Who
Linh Dan Do
Submitted For
Module 3 - Points to Ponder
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Please share your comments on 3 of the following Points to Ponder questions. (Choose 3 of the questions below.)

Why is it important to accurately model the land features of your project site with a toposurface?

  • What aspects of a building design are most affected by the terrain features?

When designing a project...

  • Should the building adapt to the terrain?
  • Or, should you adapt the terrain to the building?

I think there is a mixture of both when designing a project. Sometimes you have to adapt the terrain if you want a safe and livable space. But adapting to the terrain does not have to be restrictive, it can give more structure when designing. And in my personal opinion, if you can preserve most of the original topography in the region then you should.

What considerations affect a project team's decision-making when deciding the floor-to-floor height to use in a multi-story building?

  • From a real estate developer's perspective?
  • From a designer's perspective?
  • From an engineer's perspective?
  • From a builder's perspective?
  • From an owner's perspective?

What are the advantages of stacking the levels of a multi-story building vertically?

  • Can you share an interesting example of a building that doesn’t vertically stack (where the floor plates change their shaped radically between the floor levels)?
  • What were the advantages or reasons for non-vertical stacking?

Stacking vertically can accommodate more space in a specific space. If you can't build out then, you can build up and gain more square footage. I can't think of a building not stacked vertically, but the Interlace in Singapore is mixture of vertical and horizontal stacking. The stackings are not straight up but takes detours. Depending on where you live, mutli-story building are not good because of natural disasters. For example, in my neighborhood in Miami, a majority of the houses are 1 story because of hurricane season.

Why do stairs follow specific proportions with a set relationship between the tread length and riser height?

  • How can building modeling help prevent the mistakes that often occur when designing and installing stairs?

Stairs follow a certain proportion because of safety and comfort. If the tread or riser is too long/tall or short then if could make it uncomfortable to go up the stairs. Most time, people use the stairs without thinking and if the riser height suddenly changes in the middle of walking then that can be dangerous. Building models like Rivet will do it for you and calculate the specific amount you need. They automatically take account of the specific requirements and can visualize how the stairs will interact with the space. How much head space you need and room for the stare is taken into account using a building model.

Describe a case when it would be worthwhile to create a new custom component in Revit… How do you decide when customize versus using readily available components?