Coming back from Thanksgiving break, we finished up the final bit of concrete for this project and looked towards the next steps in the construction process. While the concrete piers set, there is much to be done on the storage piece, the roof, the sink, and the benches. The bulk of the past day or two has been spent revisiting previous drawings to get them to what we need to cut and build from. At the same time, we have also had a few people reviewing the budget and material counts and picking up some wood.
The complexity of the roof has been a challenge from the start, and continues to be. A team has been working hard to flush out exactly how each column, beam, girder, and purlin needs to be cut and assembled. In this case, the Revit model was hindering the work and just making things more complicated, so they turned to simple 2D CAD drafting to draw out the roof and column structure.
I have personally learned a great deal about the cost of materials and the challenges of budgeting over the past few days. Any change in drawings or design can have subsequent, potentially major changes on the budget. I have also learned that it is a good idea to count things twice, and double check calculations. We want to realize the greatest potential with the investment we have been given, but going in the red would significantly take away from any success. Because we have a number of different teams and components with this project, creating one master budget and material list has required plenty of attention and coordination. But, this is one aspect of design build in school which I find most educational and beneficial. Taking a structure from concept to realization requires so many small steps and considerations. It is real and we face real problems. The more that is at stake, the more we think and invest, and there is a lot at stake in design build. And in less than two weeks, we will finish the process and get to see all of our work embodied in a final product.
