Four Garden Apartments in ICF, West Park, Florida

LoD400 architectural and structural Revit models and a permit-ready, US-format drawing set for a two-story building with four garden apartments in West Park, Florida, built in insulated concrete forms. Delivered for EJD Management Services. The building was permitted and has been built.

The brief

In 2022 EJD Management Services was planning a two-storey building with four garden apartments in West Park, Florida, to be built in insulated concrete forms (ICF). There was a SketchUp concept and some earlier plans, but no coordinated model and no drawing set. We were asked to deliver LoD300 Revit models and permit-ready structural and architectural drawings in US format.

What made it hard

None of the building systems were ones we use in the Netherlands. Florida-specific ICF walls and floors, steel trusses and impact-resistant windows all had to be understood properly before they could be modelled properly.

How we worked

We started with a project initiation document that fixed the deliverables and milestones. Then we researched the systems available on the US market: Fox Blocks ICF walls, Amvic ICF floors, TrusSteel trusses and impact-resistant windows. We took our findings to the client, who confirmed them or told us where they had made, or were about to make, a different choice. Only then did we build the structural and architectural models.

What we delivered

A 13-sheet set with plans, elevations, sections, ICF construction details, a quantity take-off and a 3D overview. The structural set went out at the end of May 2022 and the final architectural set in September 2022. The building was permitted and has been built.

What we took from it

In an unfamiliar market the research is the work. Doing it first, and checking it with the client before modelling, meant every choice in the model was one they had already agreed to.