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Dear Community Members,
This month’s tip comes from our Graphisoft Community in Portuguese, where @Adeilson asked how to model a decorative, organic stone floor in Archicad. Community member @Gabriel Conti shared a workflow using a 2D draft, custom materials and the Slab tool. We’d also like to wave at @Rubia Torres, from our team, who expanded on the idea with a Curtain Wall technique.
Challenge
@Adeilson needed to model an inlaid marble floor with a decorative mosaic pattern. The model had to work both for rendering and for extracting accurate quantities in m². Since the detailing would be sent directly to the marble workshop, the result had to be precise!
Solution
As Gabriel pointed out, Archicad offers many ways to solve a task like this. His approach keeps it simple: draw the pattern in 2D, turn each area into a thin slab with the right material, and let a schedule calculate the areas for you.
Step 1: Draw the mosaic with lines
On the floor plan, use the Line, Arc/Circle and Polyline tools to draw the desired pattern. Make sure each stone area is a closed shape, so it can be picked up later with the Magic Wand.
Step 2: Create a material for each stone
Go to Options → Element Attributes → Building Materials and create one attribute per stone type, for example Granite 01, Granite 02, Granite 03 and Granite 04. Giving each one a distinct surface color makes the pattern easy to read in 3D and in schedules.
Step 3: Fill the areas with the Slab tool
Activate the Slab tool, set a thin thickness (the finish layer) and choose the matching building material. Then hover over each enclosed area and Space + click (Magic Wand) to create a slab that follows its outline exactly. Repeat for every stone, switching the material as you go. Tip: give each slab a clear Element ID (e.g. Stone 01, Stone 02…) so it’s easy to identify in the schedule.
Step 4: Create a schedule for quantities
During or after modeling, create a basic Interactive Schedule (Document → Schedules and Lists → Schedules → Scheme Settings) with Slabs as the criteria and fields such as Element ID, Building Material, Preview and Area. This gives you the m² of each stone, ready to send to the marble workshop.
Honorable mention: the Curtain Wall approach
For floors based on a repeating pattern, @Rubia Torres suggested combining Gabriel’s strategy with the Curtain Wall tool:
- Model the floor tile (or tiles) with the Slab tool.
- Select it and save it as a curtain wall panel via File → Libraries and Objects → Save Selection as → Curtain Wall Panel.
- Create a curtain wall using the Frame geometry method and, in the Scheme panel, set the grid to fixed sizes (for example 600 × 600 mm). In the Panels, choose your saved custom creation as the Main Panel.
- Use the frames to model the grout joints.
- To see the floor details on the floor plan, set Cut Components to Projected with Symbolic Panels, Uncut Components to Projected, and Show Projection to Entire Element.
Result
With this workflow, you get a precise, fully modeled stone floor that works for both visualization and documentation. Each stone is a separate element with its own material, so areas can be listed per stone in a schedule, and the 3D is ready for rendering. For repeating tile patterns, the Curtain Wall approach lets you place and adjust the whole grid in one go.
Give it a try and let us know how it works for you. Here’s the link to the original forum discussion (in Portuguese), where you can leave kudos to @Gabriel Conti and @Rubia Torres for their helpful answers.
Have a workflow tip of your own? Share it with the Community, it could inspire the next Tip of the Month!
