Two surface materials o one wall

[Anonymous]

What is the best way to have two types of surface materials on one wall? If I create two walls on top of each other then the windows on the upper wall don't show up on floor plan.

Thanks.

[Dwight]

Investigate a complex profile wall with an extra surface thickness where required.

[Karl Ottenstein]

If you plan on using Graphisoft's energy evaluation tools - Ecodesigner or Ecodesigner Star - then the use of Complex Profiled walls is not a simple decision.

Most of us became enamored with the modeling power that profiled walls provided us when they were introduced and so left older modeling techniques behind for the speed and power of the profiled elements. But, profiled walls do not play well at all with Ecodesigner - which only recognizes the content of solid or composite walls, doing the math for you for built-up assemblies.

If you are not doing energy modeling, then definitely use a profiled wall, as it easily permits horizontal banding of materials, yet still is a single wall as far as opening insertion.

If you are doing energy modeling, then either stack two walls and use the age-old method of creating a (sadly unlinked to the window) 'empty opening' in the wall not hosting the window, aligning the empty opening to display the window properly. Or, you can download the Wall Accessories add-on and apply a very thin wainscot to a single wall, applying one material to the host wall and a different one to the wainscot.

Cheers,
Karl