It's Not Rocket Surgery

I met Phil Bernstein at an AIAOC event several years ago. I was astonished when he projected ten more years before BIM would fully penetrate the profession.  Already working on the bleeding edge of architectural technology for several years, that estimate was beyond my belief. That was thirteen years ago.

I visited his blog and was refreshed to learn that someone is thinking about architectural at a much higher level than is common in our daily professional lives:

"How do we make design a more profitable practice? Design practice has traditionally positioned building as a commodity in the delivery supply chain, valued by clients like other products and services purchased at lowest first cost. Intense market competition, sole focus on differentiation by design quality, and lack of innovation in project delivery models and and business models, has resulted in a profession that is grossly underpaid and marginally profitable, despite the fact the building sector in its entirety operates in large capital pools where significant value is created. The profession must explore new techniques for correlating the real value of an architect's services to clients and thereby break the downward pressure on design compensation."

This is the purpose of the BIM-4-Homebuilders conference. To learn what your colleagues and peers are thinking as well as what they're doing with regard to BIM. Those who have been to our SCRUG meetings know that the real purpose of the meetings is networking. At this event it will be on a grand scale, amid a 30 million dollar collection of exotic cars - and the proceeds of the event go to charity.

Owners, designers, builders, and consultants all may have differing ideas about BIM. What is it? What does it do? What is it's value? What is it for?
Why has this sector resisted change?

• After a brutal economic downturn, workers are grateful  to be employed, and reluctant to "rock the boat".
• It took years to get designers to give up their pencils - now they're stuck on Sketchup, the "hollow" modeler. Most designers show no interest in advancing the technology. Most are simply waiting to be told what to do.
• Practitioners have streamlined the CAD process beyond efficiency to minimalism. "We don't show that on our drawings" is a common instructional phrase. Coordination is one direction: downstream. It is up to the consultants to keep their work up to date. Conflicts are resolved in the field.

My part in all this is to teach - to anyone who will listen - how easy, how satisfying, and how rewarding it is to build with BIM. All the work depicted in the video above, and much more, was accomplished in two days time. Wall and floor types; custom windows and awnings, materials. Coordinated civil data; imported topographic data. As of today the first wave of design refinements has been implemented. 

We proceed with the confidence that all of this information is coordinated and up to date. We are gradually accumulating a library of components and prototypes, and a repertoire of methodologies, that must eventually be moved upstream, to realize its full value. Those who resist are likely to be overwhelmed. 

Who believes that this is difficult is not aware. 

To join your peers and colleagues in this process of change, please register for the BIM-4-Homebuilders conference today.

The End to CADdiction?

At the end of its design development phase, a current project hangs in the balance between CAD and BIM. This study was commenced in an attempt to influence the direction of that decision. 

The "GA" Apartment project was earmarked as a possible Revit/BIM project several weeks ago. Because of its impending launch into the CD phase, it was important to formulate and test the intended methodology for the accomplishment of that task using Revit.

A breakthrough concept that has evolved over the last several projects is the understanding that the highest efficiency can be gained by modeling the largest repeatable segment of the building. On this type of project, it is the entire "stack" of units of the same type.

A review of the project reveals that there are only six distinct unit types, and that these unit stacks occur in 2, 3, 4 and 5 story configurations. The interior of the units are identical on every level, while the building exterior envelope may vary based on story level and interior or end condition.


A variable height mass component family was created for each unit type. This is simply the unit footprint, extruded vertically. Each family is color-coded. When placed in a massing model, these height of these components may be varied parametrically. A complete massing model may be quickly assembled by placing these 3D families, and filling in the interstitial spaces for circulation and other services.

These components, of course, contain basic area and volume data which may be scheduled. Over time, a library of the many variations that are generated during design will be assembled, reducing repetition and further accelerating the project development process.

The next step in bringing the project to life involves the creation of the stacked unit model. For this exercise the most typical unit type was selected. The mass family is loaded into a separate project file. Walls, floors, and roofs are created by selecting the faces of the massing model. Next, doors, windows, decks and railings are added. Objects that repeat from level to level are grouped for consistency and efficiency. Roof slope is assigned and parapet walls are extended vertically. Finally exterior materials are specified.

These refined stacked unit models replace the massing families in the composite building model. Variations may be depicted using design options.

For the building site model, existing topographic data was imported into Revit. The topo surface model is created automatically. Revit’s phasing feature allows refinements of the model, and reports approximate cut and fill quantities.



There is no debate about the value of Building Information Modeling. That has been realized for many years by countless practitioners on projects of all types. BIM is the obvious choice for design and construction professionals whose goals include the delivery of accurate and well coordinated contract documents. This can, of course, be achieved with the current system, but only with a high degree of discipline involving knowledge that has nothing to do with architecture. BIM assigns that responsibility to the software program, and allows users to focus on their specialty, whether it be management, design, or production. A small percentage of owners and builders now require BIM, but its benefits accrue to every project stakeholder, regardless of their level of knowledge or participation.

BIM can be used solely for production, but the maximum benefit comes from moving its application "upstream". For most homebuilding architects, the design work flow involves Sketchup and CAD. The main flaws of this methodology are that the models are hollow and contain no volumetric data; secondly, it (again) requires great discipline to keep the two programs in sync, until the goal is eventually abandoned.

The mass modeling capability of Revit is equal to Sketchup, and in the process described here, leads to a rapid and efficient development process, and an accumulation of resources which are easily accessible across all studios, offices, and project types.

Walk-Through Study

This study of a current project was created at the client's request, to aid in visualizing an important area of the building, which was not addressed in the SketchUp Design Development model.





An in-place massing model was created using CAD backgrounds.

Walls were added in the area of interest using 'Wall by Face'.

Doors, windows, decks, and railings - salvaged from other projects - were added in the focus area only.

Topography placed in the courtyard area, with various materials placed by sub-region, using a landscape background as the template.

A 'fly-in' animation sequence was created by manipulating camera path key frames in a section view.

A 'fly around' animation sequence was created using 3D lines as a template for the path. Key frames were added to smooth out the camera motion.

The two animation sequences were aligned by placing the views on a sheet in wire-frame mode. All camera adjustments were made using the 'Look' feature on the Revit Steering Wheel. The two sequences were then combined with titles and effects using Windows Movie Maker.

Site Specific Design Options

Adopting BIM to replace CAD is more than just learning this new tool. The tool is intended to do a slightly different job, and so it may not fit into your hands in just the same way.

In residential projects with multiple buildings, whether single or multi-family, one of the expediencies forced by CAD is that every instance and variation of every building is not fully documented. There is a ripple effect throughout the drawings. Changes must be followed through. And this is where the weakness of CAD becomes too obvious to ignore. It is extremely inefficient when it comes to the minor adjustments and fine tuning of the drawings. And so we do not do it. Because of CAD.

The logic is that since we are not responsible for the vertical placement of buildings on a site – that is the civil engineer’s task – we cannot possibly be asked to keep up with such changes. Instead we frequently refer to someone else's drawings, and it's up to the builder to put it all together in the field.

In the Playa Vista project, the documentation for all six buildings on the site is generated from a single model. The efficiency of using groups with Design Options is described in the previous post.

Building sites are never flat. In residential building, the threshold of the garage is always at least six inches below the finish floor level. The minimum standard is a four inch step and two inches of slope (one percent). 


In single family, the step-down may be increased to adapt the building to a sloping site. With larger buildings, in addition to the garage step-down, sometimes the entire floor slab must be offset, or even the entire building. Although these decisions are not within our scope, we are required to depict this information on our drawings.

Experimentally, for Playa Vista we added six new options to the three original "prototypical" ones which are depicted in the construction drawings. It was very easy to divide the slab, slope the garage floors, and add wall curbs where required.

The accurate depiction of each variation is important because of three stairs which may require adjustment, where headroom, landing depth and handrail extensions clearances are critical. Additionally, detailing around the base of the building must be coordinated where the lower slab offset may be as much as twenty-one inches below the main floor.

Quick QAT

A quick tip to speed up Revit work flow is to move the Quick Access Toolbar below the menu ribbon.

It should probably be there by default. I've noticed that many users overlook it at the top. To move it simply select the option at the bottom of the drop-down.

The Out-of-the-Box commands are as shown.

Add almost any command to the QAT by right-clicking... 

My personal favorite is to place the Type Selector drop-down on the QAT. Because the interface is context sensitive, alternatives to the object currently selected are shown immediately above the work space.

For the Playa Vista project described in the previous post, which was heavily dependent on Design options, placing the 'Pick to Edit' tool on the QAT was an incredible time saver when working among the various options in the model.

Design Options & Groups

I am working with two teammates on a project for Brookfield Homes, the unequivocal leader among home builders who have embraced Building Information Modeling.

My colleague Louis Navarette is responsible for the development of Brookfield’s BIM Guidelines, families and template files which are provided to the architects and engineers who serve them. While the performance guidelines are very strict, specific methods are at the discretion of each designer.

Exterior Styles

The Playa Vista project consists of six four-story buildings - three dwelling levels over a garage level. There are two different building configurations. Four of the buildings contain six dwelling units; there are also two "tri-plex" buildings, which are derived by removing three smaller units from the larger building, while maintaining the main lobby and both exit stairs.

There are also two separate exterior treatments – A & B. Some exterior elements are shared by the two larger buildings only (6A & 6B). Other elements are shared between the larger and smaller buildings of the same style (3A & 6A). It was apparent from the beginning of the project that Design Options should be employed.

Design Options in Revit is intended for the depiction of several alternates or variations of a base model. The Design Options interface manages the display of the model based on the selected option. Only elements that change are placed into the option. Objects that occur in all three buildings are not duplicated – they reside in the “main model”.

Exterior Groups

During the course of our work, it became apparent that, for the most efficient modeling process, elements that were shared by two of the three options could be placed in Revit groups. When the group is edited, changes are automatically propagated to both versions, eliminating duplicate effort while insuring that design continuity is maintained.

Interior Groups

While there are three exterior options, the interior of buildings 6A & 6B are identical. For further efficiency, we decided to place the building's interior components (partitions, doors, plumbing fixtures, etc.) into a separate design option. Interior components that are identical from floor to floor are also grouped so that interior changes are also automatically propagated throughout all floors and styles.

When Design Options are activated, an additional tab is displayed in the Visibility/Graphic Overrides dialog. When set to Automatic, the model view displays the active option. For ease of editing, the template provided by Brookfield contains Working Views that may be pre-set to the desired combination of options.

There are two built-in filters to aid working with Design Options. When 'Main Model' is selected, individual elements within an option may be modified by unchecking the box labeled 'Exclude Options'. 

When a Design Option is active, elements in the main model may be edited by unchecking the box labeled 'Active Only'.

With a team of three on the project, the work flow was uncomplicated. Typically it was one person on the interior, one on the exterior, and one in a separate Composite Document file. Overall I am very satisfied with the methodology that evolved for this project, and intend to use it as a prototype for the next one.

KMN

I work for one of the most prestigious and stable architectural firms in Orange County. I am the staff Revit guru, a position that allows great freedom and flexibility in determining how I approach my work. Currently, I am working with two other team members on a multi-family housing project for Brookfield Homes, a leader among home builders who have embraced Building Information Modeling.

We have two or three weeks remaining before the first CD submittal, with a lot of annotation and detailing still to to do. This is our first Revit 2013 job. Our client has expressed a desire to move to the built in keynoting system; previously we used generic annotations and note blocks. We are using Steve Faust's Keynote Manager on a 30-day trail, while waiting for approval on a site license.

In spite of all these conditions, when my project manager approached me yesterday with a request to use "dumb keynotes" as in CAD, I actually agreed!  I was immersed in another aspect of the project, and had not really considered the problem. I even created an instance-based symbol to be used in conjunction with blocks of text. Near the end of the day, when I paused to consider my accomplishments, I realized to what I had agreed. My first reaction was "KMN"

As with many firms in the housing industry, most of the work here is still being done in CAD. I recently I made a presentation to the staff here, extolling the benefits of BIM. which was entitled, "It's Not Rocket Surgery".

I quickly went to work, importing some notes from previous projects into the new keynote text file database. This morning I showed it to my PM, who is now on board. When he said, "I didn't know where to start" I realized I had failed to give the proper level of support for a new process.