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Modeling
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Curtain wall

Anonymous
Not applicable
I'm sorry if this has been covered elsewhere - I've had a search and haven't come across a solution (yet)

I've been asked to produce a model of the building in the photograph. Most of the building is complete but I'm struggling to model the glazing shown in the photo (below the pharmacy sign). I've tried using standard windows, but as the unit comprises curtain framing sections and design I can't achieve the same appearance with multiple 'ganged' windows. I've therefore been trying the curtain walling tool, however that's thrown up two problems:
  • I can't achieve a corner piece of the type shown in the photos (it's always angled 45 degrees) - I have tried drawing the two sides independently and joining them but have yet to successfully achieve a single unit this way
  • Hiding the frame section where the door will be results in an awkward gap either side of the door
I'm using ArchiCAD because of past experience and it's reputation for producing good IFC files - the model is for a University project for which IFC files are required. Unfortunately, my past ArchiCAD experience was almost entirely creating 'visually correct' models for student project submission, not 'technically correct' models! I therefore know how to model something that looks like this glazing unit, out of slabs, but for the purposes of this project this would be inadequate as the IFC file will have the correct geometry but nothing to say that the collection of slabs is actually a window. For the same reason I don't wish to make a glass-cornered curtain glazed unit with a column (or slab) to form the corner section - it'll look correct but the IFC information will be confusing.

Thanks for any help available!

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11 REPLIES 11
Erika Epstein
Booster
Ralph's modular joinery tool is excellent, I use it myself.
Erika
Architect, Consultant
MacBook Pro Retina, 15-inch Yosemite 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Mac OSX 10.11.1
AC5-18
Onuma System

"Implementing Successful Building Information Modeling"
Anonymous
Not applicable
Ralph wrote:
This would be straightforward using the Modular Joinery object. It can quite readily adapt to any arrangement of doors/windows/panels - I've used it to create something like the image you posted (see attached image).
That's brilliant! It looks spot on - I'll get myself the plugin and have a go. Thanks for the suggestion and everyone for your help!