There are several ways to achieve certain model and documentation results in Revit. For example, walls have have all the materials in a single element (i.e. wall types) or they can exist in multiple wall types and be combined (i.e. modeled side-by-side). Today's post shares some benefits to the multiple-elements workflow.
In the image above, and floor plan shown below, the concrete block wall is continuous along the corridor. What happens when just one room along this wall requires a finish? Do you create a new wall type "CMU + Finish" and split the wall in plan and swap in the new wall where the finish needs to occur? While this is certainly possibly, what happens vertically? Does the finish need to extend to the floor/roof above, or the top of the parapet (in some cases)? Given the acoustic and security barrier offered by the CMU wall, it would be a waste of material (and embodied carbon) to do so.
An alternative option, with few negative side effects, is to model the CMU wall separately. Then, where needed, add a seperate Revit wall type adjacent/aligned with the CMU wall. This cleans up with adjacent finishes, at the ends as shown in the floor plan above. Now you can also modify the top edge of this wall independent of the CMU wall.
When the two parallel walls are joined, using the Modify\Join command, doors and windows will cut through all walls. The furring wall can also have the material return as shown in the image below (click to enlarge). You can modify your door and window content to more accurately control the positioning of the material return as I wrote about here: Revit Material Return at Wall Openings.
There are certainly lots of scenarios where the material return detail cannot be achieved, but that is also true for a single wall type with all the layers in it as well.
Finally, for documentation you simply add more wall tags as shown below.
For those doing energy modeling using Autodesk Insight you will be happy to know that the energy analysis model (EAM) created by Revit will properly combine these walls into a single analytical surface (including the thermal properties).
Share your related tips and tricks in the comments below.
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