See Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC2gEaLfDUw

Autodesk Build is a construction management platform designed for use on construction projects. It is used to streamline project workflows, improve communication, and increase collaboration between project stakeholders. Autodesk Build provides the following key capabilities:

1. Field management: Autodesk Build allows construction managers to easily manage field activities and track progress in real-time. This includes tracking daily work logs, documenting inspection results, and recording quality control data.
2. Project tracking: Autodesk Build provides real-time visibility into project progress, allowing construction managers to quickly identify any potential delays or risks. The platform integrates with other project management tools, providing a centralized view of project data and enabling managers to make informed decisions.
3. Collaboration: Autodesk Build enables construction teams to collaborate in real-time, regardless of their location. The platform provides an easy-to-use interface for sharing information, making it simple for team members to communicate and work together effectively.
4. Document management: Autodesk Build provides a centralized repository for project documents, making it easy for construction managers to access and share critical information. This includes plans, specifications, submittals, and RFI’s.
5. Safety and quality control: Autodesk Build provides tools to help construction managers ensure that their projects are being built safely and to the correct quality standards. This includes tracking safety incidents, documenting quality control checks, and managing inspection reports.

By using Autodesk Build, construction managers can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their construction projects. The platform provides a centralized view of project data, enabling teams to make informed decisions and ensuring that everyone is working from the latest information. This helps reduce the risk of errors and delays, leading to better project outcomes.

BIM (Building Information Modeling) implementation as a service offering to architects is the process of helping architecture firms adopt and integrate BIM technology into their design and construction processes. This service offering typically involves the following steps:

Assessment: The service provider performs a comprehensive assessment of the architecture firm’s current design processes, workflows, and technology infrastructure to determine the best approach for implementing BIM.

BIM strategy development: Based on the assessment results, the service provider develops a customised BIM strategy for the architecture firm, including recommendations for hardware and software upgrades, process improvements, and training needs.

Software implementation: The service provider helps the architecture firm implement the BIM software, including installation, configuration, and integration with other design and project management tools.

Training and support: The service provider provides training and support to ensure that the architecture firm’s staff are able to effectively use BIM technology. This may include hands-on training, online resources, and ongoing technical support.

Continuous improvement: The service provider works with the architecture firm to continuously improve the BIM implementation, making changes and recommendations as needed to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

BIM implementation as a service offering provides architecture firms with a comprehensive solution for adopting BIM technology, enabling them to streamline their design processes, improve collaboration and communication, and deliver higher-quality designs. With this service offering, architecture firms can focus on their core competencies and let the service provider handle the technical aspects of BIM implementation.

So you’ve submitted your planning drawings and received your permission from the local council. The drawings were modelled in Revit with a low level of detail, so next you want to start adding the detail of construction to your walls. The below images shows a floor plan at planning level of detail so only blank wall detail represented by purple for proposed construction. Using the Detail Level option at the bottom of the screen will change this to a detail view.

You can change the build-up of the wall to show your construction layers. Select the wall > Edit Type > Structure and then change the layers accordingly.

This blog post breaks down the primary modules in the Next-Gen BIM360, relevant to how an Architect could utilise each feature.

Document Management

• Folders – The backbone of BIM360 allows you to store, view & comment on files, text, 2d & 3d models & manage folder access permissions.
• Reviews – Manage & submit documents for review to design consultants, client or your internal design team. Customise your approval stages from using a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6-step process.
• Transmittals – Issue folders of documents, drawings, 3d models for Tender Packages.
• Issues – Capture design issues and assign to relevant person or company for resolution.
• Version Compare side by side of 2d & 3d drawings or models.
• Auto-versioning of latest uploaded drawings, models and documents.

Design Collaboration

• Sync Models directly from Revit to the Cloud
• Combine with Consultants Models and view design changes automatically.

Model Coordination

• Clash Models – e.g. if an enginers column runs through a door open.
• Assign Clashes to a responsible consultant if required.

Project Management

• RFI’s – Receive or issue RFI’s at any stage of a project.
• Submittals – Approve specifications or product submittals from contractors.

Field Management

• Checklists – Inspection, Safety & create custom checklists. Complete on-site using any mobile device.
• Issues – Capture issues on site and assign to relevant team or people.

Insight

• Dashboard results for all of the above.

These uses are not exhaustive as BIM360 allows multiple uses of each feature depending on the project stage.

For the Concept Stage of an Architectural project, drawing presentation is a key feature. One of the most powerful tools for controlling graphics within Revit is the Graphic Display Options or “GD” keyboard shortcut.

1. Choose your preferred Style.
2. Ensure Smooth lines is turned on.
3. Shadows – yes and set Ambient Shadows on also.
4. Sketchy Lines if you like this look turn up extension points to full.
5. Move the lighting sliders to achieve a nice looking image.

The best part is, you can save this out as a view template and reuse on Elevations, Plans or in your company-wide template.

I was recently curious regarding architectural statistics globally, it further led me to research Ireland’s numbers in this area also. I find the recession most interesting, demonstrating there was significant activity within the sector considering the economic conditions. The below table I compiled from CSO figures at the reference link below for Total no. of Granted Home Extensions in Ireland from 2009 – 2018.

Source – https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/er/pp/planningpermissionsquarter32018/

*2018 Q4 Figures were unavailable so an average was calculated based on previous Quarters.

To further apply financial revenue in terms of Design Fee’s for Design & Planning Stage. I compiled the below table, being as conservative as possible to what the average fee may have been. I have created scenarios assuming either €1500, 1200 or 1000, in my opinion, are on the conservative side.

The above would indicate that in 2013, at the lowest point we still had 5,695 home extensions granted. Even taking €750, as the average design fee would have generated €4.2 Million in the economy for SME Architectural/Design firms just for home extensions.

In addition, the total number of one-off homes granted (doesn’t include multi-housing development) is around 50% of the home extension’s granted figure. All of the above € figures are my own opinion and I welcome your contribution or contradiction.

In summary, Micro & SME firms contribute significantly to the architectural industry in Ireland.

The transition from drawing board to computer was a leap into progress. However, the act of drawing, erasing & redrawing compelled designers to really consider what they were doing before they put ink to paper. Across BIM projects, a similar mind-set enables a similar quality in design.

The CAD process is; “ok, how do we draw this?”, however, BIM enables the “ok, how do we actually build this?” as the question. BIM is an opportunity to interrogate and improve building designs in a revolutionary way.

Technology across many industries has driven business revolution since the first industrial revolution and Architecture, Engineering and Construction will prove no different. With this in mind, the complete digitisation of the business of architecture is inevitable. BIM is only a portion of the industry shift that is currently growing in momentum.

The technicians, technologists and architects are no longer just drafting robots. They are virtual master-builders. 4D construction, cloud-collaboration & computational design are now a part of daily operations, with these digital capabilities enhancing architects’ workflows now a reality.

The customisation of our personal lives in how we absorb music, TV, film, news and social-media dominates the broader tech-industry. Individualism is driving this trend, which has exploded over the last 5-10 years. The evidence of these trends in AEC lies in the power to iterate and automate designs with ease. Through designing and connecting information from the built environment through API programming, visual-scripting & remote-collaboration, the digital shift will continue to surprise us in years to come.

Empowering the industry with knowledge in these key areas, is the key to digitising the business of Architecture, across both Engineering and Construction.

Jonathan Reinhardt

Once you have created your project within BIM 360 Design, adding teams will automatically generate the folders within Project Files for the named team.

ABC Architects or 123 Engineers are separate companies, however, you can set them up as teams for the purpose of folder creation within BIM360 design. Teams can also include individual people or roles, with varying access rights to their folders.

I have come across some confusion regarding the Consumed folder with BIM360 Design. The Consumed folder within BIM360 Design is a temporary holding area for linking in 3rd party models. For example, an Architect will have a Consumed folder and the Structural Engineer will have their own separate Consumed folder. If the Architect is linking in the Engineers model through BIM360 design, they should first copy the latest Engineers model into the Architects Consumed folder. Within Revit, using the Insert Tab > Link Revit > External Reference/BIM360 > Architects > Consumed, and the model should be linked in from there.

The purpose of this workflow is to avoid linking into the live shared model of other consultants, as this will cause any changes in their model to go unidentified or automatically accepted. This allows you to manage the version of another consultant’s model that you are using for reference.

A simple but effective tool within Revit is the Section Box in a 3D View.

1. Open a 3D View.
2. Select “Section Box” in Properties tab.
3. Pull blue arrows to the preferred view, you can also rotate the section box to suit the orientation of your building.
4. To hide the section box but to keep the cut view, select the section box & type “EH” for element hide. Alternatively, you could apply a view filter with set to hide the section box.

The power of Revit to create coordinated drawings with 3d models doesn’t stop there! As architects, technologists, designers, engineers we have all had to notate drawings, revise the notations and sometimes miss a note to update. With multi-category tags, this is all solved. Take a wall finish for a planning drawing as an example.

This workflow will pull in the information entered with Type Properties of the wall under Description (see above).

Open an elevation or preferred view that you wish to tag. Select the Multi-Category Tag as above.

Select Load Tags to choose “Type Description”

Once your tag is loaded, hover the tag over your wall and you will see the “Description” appear.

Drag the note as you want it to appear in clear space or so that it is readable. This same process can be applied to any view type, including 3D views (must be a locked orientation). As you can see in the example below the same tag works on window “Type Description”

And the best thing, if the note updates in your type properties, then so will every other note. Enter the information once and it is reused throughout your project, including schedules which I will cover in another post.