Townhomes Overview
Higharc Studio supports authoring multi-unit townhome buildings using the same central management and deployment workflows used for single-family homes. Townhomes extends Studio, Config, and Showroom to model, configure, price, and visualize attached multi-unit buildings, including duplexes, triplexes, quadruplexes, and townhome rows.
This set of features enables your team to manage multi-unit projects as a single system instead of a collection of separate plans. You can define a unit once and reuse it across buildings and lots, manage options at both the building and unit level, produce plans and downloads at either scope, and deliver a Showroom experience tailored to each buyer's specific unit.
Alongside this, foundational improvements in Studio — such as horizontal assemblies, datum enhancements, and modeling components — simplify modeling workflows and support more flexible, reusable design systems.
Townhome Features
The following features support townhome authoring in Higharc Studio, but are not specific to authoring multi-unit homes. Explore the following dedicated articles covering each feature in more detail:
Freeform Foundations and Floors — Author foundation and floor geometry in freeform shapes for greater flexibility and control.
Modeling Components — Group geometry into reusable component definitions, then place multiple instances across a project file to match townhome lot configurations.
Reporting Unit Designation — Tag geometry by unit so downstream plans, schedules, and deliverables can filter by unit automatically.
Origin Relative Datums, Levels, and Stacks — Define vertical levels independently of building stories, giving precise control over floor-to-floor heights across units.
Composite Level Views — View and work across multiple unit levels simultaneously in a single canvas.
Townhomes in Config — Configure options and selections at the unit level within the Config tool.
Townhomes in Showroom — Present and sell individual units through the Showroom experience.
Key Terms
Building String - Also known as a horizontal assembly – is a term used to represent multiple units placed side-by-side in a row to make up a townhome building.
Component Definition - Also referred to as a Modeling Component, is a reusable geometry template created and managed within the Catalog. Edits to a definition propagate automatically to every instance placed from it.
Component Instance - A single placement of a component definition on the canvas. Each instance shares the parent definition but maintains its own local controls for position, datum assignment, and options.
Component Option Controls - Settings that allow for applying options on either a global or per-instance basis. Per-instance option values report into Config and Showroom, enabling each unit to be optioned independently.
Composite Level (View) - An entity in Higharc Studio that combines multiple discrete levels into a single target for a plan viewport.
Doc Reference - A link that pulls a component definition from a source Central Data Model (CDM) file into another project file, including all dependencies. Updates to the source CDM propagate to every file referencing it.
Exposed Instance Datum - A datum inside a component instance that external geometry — such as a roof — can reference. When the component instance moves vertically, any geometry assigned to its exposed instance datum follows automatically.
Freeform Foundation / Freeform Floor - A foundation or floor entity drawn independently of room boundaries, giving explicit control over footprint shape and assembly behavior in complex configurations.
Isolated Editing Mode - A canvas state that hides surrounding file content so you can edit a component definition without risk of altering unrelated geometry. Changes made in Isolated Editing Mode apply to every instance of that component.
Level Stack - A configuration of levels that defines how floor-to-floor relationships behave. Stacks can be absolute (each level holds an independent fixed position) or relative (levels are positioned in relation to one another).
Multi-Unit - A location hierarchy setting that can be enabled to allow a building-level function to be added to a community.
Nested Component - A component placed inside another component definition. Changes to a nested (sub-)component propagate through the full chain — to every parent component, and every project file using those parents.
Origin-Relative Datum - A fixed vertical reference point (Z-coordinate) shared across levels, components, and entities in a model. Any change to a datum automatically updates all systems tied to it.
Remapping - A positioning method that lets the project's datums drive a component's vertical position. Used for single-level components that need to adapt to varying floor heights.
Replication - A positioning method that duplicates a project's level structure into a component definition as a fixed internal copy. Used for multi-level components where level relationships must stay consistent regardless of placement.
Reporting Unit - A label applied to geometry to identify which unit it belongs to. Enables downstream plans, schedules, and deliverables to filter content by individual unit.
Townhome - A building typology that covers a variety of multi-unit building configurations where single-family units, typically consisting of two to three levels, are built side-by-side and share side walls and rooflines. Similar typologies include rowhouses, townhouses, duplexes, and triplexes.
Townhome Unit - An individual single-family dwelling unit constructed as part of a group of attached units. Each unit (1) extends from the foundation to roof, (2) has open space on at least two sides, and (3) has a separate means of egress.
Void Floor - An object added to a room to suppress its auto-generated floor without affecting other rooms. Used when freeform floor entities are handling that area explicitly.