What are the primary goals of creating a building model? Who are the key stakeholders?
The primary goal of creating a building model is to have a 3D representation of a proposed construction project so that the clients and the designers can better understand how the physical project will look and feel like when it is built. The key stakeholders are the clients and the design team because the clients need to understand the vision that the design team is attempting to bring to life and make sure that it is a vision that both parties share and agree upon and the design team needs to ensure that their ideas and designs come together in a way that achieves the goals they set out to meet for the project.
How much detail should you include in your building model? How do you decide?
Building models have varying levels of detail at different stages of the process. In the beginning of a project a model has much less detail than the final does. As you develop your design, it is important to include detail to understand your own design choices as the project develops and to ensure that all details are covered in the final project. The beauty of creating building models and online renderings is that the design can constantly be iterated and developed until the desired final look is reached.
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?
As I said previously, the beginning stages of a design have much less detail than the final product does. When first starting the conceptual stages of the design there is very little detail other than the aspects of design that will be included, materials that will be used, and other big design ideas like those. After the conceptual stages comes the design phases of the project. Here is where all of the details such as walls, wall heights, thickness of materials, dimensions of rooms, and other items such as the final materials that will be used and where they will be used come into the picture. These phases have much more detail than the conceptual stage does. Finally comes the documentation of the project, or construction documentation, which will include every single detail that a builder, client, or other partners will need to fully understand the scope of the project. Without sharing every detail, the project cannot be finalized. There will be the most detail in this stage because at this point of the project, an outside contractor needs to be able to look at your work and build your design based on the blueprints and information you have given them.