we can use to anchor anything to). So, if it is critical to your design and moving forward, it’s worth making the component if you can’t find it.