Multi buildinged, multi storey, multi level site!!

[Anonymous]

Having recently got a copy of Archicad for the office, I'm trying to asses the best way of setting up a fairly large new project.

The site is on a steep hillside and consists of a cluster of existing separate buildings (some joining together some not) all at different angles on plan, walls not always parallel, with differing numbers of stories in each 'block' at differing heights, and the storey levels in each block not relating to each other.

I think I can deal with wonky walls on plan at funny angles etc, but its how to set up the different blocks of building with their individual heights. I can think of several different solutions that I could investigate, but I don't know enough to know the downsides of each method.

For example :-

1) Build everything insitu, in one file, with a generic storey setup and move the separate floors up or down in relation to the storey you visually want the plan to appear on. This sounds complicated to make future adjustments to though.

2) Build the individual buildings in separate files and multi storey hotlink them into the main site file. I'm not sure if this would look correct on plan or even keep the correct storey heights.

3) Bring in the individual stories by hotlinking them from the separate files. This sounds like the best solution to me but I'm not sure if it would look correct on plan.

4) Setup 20 or so individual stories and work with some crazy multistoried walls. This sounds like it could get very complicated with lots of different cutplane levels to get windows to display properly.

What other solutions have people found to deal with this situation, being the easiest to manage and also displaying correctly on plan, elevation and section. What are their pros and cons?

The drawings will be just for planning so it's not so important that they work constructionally yet but it is something else to bear in mind for later on.

I'm still very much in the learning phase but my boss has given me time to get to grips with it so I thought I would throw myself in at the deep end. Until recently we were a 2D only architects but I genuinely cannot see how we could do this project efficiently without moving to 3D.

A big thanks in advance for any tips and advice!

Pete.

[Anonymous]

Pete

Not having done a job of this complexity myself, I may not be qualified to answer, but my thinking is that options 2 or 3 sound the best.

I would probably build each block in its own file, then you have easy manipulation of the various storey heights etc. Keep sections / elevations of each within their own PLN also (you can import these into a master file if you wish for documenting). If you require a section thru the site with all the buildings placed accordingly, do this in the site plan with the hotlinked buildings.

I am not sure what your site plan would look like if you have multiple buildings at different levels and with different storey heights. Maybe a diagramatic version of each ground level plan would be more appropriate than an actual cut through at a certain level (as in Floor Plan Cut Plane) which might have building 1 at ground floor and building 3 at 2nd floor, for example.

Good Luck, and let us know how it progresses.

(try a serach of the forum, too, this sort of thing has been discussed before)

[Link]

Don't discount number 4 either.

It depends on how you want your drawings to look. Don't forget that stories are just organizational tools and don't always have to be taken so literally. They are mainly used to organize plans onto a layout.

So, depending on your needs, you could have one story with all your buildings on them (elevated at different heights) which will all appear on the same drawing. Or you could place each building on a story of it's own.

For the former, you'd need to use current/own story only for your elements and symbolic for your windows and doors. The latter could take advantage of the FPCP if you needed it.

Some people like to skin a cat by methodically peeling from the head back, others like to tear it vigorously from the rear. I'm sure you get my point.

Cheers,
Link.

[Anonymous]

Further to this discussion, I am working on a similar type of project.

I have chosen to set up multiple stories in one PLN file. This is so that shared walls display properly in plan. (otherwise the shared wall would be drawn twice in each module file, and then appear to be duplicated when inserted into the site plan.)

On another note, I am having trouble with managing shared partition walls that overlap vertically and horizontally. (see the attached jpg's) what do i have to do to have the plans appear correctly, as well as modelled accurately?

Thanks in advance.

[Anonymous]

oops. sorry for the multiple posts.

another issue i have is with stairs showing on the proper levels. i have to adjacent units (separated by a partition wall). unit A is on stories 1 and 3, (split level) connected by a short stair run. unit B is on stories 2 and 4. how do i control the stairs appearance on 2 and 4 and avoid its appearance on 3?

Thanks again.