Manual façade design allows you to place and edit individual façade elements or modules directly on the building.
Workflow
To manually design a façade:
- Open the Elevation view of the façade you want to edit by:
- Selecting “Elevation” from Views in the Map Tools menu (bottom center of the screen), or
- Double-clicking directly on the façade in the 3D view of the model.
- In the Elevation view, you can design using:
- Place individual façade elements such as windows, doors, and balconies.
- Place Modules — saved groupings of window, door, and balcony elements.
Placing Individual Façade elements
To manually place individual façade elements:
- Open an Elevation view.
- Select the desired element (window, door, or balcony) from the top toolbar.
- Click on the façade to place the element.
- Adjust its position and properties as needed.
Creating Custom Element Sizes
You can place the pre-defined element types or create new ones to fit your needs.
To define custom element types:
- Open the drop-down menu in the toolbar.
- Select + Create new.
- Configure the desired parameters — dimensions, color, and element features.
- Click the Save New button at the bottom of the palette to save this new type to your project Library.
- It will be added to the menu of pre-defined element types.
Drawing Freehand Window Shapes
You can also draw window shapes of any size directly on a facade.
If the outline of the proposed shape appears red, the placement is invalid. This may occur if:
- The shape overlaps with another element, or
- The shape is placed outside the building boundary.
Limitation: Empty Openings are Not Available
- Façade openings are created by placing window, door, or balcony elements. It is not currently possible to create a plain void in a façade — for example, a recessed open corridor, an open loggia, or a pass-through with no glazing.
Designing with Façade Modules
In addition to placing individual elements, you can design using façade Modules - saved groupings of window, door, and balcony elements.
- Façade modules allow you to place predefined compositions of façade elements as a single instance.
- A module can contain one or more elements arranged in a specific configuration. Modules help ensure consistency across the façade and improve efficiency.
- One key advantage of modules is that changes made to a module automatically update everywhere that module is used.
Available Module Types
Currently, two types of modules are available:
- Facade Modules - groupings of window, door, and balcony elements
- Facade Modules can be edited or created as needed.
- Curtain Wall Modules
- Limitation: Curtain Wall modules cannot be edited or created. Curtain Wall Modules are available through predefined templates only.
Creating or Editing Window Wall Modules
To edit or create a Window Wall Module:
- Open Module Compositions from the toolbar.
- Select Facade Module in the Category pull-down menu.
- Click + Create New to create a new module.
- Or, click the pencil icon next to an existing module to edit it.
This will open a module editor where you can specify the length of the module, as well as compose the module with the facade elements.
