On Land

Environment Information
At Rill Architects we run ArchiCAD on Mac OS X. If you work at Rill, this is your stuff. If you don't, but you work in ArchiCAD, you may find something interesting. Anybody else, I don't know.
RSS
Searched for "site"

17 Results

Adapted from my brief presentation at the DC Archicad User Group meeting earlier this month. If you want to look at the files, there is a download link at the end of the post. This is a simple scheme for using a single site model for multiple projects. It is applicable for everything from detached garages, to townhouse blocks, to
All the common layouts (that we can think of) are blocked up in the project templates. These guidelines apply no matter when a layout is first needed.
Several different kinds of change, which may overlap. New versions mean new workflows, and that means layer changes.
On, well, land. Site model roundup. Very lightly updated alongside the Mesh post.
With an assist from Brian Spears and Link Ellis, I figured out that one of my wishes for the mesh tool is already solved. So I thought I would take the opportunity to revise this overview of the tool. The most prominent use for the mesh is site modeling. I cover that in more detail in another post, but you
All the typical layouts (that I can think of) are blocked up in the project templates. Developing the layouts consists mostly of framing the plan, tuning up the section/elevations, and arranging the drawings on the sheets.
What Shows Note, November 10, 2017: Anywhere you see the layer +C Site Annotation, you can use the layer +C Site Note if the current project doesn't have the annotation layer. (This layer is quite new as of this update.) The difference is not important unless the site is being shared among multiple projects. If the site is shared,
In the site plan, the top view of the house is a separate drawing. Why? The site plan is generated from the first floor. The roofs are only seen in their entirety on the roof story. The only way to get the roofs on the first floor is to draw (trace, copy/paste, whatever) them. We don't like drawing things.
Isn't north up? Probably not. Since the orientation of the project is driven by the geometry of the plan, north can be any which way. In the Sun dialog The north direction for the project is set in the Sun dialog. You get there via the Sun button in the Camera settings box, or via the More Sun button in
If you have a DWG or DXF from the surveyor, drop it in the floor plan and trace it. (Such a drop creates a drawing element in the plan.) If you trace carefully, the shape will be as accurate as the DWG itself. But, very often, instead of a DWG from a surveyor you have a plat or 'location survey'
Things on the cover sheet and where they come from. First of all, the cover sheets have their own master layouts, C Cover, D Cover, and E Cover. The 'data zone' at the bottom of the sheet is proportioned differently for each sheet. This way, if you need to change the sheet size, you just change the master and
As you know, you don't cut the grade mesh using the building elements. You place slabs in the shape of the holes you need to fit the building. You might find cases where it's more appropriate to use a roof: Create the roof with the pivot line at one edge. Go to a section and fix the slope graphically, using
This is a non-destructive method for creating a grayscale, shaded, top view of a model, for placement in a site plan. It uses a second project file with redefined material colors. In order for this to work you need a range of grayscale pens. The more pens in this range, the richer the image. In our templates we have
Drop the DWG in the floor plan window. It becomes a drawing. (Use inches for the units, unless it doesn't work, in which case you should use feet.) UPDATE: In Archicad 11 and above, you can drop the DWG into a worksheet window and then ghost the worksheet into the plan. (I still can't say 'trace', and notice again how
Instead of cutting a hole all the way through the grade mesh, use slabs on the X Site Cutting layer to subtract material to the proper depth.
Location: 01 General : 3 Drawing Tools. To use in conjunction with grade cutting with SEOs. A U- shaped white stripe which masks the bottom and sides of the mesh in the section. The right end height is the height of the object, and the left-end height is set with an editing hotspot.
I've added a module for Site Plan info to the Modules folder (in 3 Resources). It contains all the elements for contours, boundaries, notes, etc. I did not include separate note stuff for the 120 & 240 Note layers, but you'll probably live. N.B.: 8.1 only!