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This is from the first meeting to completion of the drawings. If you look at the typical set of drawings a homebuilder is used to working from and double that info, then you end up drawing less than half of what the average Architect draws for a simple house. I've learned to remove all the "extras" in order to provide the basic requirements that the City is looking for. After drawing 100 cabinet elevations and not getting a single kitchen built according to the design because the builder has a cabinet maker with special spice racks, and other unique casework items, you begin to realize it's a futile effort. Unlike most Architects, I've only had 3 millionaire clients out of about 200. I'm providing Architectural design to those who typically can't afford it. Therefore I strip down my services to offer a fee they can afford. Ultimately, I can get 30+ houses built in a year as a sole practitioner. With spec builders, they are always in an extreme hurry, so decisions are made quickly. It is their house to try and sell, so it's their privilege to select finishes, fixtures, etc. This cuts out a huge chunk of time. With middle class home owners, they can't afford NOT to go shopping with the builder, as my selections for finishes, fixtures, and such will always be more expensive than similar items found using the builder's resources. I work with good builders that I trust as a teammate, just like you may hire an interior designer to do the same task. You'd be surprised, as spec builders aren't competing with design, they compete with the way they finish the house. Middle class people can never afford the items we tend to select, so I let them shop with the builder for 40+ hours (which they will do anyway, no matter how much you fight it). I ask them to pick out 3 choices of each item and I help them make the executive decisions in the end, which takes me an hour instead of 40+. I work the builder like they tend to work us. The wealthy clients are the pains in the butt. They work you to death, so even with the bigger fee, you still make less money per hour. I do what I consider the minimum service for a minimum "set up" charge. When you work for the rich, you often bundle a bunch of extra services for a discount. This gives you a bigger fee, but more hours per dollar. If a painter shows up to cover 2sf or 200sf of wall, it'll cost the same minimum fee just to show up, so I do the 2sf. I model everything in BIM and only show clients 3D images and floor plans during the design process. The only time they see a flat 2D elevation is when I give them the final drawings. This saves massive amounts of time, because 3D BIM models do need a little embellishing to make them look nice, which takes time. If you start embellishing from the beginning, you're drawing in 3D and 2D, essentially doubling the work. Avoid drawing in 2D as much as possible in BIM and you will save time. The importance of brining up BIM, is that the clients always get the 3D images and will make decisions quickly when they understand what they're looking at. A one hour design meeting in 3D with the client and my laptop can save me a week or more of back and forth. It helps them understand the geometrical limitations of a stair or roof. It helps them to understand the complicated things we take for granted that often drive the design. I'm not operating in a traditional environment with the traditional clients Architects tend to work for. I'm bringing good Architecture to spec builders and middle class homeowners because this is the sector in need. This is the sector that doesn't understand our value and also the sector with the most clients by far. 80% of all new houses are spec houses. Think about that... ------------------------------------------- Eric Rawlings AIA Owner Rawlings Design, Inc. Decatur GA -------------------------------------------
Show Original Message
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-07-2012 09:56
From: Debra Coleman
Subject: BIM- What is the downside?
Eric, I am really enjoying your posts on BIM!
Regarding time that you stated:" I typically turn around 3000sf houses in 45-55 hours for builders and 50-70 hours for end users. " I am curious if that includes meeting and email time with clients as well as the research that inevitable accompanies projects. Regardless of software used, I am finding that with some extremely detailed clients, or those trying to sub out a house themselves, that the amount of time that we spend meeting, researching and emailing - consulting in general - can come close to the amount of time that we might spend with the drawings.
Wondering if others are experiencing the same?
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Debra Rucker Coleman, AIA
Architect
Sun Plans Inc.
Mobile, AL
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-05-2012 11:28
From: Eric Rawlings
Subject: BIM- What is the downside?
That's a bold statement, seeing how you've never seen my drawings. I rarely get called out to the field and I'm getting some rather complicated buildings built by some rather ordinary home builders. I know the installers are having no problems reading them, but I'm in the business of getting buildings built with my drawings. They're not meant to hang on the coffee shop wall and are often found covered in mud. How is it more efficient to build a 3D model in one program and then "export" that info into a 2D program to create the working drawings? I do all of that in one program, keeping the integrity of the information pure and simple. Just the translation alone is unnecessarily inefficient and a one way street. How do you get the next 3d view after the first design changes? Builders love 3d images to market their spec houses and Homeowners make decisions quicker when they can see a 3D image of each and every change. My images are a free by-product of the standard process that are always up to date. The most efficient use of my time is to sit down with a client and my lap top and have a one hour design meeting in 3D. I wow them with all the pretty 3D updates in real time and we make quick decisions that can take weeks of back and forth via email. Clients can't read flat elevations or sections very well and often don't understand what they're agreeing to. 3D eliminates that. The only time my clients see a flat section or elevation is when I give them the final drawings and at that point they understand everything from a 3D perspective, so the 2D drawings make more sense.
Once you understand how to assemble a model that efficiently utilizes all of it's pieces and parts to represent the things you need to show in 2D, you'll understand why BIM is actually more efficient. The other common misconception is how the drawings look. I can make my 2D drawings look however I want. BIM takes absolutely nothing away from making 2D info look any different than any other program. I can create any line type, fill pattern, import any image, create any colors, line weights, etc. Since the Drawing Set is all in one file, BIM can auto number every drawing in the set. I can move a floor plan from one sheet to the other and not think about all the elevations, sections, details, etc that are referenced to it as every number auto-updates. I "build" my final CDs last and only once. I typically turn around 3000sf houses in 45-55 hours for builders and 50-70 hours for end users. That's from first meeting to handing off the final drawings. I've been using ArchiCAD since 1997, so I may make it sound easy. It's like learning to swing a golf club or play an instrument. It's overwhelming at first and you make many frustrating mistakes. As you gain experience, you become more judicious about how you use the program and it's tools. Once you begin thinking in 3D and how it translates to 2D simultaneously, you no longer become encumbered with the notion that they are separate processes. It's one experience with continuity. It is a far more efficient workflow and I've done it both ways.
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Eric Rawlings AIA
Owner
Rawlings Design, Inc.
Decatur GA
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