Oct 10 2016
By: Johan Xia
This article explains how a 3D model can make it easier for people to conceptualize and visualize the project being completed. However, 2D drawings are still needed. Read this article to understand why.
Though the approach to building design has evolved tremendously, it still starts with a rough paper sketch. Immediately after that the design starts transforming into a 3D model. It is a lot more convenient and quick to visualize new designs in a 3D environment.
For architectural design support service providers, it allows clients to see what spaces will really look like instead of having them to interpret from prints. Also CAD designers and BIM modelers, with the help of 3D CAD designs, can optimize the structures and systems when everything is present in one single model.
And hence the question: why 3D CAD Models of a Building are translated into 2D drawings, only to be built in three dimensions?
We believe that complex projects need complex controls; including Bills of Materials for procurement, construction sequencing, document revision control, and dimensions. That said, we are nowhere against the evolving technologies, nor are we failing in being equipped with all of them. However; the importance of 2D drawings cannot be denied.
Construction process of buildings including residential, commercial, institutional, government and industrial facilities, or even parking and storage spaces, cannot begin without procuring the right kind of materials. Our 3D model database contains information on all structure, systems and equipments contained in the model; preparing a bill of material – BOM – is as simple as running a query in the database and enables the project to kickstart without creating any drawings.
This is then followed by utilizing huge monitors/screens loaded with model-viewing software that provides real time design data to the shop. The builders, architects, contractors and stakeholders in the supply chain, can literally see what they are working on, how it would appear when finished, and what several other systems or structures are in near vicinity. 3D BIM models are easy to interpret by almost anyone without extra efforts required to interpret 2D drawings or prints.
Now if you hail from the building construction industry, you could not agree more to the fact that building without production drawings certainly makes document control irrelevant. How would one provide dimensions and tolerance information to the builder? This traditionally forms a part of, or is shown in 2D production drawings with conventions for where dimensions are placed, and assumed tolerances for construction.