Spotlight on the use of Ideate Software by WRNS Studio
WRNS Studio, a San Francisco and Honolulu-based architecture firm, uses Ideate BIMLink, Ideate StyleManager, and Ideate Explorer to manage Revit models across projects including the Adobe Utah Campus, Cal State Chico, Boeddeker Clubhouse, and Sonoma Academy. BIMLink lets the team edit door, finish, and sheet-index schedules in Excel and bring updates back into Revit. StyleManager finds and removes unused or duplicate line styles, object styles, and filters at project milestones, while Explorer handles selection filtering, warning management, and workset auditing. Together, the tools free WRNS designers to focus on design rather than manual cleanup.
Key Facts
View key facts for "Spotlight on the use of Ideate Software by WRNS Studio".
Business Impact
- Faster Excel-based schedule editing
- Cleaner models, fewer duplicate styles
- More time for design, less busywork
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Tools Used in the Case Study
Discover which tools and technologies were used for "Spotlight on the use of Ideate Software by WRNS Studio".
Ideate StyleManager
Ideate StyleManager is a Revit data management and model cleanup tool that helps architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) teams maintain consistent, high-quality BIM standards across projects. The software enables users to identify, manage, and remove unused, duplicate, or non-standard content within Revit models, templates, and families. This includes object styles, line styles, line patterns, fill patterns, filled regions, materials, material assets, filters, view templates, viewports, and other project standards. By centralizing and simplifying standards management, Ideate StyleManager helps BIM managers enforce company-wide Revit standards, reduce model clutter, and improve overall model performance. The tool also supports quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) processes by making it easier to identify inconsistencies before project delivery. With cleaner, more standardized models, teams can improve collaboration, reduce errors, decrease file sizes, and create more reliable project documentation. Ideate StyleManager is particularly valuable for organizations looking to scale BIM best practices and maintain consistency across multiple projects and offices.
Ideate Explorer
Revit add-on that let you search, filter, quantify and select elements in a Revit model
Ideate BIMLink
Ideate BIMLink is a powerful Autodesk Revit add-in that simplifies BIM data management by connecting Revit with Microsoft Excel. Users can export model information to spreadsheets, edit large volumes of type- and instance-based data efficiently, and import the updated information back into Revit. It also makes selected BIM information accessible to colleagues who do not regularly use Revit. With customizable links, filtering, quality-control workflows, and automation capabilities, Ideate BIMLink helps architecture, engineering, and construction teams manage complex model data with greater speed and confidence.
User Experience
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Why this tool/tech was selected
WRNS Studio's BIM team manages Revit models across a wide range of project types, from the Adobe Utah Campus to Cal State Chico, Boeddeker Clubhouse, and Sonoma Academy. As those projects grew more complex, the studio found that Revit's native tools left gaps around bulk data editing, style cleanup, and model auditing that needed to be filled to keep models organized and deliverables consistent.
"We've been working with Ideate Software for years," said Jason Halaby, Architect and BIM Manager at WRNS Studio. "Each one of their products tackles specific challenges we face with Revit software. They help us save time with a variety of model tasks, freeing up time for our designers to do what they do best, innovate and design. Ideate Software products also have a critical function in our model quality control process, giving us more control of our data in a way that Revit out-of-the-box cannot."
Challenges the Client Faced before
Without a dedicated tool for finding and cleaning up unused or duplicate line styles, object styles, and filters, WRNS Studio's BIM team had to track them down manually at every project milestone, since Revit doesn't provide easy access to or manipulation of those element classes. As the studio's model data became a larger part of its deliverables, that manual cleanup process struggled to keep pace with the volume of styles accumulating across projects like the Adobe Utah Campus and Cal State Chico.
Editing recurring schedules such as door, finish, sheet-index, and type management data also meant working inside Revit's own schedule views rather than in a format built for bulk edits, which slowed down routine updates. Auditing worksets, locating in-place families, and resolving warnings required combing through Revit's native browser and dialogs one item at a time, leaving the BIM team less time to spend on the design work the studio is known for.
The previous method used
Before adopting Ideate Software, WRNS Studio's BIM team relied entirely on Revit's native tools to manage schedules, styles, and model quality. Revit does not provide easy access to or manipulation of certain classes of elements such as line styles, object styles, and filters, so finding and merging or deleting unused or duplicate styles at project milestones had to be done manually, one element at a time. Recurring schedules such as door schedules, finish schedules, sheet indexes, and type management schedules were edited directly inside Revit rather than in bulk, and tasks like auditing worksets or finding in-place families and warnings relied on Revit's own browser and dialogs rather than dedicated filtering and query tools.
Time / Money saved & the Business Impact.
Adopting Ideate BIMLink, Ideate StyleManager, and Ideate Explorer let WRNS Studio's BIM team move from one-at-a-time manual fixes to bulk, repeatable workflows across the studio's project portfolio, from the Adobe Utah Campus to Cal State Chico, Boeddeker Clubhouse, and Sonoma Academy.
Ideate StyleManager became the studio's go-to tool for model cleanup at project milestones, letting the team find unused or duplicate styles and merge or delete them at a level of cleanup that wasn't previously possible. Ideate BIMLink gave WRNS an easy way to manipulate model data efficiently in Excel and bring it back to Revit, with door schedules, finish schedules, sheet indexes, and type management schedules now commonly edited through BIMLink. And Ideate Explorer's detailed selection filtering, query tools, and warning manager cover tasks from finding in-place families to auditing worksets, giving the team a more transparent window into the model database.
Customer Quote
"Ideate BIMLink gives us an easy way to manipulate model data efficiently in Excel and bring it back to Revit. Door schedules, finish schedules, sheet indexes, type management schedules are commonly edited with Ideate BIMLink at WRNS." – Jason Halaby, Architect & BIM Manager, WRNS Studio
Original Case Study
Additional Information
Beyond BIMLink, StyleManager, and Explorer, WRNS also uses IdeateApps tools day to day: Ideate ReNumber for numbering rooms, doors, and parking stalls; Ideate SmartDelete to flag which documentation views a model change will affect; Ideate X-Ray for troubleshooting visibility issues; and Ideate SheetManager as an alternative to the Revit Project Browser. Jason Halaby also works directly with Ideate Software's team, sharing feedback through surveys and informal conversations that has led to fast turnarounds on feature requests and beta feedback.
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