What are the primary goals of creating a building model? Who are the key stakeholders?
The goals of creating a building model are to effectively convey your design thoughts to the primary stakeholder the client. Other stakeholders such as the engineering team are involved as well. The building model is not only for the client to see your vision though, it’s also used to create visions as well. Sometimes as architects we are unsure of how something might look, and a building model can help us see that and develop our ideas before showing them to the client.
How much detail should you include in your building model? How do you decide?
As you develop your initial design I think you should just include enough detail to show the essence of the design without detailing it too much. Just the essentials you need. However, as the design process goes on, and more ideas become finalized, more and more detail should be included in the design. After finding a final layout (walls) and where your doors will be, it’s crucial to add detail in order to show the flow/living design of the space. After including all essentials (Walls, doors, windows) I think it’s then time to add the necessary furniture. After that, even closer detail can be included such as material choice and much more.
Many door and window manufacturers provide Revit families for doors and windows that you can specify for your building design.
This is a huge benefit to not only the designer but the client because it allows them to use the door that they included in their design on the actual building, meaning dimensions will be more spot on.