What are the principal advantages of using a single building information model of the existing conditions as the foundation for modeling several proposed design alternatives for a portion of the building?
- Why not create a separate model for each of the design alternatives?
There are many advantages to working off of a single model. First, every updates automatically, so if you change one thing on the main model, it changes everywhere else. Also, it’s very easy to switch batch and forth between floor layouts, exteriors, etc. in one file rather than having to build a whole new, mostly identical building.
In your project, which features of the proposed design did you choose to model as design alternatives?
- Why did you choose these building features? And what were the biggest challenges in modeling them as the design alternatives?
I chose to model different exteriors and different interior walls/furniture. First, I wanted to do an exterior that blended more with the original building, and then have another more modern option with more curtain walls since they said they wanted something newer. I also changed the amount of walls inside, one with more enclosed spaces, but still glass walls so those walking through the hallways can see what’s going one, and one with more open spaces, but still glass walls for a similar effect. The biggest challenge was copying them from level to level because each time I tried, it would give me an error, even when I tried going one at a time to each level, the last one would always not work. So, I made the third floor an open plan instead, which I like, but wonder if there is an easier way to go about that.