Sinthiya Ravi_ARCH 653 Project 1

For my ARCH 653 - Building Information Modeling Project 1, I have modeled Marina Bay Beach Sands Towers and Skydeck, Singapore. It was designed by Safdie Architects and contains a number of hotels, museum, casino, theaters, restaurants, two floating crystal pavilions, convention center and skating rink. The three towers are connected in the top by a skydeck which overhangs the north tower by 220 ft. Each tower has a straight and leaning portion which created complexity in modeling. I have controlled the dimensions of the straight and leaning portion of the towers parametrically. The façade dimensions and materials are also controlled parametrically.

Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Bay_Sands

PARAMETRIC MODELING:

Each tower has a sloping/curved portion and a straight portion. The curve angle changes from tower to tower. This was controlled parametrically by a formula as seen in Figure 1. The curved portion in the first tower is at an angle of 26 degrees and meets the straight tower at the 23^rd floor. The angle reduces for the other towers: 20 and 18 degrees respectively.

Figure 1: Distance between straight and curved towers controlled parametrically

I modeled the Towers with 3 levels to create a curve for the Leaning Tower as seen in figure 2.

Figure 2: X-Ray mode of my Mass model

I modeled the towers as separate mass models and then loaded them in a single mass modeling file. The height of the towers were locked to the top reference plane to facilitate change in height when the ‘Tower Height” parameter is changed. The parameters of the two loaded towers were given as type parameters and after they were loaded into the mass model of the Tower 1, the parameters were linked to the Tower 1 parameters to facilitate the change in dimensions when the parameters of the Tower 1 are changed. These are shown in figures 3 & 4.

Some of the dimensions controlled parametrically are Straight tower thickness, Tower Height, Straight tower middle length, Leaning tower top and bottom length, etc.,

Figure 3: Tower 2 Showing linked parameters to Tower 1

Figure 4: Tower 3 Showing linked parameters to Tower 1

The Skydeck is supported on top of supports as shown in Figure 5. The bottom of the Skydeck is locked to the top of the supports and the tower top is locked to the bottom of the supports to make them move as a single model.

Figure 5: Supports for Skydeck

Façade

I have designed a rectangular curtain panel based on Custom Curtain Panel and have a frame/extrusion on one side which is parametrically controlled. This was given in order to obtain the original building’s glass extrusions. The materials of the panels are also parametrically controlled. They were given as instance parameters in curtain panel family and linked to type parameters in mass models to make them visible at project level.

Figure 6: Rectangular curtain panel with parameters to control Extrusion Height, thickness (X or X1) and Materials

Some parametrically controlled changes:

Figure 7: Original Height Parameter

Figure 8: Modified Height Parameter

Figure 9: Modified Middle length parameter of straight tower

Figure 10: Original Middle length parameter of straight tower

Figure 11: Modified top/bottom thickness parameter of straight tower

Figure 12: Original top/bottom thickness parameter of straight tower

Figure 13: Modified parameter of façade family

Figure 14: Original parameter of façade family

I have controlled the dimensions of the façade and the towers parametrically. This will be helpful for the architects to compare the aesthetic appearance based on the varying dimensions of the leaning and straight towers.

Constraints Faced:

Since the curved and leaning portions of the tower are separated by a distance, I tried combining them using a flat mass to give glass panel façade. However, while loading it into the project; I was unable to create mass floors, as my model contained both mesh and solid geometry. So, I had to create a solid mass in between the two portions of the towers.

I was unable to create the connecting pathway between the towers as my model in project level faced problems in creating mass floors as the mass contained interconnecting masses.
Due to limitations in time, the skydeck has not been modeled in detail.

Renderings:

Exterior Rendering: