California-based Lionakis, a multi-disciplined privately held firm specializing in architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, sustainability, and graphics, is focused on achieving quality control (QC) early on, and maintaining QC throughout the development of every project.
The firm has assembled a task force dedicated to QC, and the task force develops a BIM Execution Plan for every project. Their process relies on Ideate Software, especially Ideate Explorer for Revit.
Their challenges are familiar. Revit models grow increasingly information heavy. The management of volumes of complex data can bog down even the most adept Revit users.
The Innovative Response: Leverage Ideate Explorer for Revit
The Lionakis team uses Ideate Explorer for Revit for auditing. With it, they can split a model, enabling them to grab all the interior components and move them to the right location. The Revit add-in has become their go-to tool for in-house model management, making it far easier to maintain standards, find and delete unwanted insertions, and even assist them as they prepare for clash detection.
Training With Ideate Software Underpins QC
The Task Force trains Revit staff in the application of Ideate Software, particularly around best practices and office standards. Staff members use Ideate Software in multiple cases several times a week and acknowledge that it really helps with productivity.
Maintaining Standards
Kristina Gardenhire, Design Technology Application Manager, Lionakis, notes, “By using Ideate Explorer for Revit, we can find all inconsistently named elements, and change them to the standard naming convention almost instantly. Once everything is organized and clean, the file can be easily managed. We save error and misunderstanding down the road. Mistakes have a way of propagating i they are copied. We keep that from happening.”
Finding and Deleting Unwanted Insertions
In another case, a Revit-using Lionakis designer came to the team with a problem that originated from a deliberate action. An existing “old” Revit model had been inserted into a “new” Revit project created from an updated template. However, there had been no plan for handling the Levels prior to insertion.
Problems had been compounding. There were duplicate Levels. Some walls were based on the “old” file’s Level one; others were based on the “new” file’s Level one. Kristina Gardenhire’s first action was to open Ideate Explorer for Revit. She was able to separate, select and choose those that applied from those that were not desired. As she says,
“In Ideate Explorer for Revit, we can easily see everything that is on a Level. We can pick and choose. I don’t even know how I would do it without Ideate Explorer for Revit because it would seem so tedious.”
Conclusion
For Lionakis, use of Ideate Explorer for Revit has become central to the design process itself, and even more importantly to the support of design staff and maintenance of the firm’s standards. As Kristina Gardenhire explains,
“Keeping the file clean ensures QC. Miscellaneous items can creep in, things that are not following the conventions we have established. Ideate Explorer for Revit helps us get back into a well-organized structure, so things get dispersed throughout the project accurately, and that means we reduce errors.”
About Lionakis
California-based Lionakis has played a significant role in shaping the built environment throughout the State of California for more than a century. The privately held firm specializes in architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, sustainability and graphics, and ranks in the top 25 of California’s leading architectural firms. More than 80 percent of the firm’s projects come from repeat clients, who value their cutting-edge technology and sustainable design
solutions.
About Ideate Software
Ideate Software allows Revit users to have unprecedented control over their data and solve persistent problems in Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Owner (AECO) workflows. Ideate Software solutions enable Revit users to save time, increase accuracy, improve project deliverables, and elevate design.
