Porches
Porches in Higharc Studio are a collection of settings controlled from the Engine. The following Catalogs and Settings Sets can be added to a file to control Porches:
Column Catalog
Porch
Rear Porch
Column Catalog
From the Project Browser → click on Engine → then the Porch System dropdown (or however it is named in your file) → Column Catalog
On the Inspector, you can create custom Architectural columns or Structural Wood Posts from the Column Catalog by selecting the ‘+’.
Architectural Columns are built by section from the column base, up. See example below.
To build a column:
Select ‘Append Section’. This will be the first section at the base of the column.
Assign a height, width and depth of the section, then assign a material to that section.
For example: a section of masonry column that is 8” x 8” that goes up 2’-8”, would be Height: 2’-8”, Width: 8”, Depth: 8”, Material: Masonry.
More sections can be appended in different widths, depths and materials to create the column base.
To create the middle portion of the column, assign no height. This tells the program to start the column when the base ends and end the column when the top of the column begins.
Complete the column capital or the top by appending a new section and assigning a height to the final portions of the column.
Porch and Rear Porch Settings
Porch design and construction are managed through Porch Settings through the Engine. There are separate settings for Front porches (Porch Settings) and Rear Porches (Rear Porch Settings).
Since porches are automatically generated when the rooms types “Front Porch” or ‘Rear Porch’ are assigned, there are not specific steps to set up porches from Porch Settings in the Engine. The following settings can be found and customized here:
Porch Column spacing, spread and positions can be assigned and programmed here.
Custom Architectural columns (created in the Column Catalog) and Column Bracket Props can be selected.
Structural elements such as the internal column structure size, the foundation offset and the header height and depth can be found.
There are options to have multi-column corners and spread columns more in front of doors.
Railings can be made visible.
