Different Project North vs. True North (Best Practices)

[Brandon-W_DWa]

We have a long, rectangular building, which, in the real world, the long direction of the building will run north-south. Here in the US, the typical sheet orientation is landscape (these layouts will be 24"(H)x36"(W)). If we put the plans on the layouts with north up on the page, the building is too large to fit at the scale we want. How does GS or ArchiCAD want us to do this? Do we model our building "incorrectly" (i.e. 90 deg. so that it fits on the sheet)? Do we adjust the orientation of each view manually? Do we just rotate the drawing on each layout? Does rotating Project North do anything besides locate the sun properly?

Operating system used: Mac Apple Silicon 12.6.7 Sonoma

[Eduardo Rolon]

There are 3 different "norths", magnetic, true and sheet so placing the drawing horizontally is correct.

In AC adjust the North using 'Set Project North" to match True north.

This is not an AC/GS issue it is an architectural documentation one. You would have had the same issues drawing the project by hand on your drafting table.

[Brandon-W_DWa]

Not quite, because on my drafting table, I would write all of my keynotes, zone tags, and type labels with the correct orientation (i.e. legible; right-side up). If I rotate my drawings on each layout in AC, all of the text rotates as well, so now all of the text is in a vertical orientation (in this case, since I need to rotate this rectangular building by 90 deg.)

[Eduardo Rolon · Accepted solution]

That is why you don't need to rotate the drawing, "rotating" the building in AC is ok.

If the "long axis" is North-South in the real world then you would place the long axis left or right in AC as you would in a drafting table. This is acceptable and it is the reason that we can reorient the project north.

If you want to keep true north matching sheet north (going straight up) then you would need to annotate on the rotated drawing which is normally considered something to do in rare cases and in this case you would need to do it for every single floor plan at which point you would realize that it is ok rotate the building and have the North arrow pointing to the left (or right).

[Brandon-W_DWa]

Thank you for that information; I think that was what I was after. I am curious however about the downsides of rotating the building. Our BIM standards encourage modeling true to construction, and true to the world, as much as possible. I mostly worry about consultant (engineer) coordination, i.e. IFC import/export. I could see a situation in which we, or our engineers, have to rotate a model import at every cycle, and that poses some risks. Thanks!

[Eduardo Rolon]

Consultants should follow your lead. You are usually the one paying them.