What are the primary goals of creating a building model? Who are the key stakeholders?
The primary goals of creating a building model are to store, track, and report all building information. Building models provide a digital representation of real-world building components, which can then be used by engineers, architects, contractors, etc. to plan, design, and build projects.
Key stakeholders in a building model include the building owner/client, engineers (structural, civil, MEP, etc.), architects, and contractors.
◦ What does each of them need from the model?
Building owners: building schedules, MEP equipment locations, floor plans, use the model to help them operate and maintain the building
Engineers: Visualization of how structural, mechanical, plumbing, lighting systems/equipment fit within the building. Engineers use the model to help them design MEP systems in the building and help support documentation of building systems for future retrofits/renovations.
Architects: Architectures need models to help them communicate how the building looks and functions to other key stakeholders as it gets designed. Architects use the building model to document room dimensions, finishes, design intent, and various building components which is used in collaboration with information provided by the engineers when designing a building.
Contractors: Contractors use the information from the model to help build/construct the actual building, according to the specifications and requirements outlined by the other key stakeholders (i.e. room dimensions, finishes, etc.)
◦ What do they care about most, and where do those priorities conflict?
Different stakeholders care about different things. For example, an architect may care more about how the building looks visually, while an engineer may focus more on the best way to make the building structurally stable and energy efficient. Contractors may care more about whether the materials for a building are convenient to obtain and staying on schedule while building owners/clients may care more about the overall costs of the project and long-term performance/value of the project.
These priorities can conflict during the design/modelling stage of a project when most of the key decisions regarding the building design are being made. Often times, what is visually appealing may not be practical from an engineering standpoint, may require materials from a remote location that could cost delays in the construction process, and may be an unnecessary additional cost in the eyes of a client.
A drawing is a picture of a building. A model is a description of one.
◦ What questions can you ask a model that you cannot ask a drawing?
Building models allow for better coordination between drawings and helps eliminate inconsistencies between different drawings (i.e. architectural plans, mechanical plans, structural plans). Models can be used for analysis (i.e. structural and energy performance) and allows various building objects and components to interact intelligently with each other (can ask the model what happens if a specific component is changed), unlike drawings which only provide a 2D view of the building.
◦ Are there things a drawing still communicates better? Give an example.
2D drawings are better at communicating spatial information more quickly than 3D models. For example, architectural floor plans make it much easier to understand the overall layout of a building/floor from a bird’s eye view (able to see each room’s relative location to each other) compared to navigating a 3D building model.
This course splits the work across Forma, Revit and Forma Data Management.
◦ What is gained by using a different tool for concept, documentation and coordination?
◦ What tends to get lost in the handoffs between them?
◦ Who on a real project team is responsible for making sure nothing is lost?
Where should a building model actually live?
◦ What are the practical consequences of a model living on one person's laptop?
When a model lives on one person’s laptop, this requires more manual file management and synchronization across different teams. This can result in limited collaboration and/or coordination errors as different teams may be working on a different version of the building model. However, local offline models can potentially run quicker than cloud-saved models.
◦ What changes when the model lives in the cloud, for the designer and for everyone else?
When the model lives in the cloud, this improves the project workflows. Workflows become more connected as everyone working on the building model is able to access it and make edits to the same building model, making the overall modelling process less linear and allowing for more seamless collaboration.
You will make hundreds of modeling decisions this quarter.
◦ Which ones are worth being slow and careful about?
◦ Which are worth being fast about, accepting that you may redo them?
◦ How would you tell the difference before you have made the mistake?