Rooms
Rooms are defined as spaces with Edges.
When a rectangular room is created and selected, it will have Edges numbered 1-4. When each number is selected, that Edge can be modified in several ways.
Any modification that involves moving an edge will take place in the Canvas.
Any modification that involves adding data to an Edge, such as a door, material, casework, etc. takes place in the Inspector panel.
Any modification that involves visibility to that edge information will take place in the Explorer panel. (This will be covered in depth in later sections.)
Create Rooms
Create Rooms by following these steps:
Create the first room by entering ‘Rectangle’ in to the Command Line, Selecting the Room button on the Command Palette, or using the ‘R’ hotkey shortcut on your keyboard.
Draw a Room sized to the overall dimensions of the home.
Select the overall room, it will highlight in blue.
Rough out a general layout by subdividing the overall home footprint into more spaces by typing the ‘Split’ command in the Tool Bar.
Creating rooms by defining a rectangular footprint and subdividing using the K Split command
Modify Room Dimensions
To modify a room’s dimensions, there are two methods.
Dimension string modification:
Select a Room.
Select the Edge to move.
Select the dimension string and override the value by typing a new dimension.
The ‘Move Edges’ command modification:
Type ‘Move Edges’ into the Tool Bar.
A blue message will appear below the Command Line prompting which Edges to move.
Drag select all applicable Edges. The Edges will highlight in blue and appear in the Inspector panel. Hit ‘Enter’.
Type a distance to move such as ‘24’ for 24 inches. Hit ‘Enter’.
Hold ‘Shift’ to retain orthogonal and click in the direction to move the Edge.
The Edge will move the specified distance.
Note: Dimensions can be toggled on and off in the Canvas in the Edit View Mode Filters under ‘Exterior Auto Dimensions’ and ‘Interior Auto Dimensions’.
Pro Tip: Use Underlay in the Explorer panel to import an image file of an existing floor plan to speed up creation of the model. Remember to lock the Underlay after importing
Room Types
Room Types determine different functionalities of a home and can be defined after a layout is created. When a room is selected, its parameters appear in the Inspector panel.
Room Types are predetermined sets of parameters that are associated with its function. The data within Room Types can include relationships to:
Adjacent Rooms
Foundations
Wall Assemblies
Door and Window Openings
Appliance and Accessory Placement
Electrical Layouts
Mechanical Layouts
Plumbing Rules
For example, when a Room Type is assigned as a ‘Garage’, a number of things happen to the Room:
The interior finishes change.
Windows are removed.
A garage door is added.
A driveway is added.
A modified foundation appears.
A few other examples are:
When a ‘Living Room’, ‘Dining Room’ and ‘Kitchen’ are defined next to each other, the walls disappear to create an connected, large living space.
When a ‘BathFull’ is defined adjacent to a ‘Bedroom’ and a ‘Hallway’, an adjoining door appears between the rooms and bathroom fixtures appear.
To assign a Room Type:
Select the room, it will highlight in blue.
In the Inspector panel under the info tab, change the 'Type' in the dropdown menu.
Name a Room
To name a room,
Select the room in 2D or 3D in the Canvas or in the Explorer List view.
The name at the top helps organize the name within the Higharc System.
Reported Name is the name that will appear on construction documents or in brochures.
Each room type has a predetermined set of parameters that are associated with it depending on its function. The data related to rooms includes
Foundations
Wall assemblies
Door and Window openings
Appliance and accessory placement
Electrical, Mechanical and Plumbing Rules
Levels
Levels in Higharc are created and controlled in the Explorer panel. Levels can be added by selecting the ‘+’. When a Level is created, a Block of rooms is automatically added to the Level.
The following information can be programmed at each Level:
Roof plate heights can be set under T.O. Wall.
Datums can be created to program other assemblies and systems to, through the home.
Window head height and floor assemblies can be selected and established by per level.
NOTE: There are controls in the Engine under Global Settings for Datums (Datum Catalog), Windows (Window), and Floor (Floor). Creating Settings for Datum, Window and Floor will override the settings created in the Engine for these systems. For more information, see Engine and Setting Sets.
Blocks
Blocks are collections of room(s) within a level. They are important because they give you the ability to:
Organize plans by grouping Rooms.
Create plan options
Associate a roof with a group of Rooms.
Setting up Blocks
Create roofs automatically from the creation of Room Groups as Blocks
To add a Block:
Click the ellipses on your desired Level.
Select Add Block.
Note: Blocks and the Rooms within them can be duplicated by selecting the ellipses icon on the Block and selecting Duplicate.
Rooms can be moved between blocks by:
Selecting the Room.
In the Inspector panel under the info tab, change the Block using the dropdown menu.
Note: All Rooms within a Block must be connected and contiguous and there cant be gaps between them. A red notification will appear if the Rooms are not connected.
The following information can be programmed at each Block of Rooms:
The block can be made a half-story instead of a full level change.
Wainscoting can be suppressed
Keyboard Shortcuts - Rooms
The following are keyboards shortcuts that can be used to create rooms in Higharc Studio:
(R) - Rectangle - Creates a rectangular shaped room
(P) - Polyline - Creates a room from a freeform shape
(M) - Move - Moves a room or Entity
(A) - Arc - Creates an arc shaped room.
The following are keyboards shortcuts that can be used to edit rooms in Higharc Studio:
Shift + (R) - Rotate - Rotates a room
(E) - Move Edges - Moves the edge of a room
Shift + (S) - Stretch - Stretches the edge of a room
(C) - Copy - Copies a room
(J) - Join - Joins two rooms
(K) - Split - Splits a room
(U) - Union - Merges multiple selected rooms into one.
(O) - Modify - Creates a Modifier of an edge.
Split Edge - Adds a vertex to an edge (no default shortcut)
(V) - Move Vertices - Moves a single vertex between two edges