Recommended method for stepped houses

[danbates]

Before I get started on the click-fest required to modify my drawing I thought to ask here..

Is there a recommended set-up/workflow for doing a row of stepped houses? I have a 5 houses in a row, each one stepping up by 900mm (3ft).

I guess the main question is.. Do I create new stories? Or do I do it all on one storey level and just hack the wall, component and roof heights to get the proper 3D appearance?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Daniel

[Christiaan]

Assuming each house has the same floor to floor dimension, use the same Storeys across all the houses but create additional Level Types (+ associated Design Layers) for each house with a different level.

 

So the first house ground floor level might have a Level Type called "FFL 0" or "FFL House 1" and have elevation relative to the storey of 0. The second house would then have a ground floor Level Type called "FFL 900" or "FFL House 2" and have an elevation relative to the storey of 900. And so on.

 

Do this for all the different levels: slabs, ceilings, etc and you'll then have a set of Level Types that you can set your walls etc to for each house.

 

This method creates a lot of Design Layers and there is another way; you skip creating the associated design layers for each house and then set the heights of walls etc. manually to all the different Level Types, but I would steer clear of this method, too much work. Create the associated Design Layers for each house and then you can simply model directly onto those layers, set the levels and forget.

 

Edited June 21, 2017 by Christiaan

[Jim Smith]

Daniel, I'd be interested to know if Christaan's method works for you. The Storey function created so much havoc in a very simple project three years ago on a mid-century standard North American "Side Split" reno/addition. The lesson learned was we continue to use the old style Layer Elevation technique. The result may be more Layers but far easier to manage & edit.

Edited June 21, 2017 by Jim Smith

[Pat Stanford]

Draw the houses separately and then use Design Layer Viewports to bring them into the site model at the appropriate heights?

[Christiaan]

12 minutes ago, Pat Stanford said:

Draw the houses separately and then use Design Layer Viewports to bring them into the site model at the appropriate heights?

 

One problem with this method is that you then have very little control at the junctions where walls, slabs and roofs meet between houses. 

[Christiaan]

42 minutes ago, Jim Smith said:

Daniel, I'd be interested to know if Christaan's method works for you. The Storey function created so much havoc in a very simple project three years ago on a mid-century standard North American "Side Split" reno/addition. The lesson learned was we continue to use the old style Layer Elevation technique. The result may be more Layers but far easier to manage & edit.

 

In the early days there were a few glitches but it's a very solid workflow now. It can be a bit complicated getting your head around things when setting it up too, but once it's set up it's very robust.

[Pat Stanford]

I was hesitant to suggest this simply because I don't do architecture and certainly don't do multi-dwelling architecture, but at least for preliminary ideas, Design Layer Viewports could be a quick and dirty way to start, especially if all the exteriors were identical and you could simply draw one and reuse it in multiple DLVPs.

 

It all depends on what your needed outcome is and the stage of the project. 

[Christiaan]

Yes it's certainly a valid method Pat, just comes with caveats.

[Jim Smith]

Thanks Christiaan, We looked at the workflow for a recent project but decided, once burned, twice warned. I am open to trying the Storeys technique on a future project, but we'll have to build in some learning curve time.