- Watch out
- What it costs
- Experienced readers
- Remember
- In BIMpedia
The architect turns the client's brief into spaces people can use. On most building projects they also lead the design team: they chair design meetings, set the design programme and coordinate the engineers. For the BIM coordinator, their model is the spatial reference everyone else builds on.
| The architect usually owns | Everyone else uses it for |
|---|---|
| Levels and grids | Their own models, set out from the same references |
| Spaces and rooms (names, numbers, areas) | MEP design, room data sheets, FM, signage |
| Walls, doors, windows, curtain wall, roofs | Coordination, fire strategy, quantities |
| Finishes and ceilings | Services zones, quantities, maintenance |
What architects need from you
- Coordination results as design decisions. "The duct clashes with the ceiling" is a problem; "lower the ceiling 50 mm in corridor C, or move the duct to the riser side" is a decision they can make.
- Clear rules before they start: project levels, coordinates, naming, classification, and what properties rooms and doors must carry.
- Respect for their ownership. Don't copy or edit their elements in other models; reference them.
- Notice of what changes downstream: room numbers, door marks and level names feed schedules, FM and signage.
Every week the coordinator sends the architect 300 duct-ceiling clashes. The architect lowers ceilings to make them go away; the client's height requirement is breached on three floors, found at the stage 4 review.
The coordinator groups the clashes into four zones and brings them to the design meeting with the options and the minimum heights from the brief. The architect and MEP engineer agree a bulkhead in two corridors and a reroute elsewhere; the decision is recorded and the ceilings stay compliant.
Windows are the architect's elements, and the façade engineer and cost manager rely on their count. How many windows (IfcWindow) does the clinic have?
For each issue, say whether the architect is the right decision-maker, and what you'd bring to them.
- A structural column lands in the middle of a corridor.
- A pipe clashes with another pipe in a riser.
- The room schedule has two rooms numbered 2.14.
Key takeaways
- The architect owns spaces, the envelope, finishes, doors and windows, and usually the levels and grids everyone uses.
- They often lead the design team and chair design coordination.
- They need issues framed as design choices (move, resize, reroute), with drawings and model views, not raw clash lists.
- Room data (names, numbers, areas, finishes) starts in their model and flows to FM and handover.
Your notes
Related tool
Define which disciplines are tested against each other, with tolerances, priorities and owners.
Open Clash Test Matrix →