Building a Garage in ArchiCAD
Part I - Creating the Slab and Walls
 

 

The Foundation – The Slab Tool

All buildings must have a foundation upon which the rest of the building is constructed. In ArchiCAD the slab tool is used to create the foundation.

1. Open a new drawing and save it as Garage Part 1Your Name. Go to the View > Grid Options > Select Grids & Background. The X and Y spacing is currently set to 4ft. Typically buildings are constructed in increments of 4ft. Change the snap setting to 1’ and then click OK.

2. Double click on the zoom button at the bottom of the page. Continue to do this until the grid is a reasonable size. If you go too far just double click on the zoom out button to reverse the process.

3. Click on the Slab tool in the tool bar. Notice how the Info box at the top of your drawing window changes to provide information about the slab tool. Click on the Geometry Methods button and pick the first button that allows you to draw a slab in any shape. What other drawing geometric methods are available for the slab tool?

 4. Look at the layers button and make sure that the slab you are about to draw is located on the Floor layer. Click on this button and list 5 other layers that are available.

5. Look at the two numbers displayed in the Info box.
What does the t: value represent?______________
What does the b: value represent?_______________________
What is the significance of the b: value being negative?

6. Based on the information in the info box how thick is your slab going to be?__________
What height is the top of your slab?_________________

7. Before you start drawing your slab, be sure that snap is on. To turn snap on click on the Grid Snap button found in the coordinate box. Remember that each square represents 4ft.
Draw a slab that is 36 ft by 24 ft. What appears on your screen once you finish the slab?

 

Dimensioning Your Slab

1. Now select the dimension tool.

2. Click on the construction methods button in the info box and hold down the mouse. What are the four different options for dimensioning?

3. Open the dimension settings window and change the font height to 12 pts. Make the marker size 12pts as well.

4. Select the first option, the linear method and then dimension the length of your garage. Here are the steps for dimensioning.

  • Click on the first point
  • Click on the second point.
  • Move outside the object and double click, the cursor will become a hammer.
  • Position the hammer at the location where you would like the dimension to be placed and click.

5. For practice dimension the other sides as well (yes these will be redundant dimensions)

Creating Walls

1. Double click on the wall tool to open the dialogue box.

2. Set the wall height to 8 ft, this is done in the upper right hand portion of the window. Set the distance to story 1 as 0. Any walls that you draw will now be placed directly on your foundation and will have a height of 8ft.

3. Make the wall 6” thick.

4. Make the left side of the wall Common Flemish Bond (red brick) and make the right side of the wall Default Walls Int.

5. Go back to the Info Box and choose a construction method for drawing the walls, this will be the wall construction methods. It is best to choose the first or last method. The first method places the wall outside the point that you pick and the second places the wall inside the point you pick. If you choose the wrong method your wall will be placed outside the foundation floating in air! Choose the method that places the wall inside the point you pick

6. Next choose the Geometry Method that looks like a Z, this allows you to draw a continuous wall by simple clicking on the four corners of the slab. Draw a diagram of four of the other geometry methods available for walls.

7. Start drawing the wall by clicking on the upper left hand corner of the slab and then proceed clockwise to place walls on all four sides of the building. View your building in 3D (press the F3 key) and be sure the outside of your walls is brick and the inside is the default interior color.

8. Congratulations, you have just drawn a three dimensional garage. Use the text tool to type your name, period and scale just below your drawing. You are missing doors, windows and a roof but that will have to wait until the next lesson.

Printing Your Garage

  1. To be sure your garage is to scale print up a copy and use a scale to check it. Center your garage foundation in your screen and zoom in so your drawing fills the full window. Go to file and print (NOT plot). Select Current Zoom and where is says scale select 1/8” = 1’-0” in the pull down menu. This will print your drawing at a 1/8” scale. The white square shown in the lower right hand corner is your preview window. Be SURE that this shows only ONE page before you print. Also select Black and White since you will be printing on the laser printer.
  2. At the top of the printer window be sure you have selected the laser printer. Click on the page properties and choose landscape.
  3. Check the scale on your printout and if it is correct turn in your garage printout with the answers to the questions.