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.