Harnessing Revit’s Capabilities for Enhancing Design and Workflow Using Phasing on a Healthcare Project
Old School vs New School, Drafters vs Techies. As technology becomes an increasingly integral part of our daily lives, the field of architecture is also experiencing a generational divide. Traditional Drafters argue that technology is limiting the creative process in design, while the Techies maintain that technology serves to enhance designs and bring them to life. However, is there not a middle ground to be found? Can technology complement the design process? Allow Revit to augment the design process, even if it entails the creation of new workflows that deviate from its conventional uses for features such as Phases, Filters, and Worksets.
In this article, we will explore the innovative application of Revit's features beyond their standard applications to develop nine distinct drawing sets for an existing, multi-story healthcare facility. This intricate project involved numerous renovations, relocations, and a five-story addition, all partitioned into multiple phases and sub-phases. All these transformations were carried out while the facility remained fully operational.
The first thing we had to understand was who do the drawings speak to:
- the Owner desires to see the ‘pretty picture’ along with a comprehensive overview of the project, which in this case, necessitated the drawings to illustrate all sequences of events, including construction and non-construction items such as relocations, to always keep the facility operational.
- the Contractor uses them as a tool to build from, determining the means and methods for implementing the design.
- the Engineers/Consultants use the architectural drawings as a roadmap to understand the packages, phases, sub-phases, etc., and to determine their responsibilities and account for existing elements.
- the AHJ (Building Department) reviews the drawings to ensure compliance with code requirements.
- the AHJ (Healthcare Agencies) reviews the drawings to ensure compliance with healthcare guidelines and requirements.
Next, we identified what's needed to be conveyed in the drawings to fully communicate the design's intent. The determination of the project structure was crucial here. For this project, multiple packages of construction drawings were submitted as individual projects for permitting. Some of these packages would occur independently, while others would overlap concurrently.
This is where Revit proved its worth as a tool for production, rather than limiting our needs due to its predetermined settings. For instance, even though Revit designates a feature as Phases, it does not necessarily have to be used only for construction phasing.
Now the fun part for the Techies: the how. Exploring how to leverage Revit’s multitude of features to bring the design to life.
It was agreed that each package (project) would be its own Revit Model. This facilitated a more secure workflow in terms of model management. For instance, it helped reduce model size, limit the number of team members in the model at any given time, and control changes to the model once a specific Package was completed. Having a separate model per package also allowed for the repetition of Sheet Numbers, clear distinction between and tracking capabilities of Revisions, and fewer overrides or customization of drawings settings to display the desired content, especially since the construction of some packages would happen simultaneously. This method also provided a clear scope of work area for the Design Team, Contractor, Owner, and AHJs.
To accomplish the desired modeling sequence (Construction Phase) for the drawings, a combination of Worksets, Revit Phases, View Filters, and Templates were utilized. All elements of each package were assigned into their corresponding Workset. For instance, all elements in Package 1 Model were assigned to Workset Package 1. Along with this, Revit Phases were also created for each package and assigned to each element. In retrospect, this seemed like double work, as Revit Phases alone would have sufficed, but having both provided an extra layer of graphics visibility control when required.
It is worth noting that adding “Demo” as a Revit Phase was neither used for this project nor recommended. Doing so will cause a conflict between the applied Phase and Phase Filter, resulting in inaccurate graphic overrides.
Now, you might be wondering how Construction Phasing was represented if Revit Phases were used for each package. This is where we collaborated and explored Revit's vast array of features and workflows to achieve our desired graphics such as line types and colors.
Within each package, View Filters were established and incorporated as a Phasing Sequence, to represent the Construction Phases for the drawings. The aim was to depict which departments were to be relocated and/or demolished to allow new construction, while incorporating sub-phases to represent temporary construction requirements and remaining operational.
Elements were assigned to the various View Filters depending on their construction phase. In this example, we will demonstrate how these construction phases and sub-phases were established and represented in Revit. Phase 1a entailed relocating departments to a temporary space, Phase 1b involved vacating the space and demolishing existing conditions and constructing temporary barriers, and Phase 1c focused on constructing new work scope. This process was carried out while simultaneous work occurred on a different floor for Phases 2a-2e which relocated the displaced modalities into the originally vacated spaces.
Let us clarify something: Phase Sequence? That is not part of Revit! Correct, “#Phase Sequence” was added as a Project Parameter encompassing all model objects. This parameter was applied to each View Filter to graphically control when elements appear on the drawings according to their corresponding construction sequence.
In Revit, Phase Sequence Filters were applied as follows: existing elements set to be demolished were assigned the Phase Sequence “PKG 1 - PH 1 – DEMO”. Temporary elements like partitions, doors, and spaces were added to “PKG 1 - PH 1 – TEMP”, and new construction elements were added to a filter named “PKG 1 - PH 1 – NEW”. This approach was beneficial when creating a series of drawings - be it demolition, phasing, interim, or new construction plans - by clearly designating which stage should be displayed for that specific state.
Once elements were assigned to their corresponding Workset, Revit Phase, and View Filter/Phasing Sequence, View Templates were created and assigned to each drawing. These View Templates allowed for multiple graphics visibility combinations to accurately represent the desired Construction Phase in a consistent manner across the multiple packages, phases, and sub-phases.
Whether you are a Drafter or a Techie, we all strive to achieve the best possible design for our projects and produce a clear set of Construction Documents. Fortunately, we were able to leverage Revit's multitude of features to enhance workflows and production, allowing us to focus on what truly matters - design. As a Designer, it is crucial to guide the program and maximize its capabilities to realize the intended design rather than allowing the program to limit the design due to its predetermined functions.
Monica Fernandez is a licensed Architect at Gresham Smith which is a national architecture and engineering firm. In 2021 Monica was also licensed as a General Contractor in the state of Florida to better understand how built environment is integrated/interconnected with design. She is currently practicing in the firms’ Healthcare market but has also worked the Life and Work Place market as well. For the last 7 years working with large national accounts across multiple offices and several states Monica has worked on project of all sizes from one room renovations to multimillion square foot campuses. Monica showed her passion for Revit model integration and efficiency by leading monthly training sessions in the Miami office before transferring to the firms’ main office in Nashville. Using her BIM strategy and management experience on large projects, Monica helps her project teams develop new workflows that target specific project needs and acts as a liaison with Gresham Smith’s Practice Technology group. In her spare time Monica enjoys traveling and spending time with friends and family.
