What are the primary goals of creating a building model? Who are the key stakeholders?
- What do they need?
- What do they care about most?
The key stakeholders are our clients: student researchers who need a station at their biological reserve. A building model helps visually translate our plans into something tangible for the clients, as well as any collaborators on the project (contractors, engineers, electricians, plumbers, etc.). Users/viewers can also provide detailed feedback which we can directly alter in real time in a platform that is easily accessible.
How much detail should you include in your building model? How do you decide?
- As you develop your initial design?
- As you continue to iterate and develop on your design?
- What are the key stages?
- And how much detail should you include at each stage?
The stages of BIM modeling could be divided into 1) conceptual design, 2) preliminary design, 3) design development, and 4) construction documentation. With the first stage, playing around with different forms and figuring out the client’s needs are the most important. Detail isn’t needed. In stage two, the structural framework is beginning to take shape. So the walls, floors, ceilings, and roofs are created with detail in the sense of current dimensions. Stage three involves adding architectural elements like windows, doors, components, etc. More measurements in distance in relation to other objects are seen. Clients should also be able to give precise feedback at this point. The construction documentation has the most detail, enough so that every stakeholder working on constructing that building reads the model the same.
How much detail should you include about the composition (layers, materials, thicknesses) of your wall, floor, and roof assemblies at different stages of your design process?
- Conceptual design
- Preliminary design
- Design development
- Construction documentation
Many door and window manufacturers provide Revit families for doors and windows that you can specify for your building design.
- What is the advantage to manufacturers for providing these families? (it's not free to create and provide them...)
- What is the benefit to you as the designer of using these manufacturer-provided families? Is there an advantage to using them versus the families provided in the Revit library?
Since the families are preset in Revit, users of Revit can conveniently use them in their designs. When it comes to ordering products, they know that those manufacturers will; have the exact products they have placed in their models. This basically streamlines the process for the architect from design on paper (or I guess the computer) to the construction and installation in the built structure. The architect won’t have to go through a third middle man to get the products they designed with. The manufacturer benefits since it’s basically advertisement and product exposure.