DESST 3514 - Construction III

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2015

In this course students will study the construction of architecture, landscapes and urban environments. The course will build on the topics introduced in Construction II: history and theory; representation and documentation; materials and detailing; engineering structure and fabric; structural engineering principles; plants; grading and drainage; and digital documentation. The topics of: building codes, regulations, standards, specifications, building procurement and contracts; and parametric modelling will be introduced in this course. Revit and Building Information Modelling (BIM) will be introduced. The course aims to develop advanced knowledge, skills and understanding in the areas of: the relationship between construction and design; the representation of construction in a historical and theoretical context; construction materials and detailing; and the relationship between structure and fabric; planting, irrigation and grading; structural principles and digital construction documentation. Students will have foundational knowledge, skills and understanding in the areas of: the use and impact on construction and design of building codes, regulations, and standards; the writing of specifications, methods of procurement and contracts; and construction documentation using parametric modelling software.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code DESST 3514
    Course Construction III
    Coordinating Unit School of Architecture and Built Environment
    Term Semester 1
    Level Undergraduate
    Location/s North Terrace Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 3 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Assumed Knowledge DESST 2518
    Restrictions Available to B.ArchDes students only
    Quota A quota will apply
    Course Description In this course students will study the construction of architecture, landscapes and urban environments. The course will build on the topics introduced in Construction II: history and theory; representation and documentation; materials and detailing; engineering structure and fabric; structural engineering principles; plants; grading and drainage; and digital documentation. The topics of: building codes, regulations, standards, specifications, building procurement and contracts; and parametric modelling will be introduced in this course. Revit and Building Information Modelling (BIM) will be introduced.

    The course aims to develop advanced knowledge, skills and understanding in the areas of: the relationship between construction and design; the representation of construction in a historical and theoretical context; construction materials and detailing; and the relationship between structure and fabric; planting, irrigation and grading; structural principles and digital construction documentation. Students will have foundational knowledge, skills and understanding in the areas of: the use and impact on construction and design of building codes, regulations, and standards; the writing of specifications, methods of procurement and contracts; and construction documentation using parametric modelling software.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Stewart Caldwell

    Refer to the Course Handout Booklet on MyUni for more information
    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

    Refer to the Course Handout Booklet on MyUni for more information
  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    On completion of this course students will be able to:

    1. Have an increased knowledge of how materiality affects building design
    2. Gain knowledge of how digital tools can inform the design process
    3. Gain knowledge of how BIM affects project workflow
    4. Gain skills in the rationalisation of design scheme to accommodate building structure and services while maintaining design integrity
    5. Have an understanding of how to use REVIT
    6. Understand how to integrate digital tools with other design inputs (like sketch drawings)
    7. Gain skills which allow students to work in teams and with other consultants
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7
    The ability to locate, analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources in a planned and timely manner. 2,4,6,7
    An ability to apply effective, creative and innovative solutions, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems. 1,4,6,7
    Skills of a high order in interpersonal understanding, teamwork and communication. 3,6,7
    A proficiency in the appropriate use of contemporary technologies. 2,3,5,6,7
    A commitment to continuous learning and the capacity to maintain intellectual curiosity throughout life. 1,4,2
    A commitment to the highest standards of professional endeavour and the ability to take a leadership role in the community. 7
    An awareness of ethical, social and cultural issues within a global context and their importance in the exercise of professional skills and responsibilities. 1,3,6,7
  • Learning Resources
    Recommended Resources

    The following texts are suggested reading for this subject:

    • 'Detailing for water: why do buildings leak?' (Rico J Bonaldi. Pub Bonaldi Australia. www.bonaldi.com.au)
      (a portion of this text will be made available on MyUni)
    • Concrete Basics (this will be made available on MyUni)
    • 'Barrys Advanced Construction of Buildings' (Stephen Emmitt, Christopher A Gorse)
    • 'On Weathering' (Mohsen Mostafavi, David Leatherbarrow)
    • 'Building Your Own Home' (George Wilkie)

    Other locations for resources will be distributed during lectures


    Speaker Series:
    The School has a fortnightly lecture series where respected practitioners and academics from the field deliver a public lecture on contemporary architectural practice. In order to expand your knowledge of contemporary directions in design it is recommended that you attend these sessions. The exact detail of dates and speakers is available from the School website and the Front Office.

    Online Learning
    University Email:
    The school uses the University email system to get in touch with the students. So it is imperative that you check your email regularly and keep up to date with any new announcements.

    MyUni:
    MyUni is an essential online tool which will be used to communicate information regarding the course including details of assignments and interim grades. There are many other learning resources and assessment pieces that rely on the MyUni system for delivery. Therefore it is recommended that you familiarise yourself with the various functions of MyUni and employ it to its fullest extent. https://myuni.adelaide.edu.au

    Discussion Board:
    The MyUni Discussion Board can be used to interact with other students and tutors and is an essential tool to discuss information and increase your understanding of issues.

    Lecture Recording:
    In certain cases the recording of the lectures is made available in electronic format for students to listen through on their own time and make notes, and is provided through the MyUni system. However, this service is only available for lectures with essential course content and may not include guest lectures. Furthermore, where the presentation content is subject to copyright or the guest speaker is uncomfortable with the recording of the content, the lecture recording will not be made available online. So students should not rely solely on this mode of learning and arrange to attend or get lecture content from peers.

    Noticeboard / Handbook:
    General information about the activities at the School is available online from the Student Noticeboard which can be accessed at
    https://unified.adelaide.edu.au/group/professons-studentarchitecture/ current-student
    Students can also access a copy of the Student Handbook at the following link:
    https://unified.adelaide.edu.au/group/professons-student-architecture/enrolments
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes

    This course will be taught with a combination of Lab based workshops, lectures and some student presentations. A brief description is as follows:

    LECTURES AND SEMINARS: Lectures and seminars will be a combination of directed sessions, guest speakers and student participation.

    WORKSHOPS: All workshops are REVIT based sessions. The first group of workshops will be dedicated to training in the use of REVIT. The second set of workshops will be dedicated to students developing assessment work.

    TUTORIALS: Those tutorials not dedicated to student presentations and assessments will have a theme. These will be the basis of a short presentation and discussion. The remainder of tutorial time will be dedicated to reviewing students ongoing draft assessment work. Bring printouts along.

    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    The University expects full-time students (ie. those taking 12 units per semester) to devote at least 48 hours per week to their studies. Accordingly, students undertaking this 3 unit course are expected to devote 12 hours per week to contact activities and self-guided studies.

    Based on this framework here are some figures that might assist workload management (delete as appropriate):

    For a 3 unit course:
    Total workload hours: 12 Hrs per week x 13 weeks = 156 Hrs
    Total contact hours: 3 Hrs per week x 12 weeks = 36 Hrs
    Total self-guided study: 156 Hrs – 36 Hrs = 120 Hrs

    For a 6 unit course:
    Total workload hours: 24 Hrs per week x 13 weeks = 312 Hrs
    Total contact hours: 6 Hrs per week x 12 weeks = 72 Hrs
    Total self-guided study: 312 Hrs – 72 Hrs = 240 Hrs

    For a 12 unit course:
    Total workload hours: 48 Hrs per week x 13 weeks = 624 Hrs
    Total contact hours: 12 Hrs per week x 12 weeks = 144 Hrs
    Total self-guided study: 624 Hrs – 144 Hrs = 480 Hrs

    These 120 or 240 or 480 hours should be used towards preparation of weekly tasks and for completion of the various assignments associated with the course, including development of various skills required to complete the same. Please organise your time wisely.

    While there is some opportunity for students to develop assessment work during tutorials and workshops it is expected that a majority of student work is completed outside of contact hours. Students will be required to spend time increasing their skills in the use of REVIT and other digital tools including SketchUp and possibly NAVISWORKS. On weeks including lectures students will be required to attend two hours of lectures and one hour of tutorials. On weeks including workshops students will be required to attend two hours of workshop and one hour of seminar time.

    This is a 3 unit course. Recommended study commitments are meant to be hours of full time study, not just sitting thinking about the subject! The seminar workshops and other activities, including reviews of work in progress are an important component of your learning in this course. Some additional time may be required to familiarise yourself with the software required for assessments. The communication skills developed by regularly and actively participating in discussions are considered to be most important by the School and are highly regarded by employers and professional bodies

    Learning Activities Summary

    WEEK

    DATE

    SESSION

    TOPIC

    1

    WED 5/3/14

    LE01

    Course Introduction, An introduction to BIM, Building Structures and Collaboration

    TU01-05

    Assessment introduction

    2

    WED 12/3/14

    LE01

    Materials and Design

    TU01-05

    Presentation on detail selection

    3

    WED 19/3/14

    LE01

    Materials in construction

    TU01-05

    Presentation for interim submission

    4

    WED 26/3/14

    LE01

    Building elements

    TU01-05

    Time for assistance with Assessment

    5

    WED 2/4/14

    SE01

    BIM essentials

    WR01-3

    REVIT Basics

    6

    WED 9/4/14

    SE01

    BIM and parametric modelling

    WR01-3

    REVIT Fundamentals

    BREAK

    WED 16/4/14

    -

    Time available for further REVIT training

    WED 23/4/14

    -

    Time available for further REVIT training

    7

    WED 30/4/14

    SE01

    BIM and design

    WR01-3

    REVIT and content

    8

    WED 7/5/14

    SE01

    BIM and Collaboration

    WR01-3

    REVIT Scheduling and Detailing

    9

    WED 14/5/14

    LE01

    Integrating structural and services systems

    TU01-05

    Time for assistance with Assessment

    10

    WED 21/5/14

    LE01

    Building Information Management and collaboration of structural and mechanical systems

    TU01-05

    Presentation for Assessment

    11

    WED 28/5/14

    LE01

    Using digital tools for design / Exploring and understanding your site

    TU01-05

    Time for assistance with Assessment

    12

    WED 4/6/14

    LE01

    Presentation for Assessment

    TU01-05

    Presentation for Assessment

    Specific Course Requirements
    Failure to attend teaching due to medical, compassionate or extenuating circumstances is dealt with the School Policy, administered by the School Office. Submit the appropriate application for supplementary consideration together with the original signed medical or other relevant officer, to the School Office. If you foresee a problem contact the Course Coordinator BEFORE the problem actually occurs. Otherwise, contact the Course Coordinator as soon as possible and submit the appropriate application for supplementary consideration to the School Office.
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    No.DueTitle% of Grade
    1a Wed 19/3/14 Interim submission for Assessment 2 5%
    1b Wed 2/4/14 Detail Study 20%
    2a Wed 16/4/14 REVIT Family and Tutorial 5%
    2b Fri 9/5/14 REVIT Detail Study 20%
    3 Wed 21/5/14 Collaboration Exercise 10%
    4 Wed 4/6/14 Virtual Model, System analysis and Detailing 40%
    Refer to Assessment Details in Appendix 1 of the Course Booklet on MyUni for more information.
    Assessment Detail
    Refer to appendix 1 of the course booklet found on MyUni
    Submission

    Some submissions for this course will required uploading to a web hosted dropbox. Details will be forwarded during the first lecture. As part of the first assessment students will be required to upload their design statement for the Hamilton Place design studio.

    Refer to Assessment Details in Appendix 1 for assignment sheets

    1a

    Interim submission

    Wed 19/3/14

    5%

    In tutorial

    1b

    Detail Study

    Wed 2/4/14

    20%

    TBC

    2a

    REVIT Family and Tutorial

    Wed 16/4/14

    5%

    Digital upload

    2b

    REVIT Detail Study

    Fri 9/5/14

    20%

    Digital upload / Submission box

    3

    Collaboration Exercise

    Wed 21/5/14

    10%

    In tutorial

    4

    Virtual Model, System analysis  and Detailing

    Wed 4/6/14

    40%

    Digital upload / In tutorial



    All assignments must be submitted at the time and place as indicated above. Note that NO LATE submissions will be accepted unless it is due to illness and other accepted circumstances as explained in the School's Student Handbook.
    Selected submissions of the Final Assignment will be included in the All-In Exhibition at the end of the semester.

    Submissions (General):
     All submissions must include Student Name and Student ID Number. Submissions without Student Name or ID Number will not be considered for marking, and will receive zero marks in accordance with the guidelines.
     In addition, all assignments need to have an Assignment Cover Sheet which must be signed and dated by the student before submission. Please attach the cover sheet in front of the document, to the top left hand corner.
     Please adhere to submission deadlines and follow instructions provided.
     Students must not submit work for an assignment that has previously been submitted for this course or any other course without prior approval from the Course Coordinator.
     On occasion, the lecturer/tutor may wish to retain students’ work for future reference and the relevant student will be informed at such a time.
    Early Submission:
     There is an early submission box located on Level 4 which is cleared out daily at 10am. Please mark your submission clearly before placing in box.
     Models for in-class presentation cannot be handed in early.
    Late Submission:
     The school will NOT accept late submissions and any such assignment will receive zero marks. This also applies to electronic submissions.
     Printing delays & hard disk crashes will not be entertained as legitimate causes for delay, so please ensure that the work is finished in advance.
    Re-submission:
     The school has a resubmission policy whereby students can redeem failed work by submitting additional work for a maximum of 50%.
     The deadline for all re-submissions is 12pm on Friday 14th June 2013.
    Good practice:
     Students should ensure that they regularly backup their work on multiple locations as hard-disk crashes are an unfortunate reality.
     When relying on community printing facilities, students should attempt to finish their work in advance to avoid unnecessary delays.
     Students must retain a copy of all assignments submitted (digital or hardcopy), as originals may be lost during the submission process.
    For modified arrangements of submission and assessment due to special circumstances see the following Assessment Task Extension(s) & Additional Assessment guidelines.
    Modified Arrangements (General)
     Students can apply for extensions or modified arrangements based on Medical conditions or other Extenuating circumstances. However, students need to submit their application along with supporting documents within 5 business days of the condition becoming applicable.
     The application forms are available from the Front Office and at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/exams/mod_arrange.html and need to be submitted at the Front Office along with any supporting documentation.
     Please note that submitting an application does not guarantee acceptance and the Course Coordinator will inform the applicant if the application is accepted. Please DO NOT contact the Course Coordinator directly.
    Medical Reasons:
     In case of an extended medical condition which makes it impossible for the student to submit the work on time, an Application for Assessment Task Extension due to Medical Circumstances may be lodged with the Front Office along with a doctor’s certificate within 5 business days.
    Extenuating Circumstances:
     If the student is unable to submit the work on time due to extenuating circumstances an Application for Assessment Task Extension due to Extenuating Circumstances may be lodged with the Front Office.
     Please note that this is only available for certain military, religious, or legal obligations and does not extend to minor personal problems. (Refer to Student Handbook at http://www.architecture.adelaide.edu.au/current/resources/ for further details or contact Student Advisor).
    Compassionate Grounds:
     In case of certain extraordinary personal problems students can apply for extensions based on compassionate grounds. However, these must first be discussed with the Course Coordinator in person through appointment during the assigned office hours.
     To maintain privacy relating to personal issues students can contact the University Transition and Advisory Service at 8313 0100 or transition@adelaide.edu.au, or approach the Counselling Service on 83035663 for an individual appointment.
    Additional Assessment:
     If a student receives a Fail grade for the course with an overall mark between 45 and 49, they may be eligible for an Additional Assessment which would allow them to get a maximum of 50 Pass for the Course.
     Additional Assessment offers are made by the School and the student will be informed directly once these are made available.
    Disability:
     Students who have a disability and wish to seek modified submission or assessment arrangements need to contact the University Disability Services at 83135962 or disability@adelaide.edu.au for supporting documentation and then communicate these to the Course Coordinator in person through appointment during the assigned office hours.
    Elite Athlete:
     Students who have national/international sporting commitments and wish to seek modified submission or assessment arrangements need to register with the University Elite Athlete Support Scheme at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/eliteathletes/ and then communicate this to the Course Coordinator in person through appointment during the assigned office hours.
    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

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