Repetitive Buildings

[philipnoland]

Hello,
I just wanted to inquire about Revits capabilities with "Repetitive Building" projects.
We are currently working on a project with 30 multi unit buildings. I would say 50% of them are repeated. The other 50% are variations of the other buildings. Are there great ways of being efficient. Right now I am using a lot of methods that allow me to update a building based off of their base models. For example I have an "L" shaped building and another building may be a duplicate of the prototype but will have 1 or 2 extra units attached to one of the ends. The main element that changes is the roof system. As far as the unit itself. Its a matter of copy paste...........

Are there any threads or suggestions to make this process more efficient?


Thanks
Philip

[Dimitri Harvalias]

Looks like a job for design options and file linking.

You can create your prototype and include a variety of design options e.g. add extra units , change roof styles, etc. A separate site model of the entire project can then host several instances of this prototype in the correct location and orientation.

[philipnoland]

What about taking that level to CD's? Do annotations work in design options?

[philipnoland]

Ok I just tried some desing options. If it works It would save a lot of time. However wall sweeps are difficult to deal with.

If building 1 has 5 units
and
building 2 has 6

both are identical except for the fact that there is an extra unit, the roof system is slightly changed, the inserts on the wall where the new unit is attached do not exist.

I think my problem is the joing of units, so many things are not constant. It seems like its either all or none here. Maybe I am missing the concept and how to work with design options.

Is there a way to deal with this.

Philip

[Dimitri Harvalias]

Design options take a little time and toying with to figure out. The thing to remember is that you must inlcude anything that is affected by the design option and include it in each option. For example if you want all walls to heal properly and connect to a roof you can't just select and change the roof from a hip to a gable without also selecting all walls that join to that roof. I think you'll find that they are pretty powerful once you get the hang of it.