From Concept to BIM: Villa Patio in Bandung Case Study

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BIM IS THE BEST OPTION FOR CONCEPT DESIGN

This article will show a Case Study of the Concept Design of a Residence we recently completed in Java, Indonesia. I wanted to take the chance to show a practical example of how to implement BIM from the beginning of a project. Still a lot of Architects don’t see the benefits of starting a Concept Design in BIM at an early stage. For us and for our client the workflow and the result has been a complete success.

Since we are promoting the use of BIM in Asia we want to share some experience starting with a small scale project. Soon we will show some other cases with more complexity and bigger scale..

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Concept

The Project is located in a residential area of Bandung, Java, Indonesia. The plot is of 12,5 by 24 meters big and seats next to similar size plots facing the residential street.

The actual site has not a great value per the outer views, but has a great potential of being a notable example for a living cored building that encloses the outside and filters the light to the inside, growing the green life with a temporal use of the surroundings, opening a green frame that will evolve into a patio house.

Based on this idea of the “Patio” or “Courtyard” the living areas open to an inner green space that provides light and privacy. All the layout of the house is arranged around this private garden. The common areas and services are located in the ground floor and the private rooms in the first floor.

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The project was designed having in considerations the technical requirements and construction methods of the place, Indonesia. Most of small constructions use Bricks and concrete structures with render finishes in some cases. The use of wood and Bamboo is very common as well and is a matter of choice the way of combining these building technics. In the case of the Villa Patio the client was very clear in establishing the use mainly of Concrete, Bricks and Render as a main materials for the house. “Simple clean space” and “Versatile family house” were some of the client’s intentions from an early beginning.

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Team

The whole team involved three Architects, all of them with high experience in developing projects in BIM. The BIM model and all documentation produced was developed in ARCHICAD working in the same file using Teamwork.

1 Senior Architect: In charge of developing the Concept Idea from the beginning and Developing the BIM model with the rest of the team and producing the Brochure with all deliverables to the client. Its level of involvement was three weeks full time.

1 Architect BIM Manager: Involved in the Concept design as BIM Manager during the development of the Model and responsable of production of documentation. Its level of involvement was part time the first week and full time the second and third week.

1 Architect BIM Modeler: Involved in the Concept Design building the BIM model and production of Documentation. Its level of involvement was part time the first week and full time the second and third week.

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Deliverables

The brochure compile all documentation necessary for Concept Design intent:

Introduction: Explanation of the Intention of design.

Inspiration: References, Benchmarking, Ideas and similar projects.

Design Options: Variables and Iterations of the Concept design.

Drawings of the Proposed Design: Floorpan, Sections, Elevations to a 1:100 scale. All extracted from the BIM model.

Diagrams: Axonometric views for explanation of the project, Floorpan diagrams of functions and Areas.

CGI: Rendering of the interior spaces and exterior.

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All documentation was provided in a PDF document of the Brochure and a real structure folder of the separated Documents, Images and Drawings. A BIM model file was not required by the client but was submitted along with the mentioned Documentation.

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Workflow   

The whole Concept Design was developed in a Period of Three Weeks. The project was developed in BIM using ARCHICAD from the beginning. All graphic documentation provided was developed inside ARCHICAD 19. Adobe Photoshop was used for editing the Computer Generated Images and InDesign was used for the elaboration of the brochure of the projects.

First Week

– Elaboration of Ideas and iterations for the development of Concept Design.

The Senior Architect is in charge of the Design task. The team (two Architects) were involved in the Design process developing options and sketching design intentions.

– Preparation of the Template and the BIM file for production of documentation. Starting a simple volumetric modeling task that will start to show the main design intentions in 3D and 2D.

The Architect BIM manager is the one in charge of setting up the template at the same time as joins the rest of the team in the design tasks. The Teamwork file is already set up with the template.

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Second Week

Developing the BIM model of the Chosen Design Option using Teamwork.

The client feed back was using during this period to make alterations of the design. The whole team was involved full time during this process. The BIM manager prepares the production and generation of documentation, managing graphic standards, attributes and libraries. Senior Architect and Architect BIM modeler were modeling the project within the Teamwork file.

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Third Week

– Production of documentation and deliverables.

During the third week the BIM model is getting ready for exporting graphic documentation and 2d Drawings. Minor changes and details can be applied to the design and all documentation provided would be updated accordingly. BIM manager task is to export all Documentation for postproduction in the case of the CGI and Diagrams; and for the Brochure preparation purpose in case of 2D drawings.

Architect BIM modeler is in charge of post production of CGI and Diagrams for inclusion on the Brochure and for separate delivery.

– Conclusion of Brochure and Submission.

All documentation is input onto the Brochure document by the Senior Architect who prepares and Design the Brochure format and presentation.

The BIM file is cleaned and prepared for submission. PLN file with separated Libraries folder and PLA is prepared for the client.

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About APD (Architectural Design Process)

Regarding Design process in an Early Concept Stage there is still an open debate about the efficiency of BIM versus the 2D and 3D separated process. In the case of our practice the Implementation of BIM from the early beginning of the project is nothing but an advantage in confrontation with clients and all external actors involved in a project such consultants and other parties. All the work inside the office and all coordination with exterior parties just benefits from a smart process like BIM.

A very simple template prepared for “Concept Design” is something that allow to start a project in BIM without loosing time at the first step and allowing designers to see results of the evolution of the project in a very early stage, both 3D and 2D.

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A process where all 2D documentation is exported directly from the Model in a “Smart” way Speeds Up the whole schedule and provides a level of accuracy that minimize any mistakes. This is only possible to achieve with a true BIM model built from the beginning.

All members of Enzyme have already tested during our previous working experiences in different offices the disadvantages of a 2D design process. The amount of time wasted in coordination and manual separated tasks maximize the mistakes accumulated the will impoverish the process during the posterior evolution till its execution.

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By using a Design Process that involves BIM our practice basically achieves the best result with a better use of time and resources in a much more accurate way. ARCHICAD is the first BIM software and was born for Architecture projects from the beginning.

Jumping from Sketch to BIM empowers Architecture Design.