Vertical Glass Structures

Vertical Glass Structures on Lines

In the floor plan, draw a draft straight line using ARCHICAD's Line tool and then select the line.

Choose ArchiGlazing from the Design menu and select the tool for vertical glass structures.

In the appearing dialog box, specify the remaining parameters for the desired glass structure.

Saving a New Glass Structure

Use the Choose folder button to specify where the new glass structure will be stored.

Select an existing folder or create a new one in the dialog box that appears.

Note: If you want to create a new folder, you must make it active by choosing File > Libraries and Objects > Library Manager and selecting the new folder before clicking the Reload button. Otherwise, your elements will be missing when next opening the project.

The selected folder will be displayed in the dialog box.

Name your new glass structure. It is advisable to give the glass structure a name that indicates its intended use, e.g., “Glass structure inner courtyard”. If you select the automatic numbering function, all subsequently created glass structures will be numbered in sequence.

When you have selected all the parameters for your new vertical glass structure along with the folder in which it is to be saved, confirm your choices with OK.

The glass structure will automatically be positioned in the floor plan along the specified baseline.

 Note: The saved structure is an ARCHICAD Library Part of Object type and will behave as such. It does not create an opening in a wall, it will be listed as an object (and not as a window) in calculations, and can only be opened with the Object tool.

Vertical Glass Structures on Line Combinations

On the floor plan, you can combine all kinds of lines into a common path using ARCHICAD's line type tools (Line, Arc/Circle, Polyline, Spline).

Example 1: Line-spline-line

Example 2: Line- arc

Note: Make sure that the number of horizontal fields (glass surfaces) selected in the vertical glass structure dialog box are equally distributed over the entire path. Where necessary, create the glass structure separately for individual lines in order to maintain corner profiles at points of direction change.

Vertical Glass Structures on Closed Contours

If you select a closed contour in the floor plan, a closed glass structure will be created. ArchiGlazing recognizes when a closed contour is being used and will only create one closing vertical profile.

Example: Ellipse as baseline contour

Note: If the lines of an open path or a closed contour are in proportion to the selected number of horizontal fields, a vertical profile will then be positioned at the point of direction change.

Vertical Glass Structures Connected to Walls

If laterally adjacent walls are selected in the floor plan in addition to the lines, the vertical end profile for the glass structure will be adapted to fit the wall course.

Modification of a Vertical Glass Structure

Select the glass structure in your project and open ArchiGlazing from the Design > Design Extras menu. Change the material settings for the profiles and glass surfaces and click OK. ArchiGlazing recognizes the path through which the glass structure has been created and makes the changes automatically, according to the construction path you have formerly defined.

If you pass your project as an archive document to another ARCHICAD user without an ArchiGlazing, the glass structure can be opened with ARCHICAD’s Object tool. Although the glass structure appears only as a binary structure, do not alter its dimension settings as this can lead to distortions. You can now change the material settings for the profiles and glass surfaces.