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?
It is important to accurately model the land features of your project for structural soundness. If it is not possible to flatten ground in certain areas or create necessary work arounds for the existing terrain, there is no point in building out the model at all. Aspects of the building like the foundation and the stability of the building depend on how it is constructed in the terrain.
When designing a project...
- Should the building adapt to the terrain?
- Or, should you adapt the terrain to the building?
The building should adapt to the terrain, for the most part. It is easier to create a building that adapts to the terrain than it is to alter the terrain in real life. Obviously, parts of the terrain will need to be excavated to flatten it, for example, but it is better to design a building around what already exists.
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?
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?
It could be worthwhile to create a new custom component in Revit when a client has very specific requests about the furniture or finishing they would like to see. A lot of the components in lack materiality, and if that is the only change, then customization may be worthwhile. If, however, there are more specific asks of components, it may be worthwhile to create a custom one.