Generate Correct CMU Wall Sections without 2-D Drafting

[Anonymous]

I have spent months trying to figure out how to create correct CMU walls sections in Archicad without adding 2-D drafting for the block coursing and have found a trick. Here it is: First create a complex profile--as you normally would--of the CMU wall showing all block and grout coursing in their proper material.

Next, change the settings of the standard Archicad "Floor Plan Cut Plane" from 4'-0" to 4'-1/4" so the cut plane is in the middle of a grout joint, and change that one grout material only to CMU so that in floor plan the wall will read as CMU, as it should. When you take a section through the complex profile wall, the CMU wall section will show exactly as it should without any need to add any 2-D drafting other than dimensions, notations and a small grout fill over the coursing that shows as CMU (see attached wall section).

Of course, if the Floor Plan Cut Plane falls on a block, the CMU wall section will still read correctly, but the floor plan will look funny. Likewise, if the Floor Plan Cut Plane falls on any other grout joint, the floor plan will read like concrete or a similar material.

[Eduardo Rolon]

Prior to AC20 that would be a neat trick. now, you can update the floor plan view of those particular walls using Graphic Overrides it does not matter were the cut line is.