Project Summary

Final Building Model

My initial intention with this project for my Intelligent Buildings course was to explore aspects of Revit that I had not had previous experience in, with the additional intention of utilizing the finished project for the AEI Student Competition. It's likely that I would have created something similar for the competition had I not had the dual purpose of a term project. However, there is not a chance that I would have gone into such pain staking detail to suss out the detail of each individual component of the project through the use of online forums or the Revit handbook. Contrary to my belief, the only aspect of Revit Architecture that is similar to Revit MEP, was the general interface for the software. The task bars are organized in a similar fashion, which allowed my learning curve with the software to be a bit steeper than a novice user. However, in a general sense each individual activity was much more time consuming than I had anticipated. A breakdown of my time spent on each task had a similar format: 25% of my time was spent utilizing the technique I thought was correct (that typically didn't work out so well), another 25% of my time was spent researching the technique that I should actually utilize, and the final 50% of my time was spent implementing the proper techniques.

My first challenge was inherent in the fact that I began with existing floor plans. The building angles were many in number, and lining up each floor was not a painless experience. Once they appeared to fit together nicely, adding the walls was an easy enough task. Then came the stage where things were less cut and dry, adding several different kinds of windows. At the end of the project, there were eight different types of windows. Each derived from a basic Revit family: the "Instance - Fixed" window. Utilizing Revit's families that are initially included in the software to create new families saved me a great deal of time and effort. After adding the windows, I encountered the feat of adding topographical areas to the project. Once I realized that I could utilize AutoCAD plans, it made the general task a bit easier. Next came the test of creating seven different roof structures: two of which were green roofs, four of which were customized sloped roofs, and the last of which was a flat roof which intersected the sloped roof. My final task included interior finishes. Considering that the imperial library contained the majority of these items, it was just a matter of a couple of hours before I had populated the model with all of its furniture components.

Overall, this project proved to be an excellent exercise in gaining a better understanding of the number of components that architects put into the model previous to it be integrated with engineering components. This project has also left me with a better understanding of the number of changes that are required by architects in order to have a better functioning model, which is the basic struggle in understanding between architects and engineers on BIM projects. At the end of this series, I was left with the question: how did the time I spent on this project compare with that of the typical amount of time that architects spend on a project of a similar magnitude?

Engineering Integration

A very important facet of Revit, that is sometimes overlooked is the idea that two dimensional figures can be implemented into the three dimensional model. For instance, once you've cut a section of a room, you have the ability to draw over it as if it were a two dimensional drawings. By the same token, that's why you often have floor plan "sheet views" and "working views". The sheet views are utilized along with two-dimensional text and detail lines. For this particular project, I was able to create all of structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering's figures. This not only allowed us to have proper dimensions, but it also allowed the components that I had already created to be utilized for alternate purposes. Considering that the entire model was not fit out with engineering components, this was the perfect solution to getting the proper information across.

Mechanical Displacement Ventilation Figure

Structural Movable Partition Figure

Interior Finishes

Third Floor with Finished Interiors

An excellent aspect of design in Revit is that you can essentially make any form, and place it into the model through the use of a family extrusion component. You essentially "carve out" sections of an extrusion through the use of void forms. It was through this technique that I created the chair and desk components for the classrooms. I actually performed this activity for our first assignment in Intelligent Buildings. I found the typical dimensions for an elementary student's desk and chair (as they aren't typical chair sizes, or I would have used a family from the imperial library). I then implemented these dimensions into a box shape, then carved out the dimensions. This was the only family that I needed to create for the school, all of the other elements such as teacher's desks, office chairs, plumbing fixtures, etc. were already a part of the Imperial Revit Library.

Sloped Roof

A couple of weeks ago, there came a point when my senior design team decided that they no longer desired our school being a traditional box. They wanted sloped roofs, with windows beneath them for additional daylighting. This created a bit of reluctance on my part, as I knew that this would create yet another Revit struggle. However, I decided to seize the challenge as a learning opportunity in learning how to create irregular roof shapes. This became a challenge similar to topography, making the pieces fit the way you'd like them to is not an easy feat. Therefore, I decided to "cut holes" in my roof plan, and create a family which would serve as the sloped portion. I then created walls on either side that bridged the gap between the roof plan and the roof slope family. This process took a couple of hours, however it added immense aesthetic to the overall shape of the building.

Sloped Roofs

Legends

While putting together sheets for my project, I decided that black and white floor plans just weren't going to cut it. It was nearly impossible to differentiate between the different types of spaces within the building. After a bit of poking around, I discovered legends. This allowed me to create room "departments", which broke down into: circulation, classroom, community space, kitchen/dining, lavatory, lockers, miscellaneous, natatorium, and office. In my humble opinion, these floor plans are much more understandable and appealing.



First Floor Plan with Legend

 






Second Floor Plan with Legend









Third Floor Plan with Legend

 

Site Topography

Site topography is something that I was completely unfamiliar with previous to this project. I spent a great deal of time playing around with this to figure out if it was compatible with PDF or AutoCAD files. You can, in fact, import an AutoCAD drawing to your model and assign the points of topography to the AutoCAD points. I couldn't find an easy was to do this without pulling the whole site in one direction or another, so I settled for the areas of primary importance, using an AutoCAD file as a reference. This process took three hours to complete. As you can see, I've also added in the cross section of streets, as well as the parking lots and exterior paving.



Model with Site Topography



Green Roofs

Two of the four roofs are green roofs for this project. I did a great deal of research to figure out if Revit Architecture 2012 had any particular features that would help in implementing a green roof, however I didn't find any particularly helpful sources. I chose to use several different foliage families on the roofs to display the idea of there being a green roof. I also created paths and railings on the third floor green roof, as it is a full public access type. The second floor green roof does not have any public access, therefore it is more free standing. Between finding families to populate the green space on the roofs, creating the topography and the paving surfaces this process took about two hours.

Second Floor Green Roof Plan View

Second Floor Green Roof 3D View

Third Floor Green Roof Plan View

Third Floor Green Roof 3D View