Houseplan/Home Design 2

[alphanumericname]

Hello,

I am a Civil/Structural engineer and would like to learn how to design house plans. Are there any good, modern courses (paid or free) that would help with this? I am mostly interested in using Revit. I primarily want to design a home for myself but would love to learn how to edit and create plans for others. Does anyone have any experience heading down this path that they could share?

Thanks.

 

[SWComposites]

Presumably you should look for home architecture courses.

 

[bimr]

It is probably less expensive to hire a qualified architect than to try to design one yourself.

What would you think of an architect that decides he wants to do structural engineering?

An architect is more than just a designer, they need to have a knowledge of various styles. You don't want to put modern casement windows on a traditional house.

You meet with an architect and explain what your are looking for. He will guide you in the design process.

 

[alphanumericname]

I am interested in it because I enjoy design and would like to try my hand at it myself. There is enough free content on the internet that someone could use YouTube and learn exactly the same things that I learned in college while getting my degree, possibly with better quality. In fact, MIT has entire undergraduate course catalogs posted for free because college has migrated to a credentialing model. Obviously there needs to be a structured program of study for these things, but my point is that if a licensed architect proactively sought resources to further his understanding of structural engineering, I would be supportive. I'm not trying to do full-time architecture, just some house plans. I'd like to tap into tribal knowledge in architecture: styling sources, plugins for Revit, common mistakes, design best practices, etc.

 

[swazimatt]

I fully support this, having worked with a lot of architects and lived in a lot of architecturally designed houses, the best house i have lived in was designed by an engineer. I believe formal architectural training is something that is needed more in large buildings where they need to consider services, people movements, emergency procedures etc. Not so much in a 3 bedroom house (for yourself!)

A really useful book to get hold of is the barefoot architect

https://www.amazon.com.au/Barefoot-Architect-Handbook-Green-Building/dp/0936070420

it is something a lot of architects should refer to instead of blindly stating that the living spaces MUST face the sun etc

 

[alphanumericname]

Thank you so much! That's the kind of content I am looking for. I ordered a copy of the book. I appreciate the insight.

 

[bimr]

I think you would be better off watching the This Old House program on PBS than buying that book. Better yet, subscribe to PBS and obtain access to all of the older material. All of the residences that are renovated on the This Old House program are done by architects.

Seriously: "helping economically-challenged tropical builders learn how to provide shelter, clean water, electrical energy, and sanitation by using indigenous, low-cost, sustainable building materials." That's not a practical book unless one is in the third world. What works in the third world is not going to work in suburban U.S.

I would add that not all architects have the gift of style. I believe that it is something innate.

Architects must be trained in all sorts of things for residential buildings. Emergency egress requirements for bedroom windows, energy efficient design requirements, zoning issues, sunlight exposure requirements in buildings, as well as the numerous code issues like sprinklers and arc flash.

The important thing is that you know how to design. I suggest working with an architect or building designer for a little bit to understand the architectural issues beyond the engineering sciences. The short answer is yes but you need to understand architecture as an art and science that includes factors beyond the engineering sciences covers.

 

[MadisonCameron]

To learn how to design a home using Revit, consider the following resources: online courses on Udemy, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, as well as official training materials and tutorials from Autodesk, the creator of Revit software. It's also worth exploring communities and forums where professionals share their experiences and tips on working with Revit.

 

[darthsoilsguy2]

My recommendation is to buy a modular and design the concrete basement area (*cough* man-cave) that goes underneath and supports it. Companies have big catalogs of modulars today are very good at giving lots of layout and style options and feel stick-built. Building a home is enough of a rewarding challenge all by itself, don't make it overwhelming or you won't enjoy it. If you have a partner involved who isn't as construction savvy, modular shopping brings them into the decisions and empowers them since they can't get inside your head until you draw it up. The quality control is just better when people build things in a shop with stock materials and good tools available. Pre-fab is also good because they build most of the building utilities into the walls so it eliminates a lot of the annoying project mgmt work of chasing down subs and getting them on-site at the same time. Also the price-control is good because you have a reliable number for a major portion of the project. There is enough fulfilling work in building your own home that you won't feel short-changed by not drafting the blueprints.