How does Revit locate multiple individual buildings linked to the same site? For complex projects involving multiple separate units, a common approach is to use a Revit file representing the overall site layout, with each individual building modeled in its own independent Revit file. These individual files are then linked into the main site file to create a comprehensive view of the entire project.
Typically, individual units are not drawn using absolute coordinates for convenience, which raises the question: how can they be accurately and easily positioned when linked into the overall site layout?
Revit addresses this challenge with its Shared Coordinates feature. This functionality is somewhat complex, involving two key processes: Publish Coordinates and Acquire Coordinates, which are often confused. The following example, based on the Taikang South China International Health City project designed by Guangdong Architectural Design and Research Institute, illustrates the general workflow.
The overall site plan of a mountainous architectural complex is shown below. This Revit file contains the site layout, with each individual building positioned on the map but not yet linked. For demonstration, we focus on Unit 1 within the dashed box.
(1) Unit 1 is already designed in its own Revit file, shown here. For drawing convenience, its position and project north direction are not aligned with the absolute coordinates of the overall site.
(2) Switch back to the overall site Revit file and use the Insert > Link Revit command to select the Unit 1 file. Since the positioning is not yet precise, choose Automatic – Center to Center for now. As shown, the initial placement is clearly incorrect.
(3) Use Move and Align commands to position Unit 1 correctly. Note that in addition to adjusting the horizontal position, you must also set the vertical elevation in a section view. The figure shows the result after positioning.
(4) On the ribbon, go to Manage > Coordinates > Publish Coordinates (see figure), then select Unit 1. A dialog box will appear where you can name the coordinate system. If this unit is only referenced within this project, the default name is sufficient.
(5) Click Confirm, then save the overall site file. A prompt will appear asking if you want to save the updated location back to the Unit 1 Revit file. Click Save. Repeat this process for other individual units as needed.
(6) Close the overall site file and open the Unit 1 file. Open the Project Base Point to verify that the X, Y, and Z coordinates have been set as relative shared coordinates (see Figure 202). At this point, using Annotate > Spot Coordinates will display absolute coordinates consistent with the overall site plan.
(7) If other Revit files (e.g., Unit 2) need to link Unit 1, use the Automatic – By Shared Coordinates option to ensure accurate placement based on the established coordinates.
(8) Conversely, if Unit 1 links the overall site layout file and positions it as shown in Figure 203, the site layout will be accurately located relative to the individual unit’s coordinate system. The figure illustrates how the overall plan is placed using the unit’s relative coordinate system.
(9) When exporting the combined model to Navisworks, it’s essential to select the correct coordinate option—choose Shared Coordinates during export, as shown in the figure, to maintain correct positioning of multiple individual files within Navisworks.
In summary, the above steps describe how to publish coordinates from the master site file to linked individual files. Alternatively, you can reverse the process by linking the overall site file into individual units, repositioning or rotating the site file as needed, and then using Coordinates > Acquire Coordinates to assign shared coordinates to the individual files. This reverse workflow achieves the same result and will not be detailed further here.
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Complete workflow solution using shared coordinates in Revit
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