Project 01 / 06

API Tower — Interior Design BIM & FF&E Family Authoring

Reference imagery to modelled Revit families for a super-tall twin-tower development in Dubai

RevitInterior Design BIMFF&EMillworkFamily AuthoringClassification
My contribution

Created custom parametric and manufacturer-specific Revit families for the interior fit-out scope.

Overview

Two iconic twin towers on the Dubai skyline, combining luxury residential with a boutique hotel. This work covers the interior design BIM scope: modelling the FF&E, millwork and sanitaryware that fit out the guest rooms and public areas, and building the classified Revit content those spaces are scheduled from.

API Tower
API Tower

The building

A super-tall structure programmed vertically, each band with its own interior character:

LevelsProgramme
100–102Skyvilla
58–98Branded Residences
70–71VIP Members' Club
58–69Hotel
54–56Skydeck Amenities
12–51API Residences
11Podium — API Residences amenities
Upper GroundHotel lobby, Branded Residences lobby
GroundAPI Residences lobby
Tower programme and model breakdown structure
Tower programme and model breakdown structure

Model breakdown structure

The architecture was split into container models by category, with nested links resolved directly into the container rather than chained:

On a tower this size the federation strategy is the project — one monolithic model would be unopenable, and Tower 2 being delivered by a separate hotel operator means the split has to survive another company's workflow.


Information requirements

Content was not modelled to look right; it was modelled to carry data. The delivery matrix set what every element had to hold at Schematic Design 100% and Detailed Design 100%:

RequirementSD 100%DD 100%
Native model information (length, type, width, dimensions, level, slope)
Uniclass 2015 system information
NRM 1 classification codes
COBie parameters
Inputs and information requirements
Inputs and information requirements

Uniclass 2015 and NRM 1 together mean the model feeds cost planning and classification, not just visualisation — the same discipline that makes the Tolworth COBie export work.


Guest room Type L

A worked room type: annotated plan keyed to FF&E codes, 3D cutaways, and a schedule breaking every item into Casegoods, Seating, Millwork and Sanitaryware.

Guest room Type L — plan, 3D and FF&E schedule
Guest room Type L — plan, 3D and FF&E schedule

Items are coded rather than named — HF-SGR-200 headboard and bed base, HF-SGR-900 millwork at bed accent wall, HF-SGR-904 bathroom vanity, HF-SW-112 sanitaryware. Coding is what lets one room type be scheduled, costed and repeated across dozens of floors without ambiguity.

Public areas

Upper ground floor — arrival and lobby
Upper ground floor — arrival and lobby
Lift lobby and lift cab
Lift lobby and lift cab

Reference photography and designer intent on one side, the modelled result on the other — including lift cab interiors, which are their own detailing problem.


Image to Revit family

Reference image to Revit family
Reference image to Revit family

The core workflow, and the reason this project sits first in the portfolio: a photograph or mood-board image on one side, a parametric Revit family on the other. Floor lamps, consoles, vanities, TV units, decorative light fittings — each interpreted from imagery with no manufacturer model available, and rebuilt as schedulable, classified content.

That is the same competency as the Cork and Batter millwork and the balcony railing family, applied at a different scale: when the content you need does not exist, author it.


Cork and Batter — 3D Modelling & Construction Documentation →