BUILDING DESIGN
Some automation is achievable through the use of hybrid approaches that complement and support human activities during the design process
In these documents, 3692
requirements were identified with an average of approximately 738 requirements per document. Considering that the healthcare building regulatory framework consists of 108 documents, we can estimate that there is a total of over 80 thousand requirements (see Fig 2). This clearly highlights the practical challenges faced by designers and those responsible for checking design compliance in the manual compliance checking of design solutions. Almost half of the requirements
extracted from the five aforementioned documents are subjective, hence, demanding human judgement. Furthermore, over half of the requirements are qualitative, containing important semantic-rich information which can be difficult to incorporate in building models. Main findings of this project also indicate that subjectivity
Figure 4. Checking corridor widths.
embedded in requirements can be of different types and due to multiple sources. That means complete automation
could be difficult to achieve in practice. However, some automation is achievable through the use of hybrid approaches, which are based on the use of technology in such a way as to complement and support human activities during the design process. This approach can also reinforce the guidance character of multiple documents from the regulatory framework used as an input to design, helping designers in their decision-making towards improved outputs.
Exhibit 1. Application of Solibri Model Checker An exploration on Solibri Model Checker was conducted with the aim of identifying
readily available commercial software to support automated design compliance checking. Solibri is a software designed for building model checking purposes, using a library of generic rules that can be adapted by modifying parameters and integration with building models through IFC (Industry Foundation Classes). In this study, Solibri has presented
positive outcomes when used to check requirements related to dimensions and quantities, such as floor area, ceiling height and inclusion of components within spaces, such as equipment and furniture. In previous studies,3,4
Solibri was 3D visualisation 3D visualisation
successfully used to verify requirements related to accessibility, properties of spaces and installation of systems within specific areas (see Fig 3). This research project confirmed what has been previously reported by the literature, despite the identification of some limitations, such as checking corridor widths in spaces with irregular shapes. Figure 4 is a snapshot extracted from Solibri Model Checker representing results of checking minimum corridor widths of 1500 and 1800mm and enough turning space for wheelchair manoeuvre. This figure represents (i) the spaces
Internal visualisation Internal visualisation
being verified (green objects), (ii) the free floor area available (blue); and (iii) conflicting elements, such as doors (red). On the left side of the picture there are the ‘checking’ and ‘results’ tabs, which provide a visual interface to communicate both status and results. The checking routine represented in the example below enabled identifying that doors would not be accessible based on the requirement constraints.
Spatial visualisation 98 Spatial visualisation Figure 5. Different visualisation perspectives in Solibri Model Checker.
Exhibit 2. Enhancing design awareness through building models The use of digital design tools such as Solibri can also improve visualisation of the design by enabling walking through the building model with designers, medical staff and representatives. This has
IFHE DIGEST 2021
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