Abstract:

Successful completion of a comprehensive building design studio requires architectural students to develop and coordinate design solutions in the areas of architectural, structural and mechanical design as well as building enclosure.

Traditional pedagogy follows a path of first addressing the architectural interpretation and significant satisfaction of the building program before introducing appropriate systems and their integration. Typically, it follows a path of design that progresses through architecture into structural design before integrating mechanical systems; building enclosure follows a parallel path and is coordinated in the latter part of the process.

This paper defines a new pedagogy, being developed by the author, for teaching comprehensive building design for better alignment of the student experience with the requirements of internship and the demands of professional employment. The process can ultimately be applied broadly to all design disciplines taking in assignments to engineering, interior design, landscape architecture and construction management.

By using a Building Information Model (BIM) from the earliest possible time in the design the student is required to simultaneously consider the effects of decisions on all disciplines within their design and develop solutions which are not only on parallel tracks but also fully integrated and coordinated. As design practice moves quickly to embrace this approach students trained under the new pedagogy will more easily make the transition into internship and on to practice.

The adoption of BIM is broadening on an international front and promises to further support international collaborations. By utilizing a design standard reflecting the leading edge of emerging technologies, opportunities in international settings will be increased.

In this paper, I examine the pedagogical shift from traditional design approaches to the emerging technology of BIM and concurrency in the investigation of options within all associated design disciplines. The organization of programmatic data and the dynamics of scheduling and monitoring the process are fully disclosed in a template for immediate application in a university setting. It will be related to consequent internship settings both domestic and international and the practice opportunities beyond this phase.

Outline:
• Background
- Learning outcomes for comprehensive building design
- Application in Practice
• The Traditional Delivery of Design Components
- Building Design
- Structural Design
- Mechanical Design
- Building Enclosure
• One Model to Accomplish All
- Building Information Model (BIM)
- Concurrent Design Development
• Documenting Results
- Quality Control
- Cost Control
- Vertical Integration
• Practice
- Standards of design practice
- International practice applications