The Expressions feature in Archicad's Property Manager lets you turn any element into a live calculation engine—no spreadsheet or calculator needed.
This workflow uses Property Expressions to compute brick area and total count, then displays results on labels that update instantly.
Create the brick area Property
First, define the face area of a single brick (adjust dimensions for your local standards).
Open Property Manager (Options > Property Manager).
Create a New Property called "Brick Area" and add it to a new group.
Set Data Type to Area and Default Value to Expression.
In the Expression Editor, define brick width and brick height as fixed values, e.g., 240 mm * 75 mm.
Set Availability to Custom > Edit > Select all relevant wall Classifications (e.g., Masonry walls).
Create the brick count Property
Now compute total bricks by dividing wall surface area by single brick area.
Create another New Property called "Brick Count" in the same group.
Set Data Type to Number and Default Value to Expression.
In the Expression Editor:
From Parameters and Properties, insert Maximum Height of the Wall and Length of the Wall on the Outside Face
Enter: Maximum Height of the Wall * Length of the Wall on the Outside Face / "Brick Area"
Set Availability to Custom > Edit > Same wall classifications as above.
Display with Labels
Once the property exists, you can show the brick count directly on the wall in your floor plan.
Place a Classification and Properties Label on your wall (select Property Label type).
In Symbol Label Custom Settings > Content: Add Property Value and choose "Brick Count" from the dropdown.
Customize text (e.g., "Bricks: [Property Value]") and place the label.
Stretch or modify the wall—the label updates live with the new count
Take it further with Schedules and variations
The same logic scales to any material or surface quantity across your entire project.
Adjust for joints: Add mortar joint thickness to both brick dimensions in the Brick Area expression to get a more accurate count.
Reuse for other materials: Apply the same pattern to tiles, cladding panels, or even paint quantities (using wall surface area and coverage rate per litre).
Feed into Schedules: Add the Brick Count property as a column in an Interactive Schedule to sum quantities across all walls in the project automatically.
Number of Bricks - Formulas
(Maximum Height of the Wall * Length of the Wall on the Outside Face) / Brick Area
Brick Area: 240 mm * 75 mm
ROUNDUP ((Maximum Height of the Wall * Length of the Wall on the Outside Face) / Brick Area;0)
To deepen your skills and explore more advanced workflows, check out the BIM Coordinator program.
