ArchiCAD’s flexible Roofs have can be used to create both standard and abstract 3D shapes meeting a wide variety of needs.
The roof’s elevation is measured by the elevation of the pivot line, a horizontal non-printing line that you draw when creating the roof.
In most cases, you will want the pivot line of the roof to coincide with a wall Reference Line or a slab edge.
Note: You can hide all pivot lines with the appropriate control in View > On-Screen View Options.
The Pivot Line elevation is shown in the roof’s info box (the “B” value).
This is the same value as the Roof’s Relative Base Height, in Roof Settings.
This is the same value as the Roof’s Relative Base Height, in Roof Settings.The Roof Slope Angle (or pitch) is measured from this pivot line.
To aid in precise element placement, you can turn on the “Gravitate to Roof” command to place additional elements onto the surface of the Roof.
Attributes for each part of the representation (e.g. cut surfaces, overhead lines) are set using the pop-up options in the Floor Plan & Section panel of the Settings dialog box.
Use the Floor Plan Cut Plane Settings, combined with element projection preferences, to determine which parts of the placed roof should be displayed.
For more information on Floor Plan display of roofs, see How to Display Individual Elements on the Floor Plan .
The Roof tool has six geometry methods in the Info Box, allowing you to create both simple and complex roof shapes. The options are: Polygon, Rectangle, Rotated Rectangle, Polyroof, Dome and Barrel-vaulted. Note that only four options are visible at a time. The remaining options can be viewed by holding down the button to pop out the additional icons.
When you are satisfied with the choices you made in the Roof Settings dialog box, you can start drawing Roofs. New Roofs can be created in either the Floor Plan or the 3D Window, although some options differ or are restricted.
Use the Gravity control to place Wall, Column, Beam and Object type elements relative to the elevation of a Roof.