Window with adjustable frame extensions (jamb) and automatic insulation return – AC29 / GDL

[kioldani]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a good way to model PVC windows with frame extensions / add-on profiles (jambs) in Archicad 29.

Ideally, I would like to keep the window and all frame extensions as one Window element, rather than modelling the extensions separately with Morphs, Beams, etc.

I need the frame extensions to be independently adjustable on all four sides:

• Left extension: e.g. 50 mm

• Right extension: e.g. 50 mm

• Bottom extension: e.g. 50 mm

• Top extension: e.g. 50 mm, but sometimes much larger (e.g. 180 mm) for an external roller shutter installation

The reason for the independent top value is that in some cases the roller shutter box is installed/attached to the upper frame extension, so the upper extension can be significantly larger than the side and bottom extensions.

Installation position / wall closure

The wall is typically a composite wall with a reinforced concrete structural layer and external insulation/render layers.

I would like to place the window so that the external face of the window frame is aligned with the external face of the reinforced concrete wall.

The layers outside the reinforced concrete (thermal insulation + finishes) should then automatically return towards the window and overlap the frame extension.

Ideally, the amount of this return/overlap should correspond to the extension on that particular side.

For example:

• 50 mm left frame extension → external layers return/overlap by 50 mm

• 50 mm right extension → 50 mm

• 50 mm bottom extension → 50 mm

• 180 mm upper extension → potentially a different condition because of the roller shutter

The goal is to get a correct result in floor plan, section/elevation and 3D, while keeping the window itself as a single manageable Archicad element.

I have attached a detail showing approximately what I am trying to achieve.

Questions

Is there a way to achieve this using the standard Archicad 29 Window objects and Wall Closure / Insulated Reveal settings?

If the standard library cannot do this, I would also be interested in a GDL solution.

Would it be possible to modify/create a GDL window where:

1. left/right/top/bottom frame extensions are separate parameters;

2. the extensions are generated as part of the Window object;

3. the nominal window size remains independent from the extensions;

4. the wall opening and/or wall closure responds to these parameters;

5. different upper extensions can be used for roller shutter installations;

6. the external insulation layers return and overlap the extensions correctly?

I’m also happy to do some GDL programming if this requires a custom solution, so any advice about which GDL parameters/commands or existing library objects would be the best starting point would be very helpful.

I’m using Archicad 29.

Thanks in advance!

Operating system used: Windows

[Lingwisyer]

1. The inbuilt Casing options do not having the ability to be different sizes within the wall opening, so you could get your desired 50mm, but not your 180mm at the top.

2. If you place your window with the Reveal Depth set you "Reveal to Wall Core", it will align with the concrete if your Composite is set up correctly.

3. None of the inbuilt opening objects generate the correct wall closure in section, and I have not heared of a 3rd party library doing it either. I used to have a top level object that you could load the GS windows into that would wrap the finishes in 3D, but the global library broke it...

4. Adding all of your desired functionality to the GS windows is extremely complicated due to how they are scripted... more so if you have no coding experience. I doubt AI has a breakdown of how these objects work...

5. Adding the extensions themselves could be relatively simple within the top level object.

Ling.