Terms are listed alphabetically. Use Ctrl+F to search.

Active Options - A panel within Studio that allows for setting which options should are active – therefore displayed in both the 2D and 3D canvas.

Annotation - Text and line work on a two-dimensional view of a building that provides information, identifies components, and clarifies ambiguities. Annotations may be generated automatically through association with an Entity that appears in the view or explicitly created by a drafter. Examples: Dimensions, labels, notes.

Assembly - A collection of layered entities. Examples: Wall assembly, floor assembly, roof assembly.

Attribute - An aspect of the building model that may be varied. Examples: Roof pitch, overhang dimension, garage handing.

Bill of Materials (BOM) - A detailed list of raw materials, sub-assemblies, components and quantities of materials required to build the home. Examples: List of doors with dimensions and swings.

Block - A collection of interrelated rooms, usually within a larger rectangular boundary, that have interchangeable layouts. For example, a "Living Block" typically consists of various living spaces like the kitchen, dining and living rooms. It can be replaced by alternative layouts that respect the circulation and use of adjacent rooms.

Board & Batten - An exterior siding or paneling style that uses narrow strips of wood placed over a smooth wood board at regular intervals.

Building Model - Building Model is the methodical 3D model generated by Higharc Studio known for being programmed rather than drawn.

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. See Townhomes.

Canvas - A UI element of Studio that displays a home plan in both 2D and 3D and is he primary location for authoring and editing home plan data.

Catalog - A list of all categorized props or items used within the home model. See Setting Sets for more information.

Central Data Model - The model that holds all reference data for a collection of home designs. This can include Settings, Palettes, Catalogs, etc.

Community - A collection of homes associated with a particular project.

Community Plan - A version of the Master Plan that has been configured to meet municipal specific codes/ordinances and community-specific design requirements.

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. See Townhomes.

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. See Townhomes.

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. See Townhomes.

Composite Level (View) - An entity in Higharc Studio that combines multiple discrete levels into a single target for a plan viewport. See Townhomes.

Conditions - Is an if/or or boolean statement programmed into an element, assembly or system in a Higharc Studio model to create Options. See Options and Elevations.

Construction Document Ready - Final drawings and specifications that enables permitting by authorities having jurisdiction, as well as bidding and construction of the home by a builder.

Construction Takeoffs - Key measures multiplied by attributes including schedules.

Controller - Electrical entity that controls Loads, for example a light switch, sensor or remote. See Electrical Systems.

Datum - Invisible planes that organize elements spatially throughout a building model. Building elements are anchored to these planes.

Design Explorer - A view mode to rapidly view all possible options programmed into a model. See Options and Elevations.

Design Score - A method to quantify data from the house that relates to the quality of the design.

Detaching - Creates a copy of the base plan that is used to make custom edits to a lot level plan. The file can still inherit changes from the CDM. See Reference Documents.

Document Reference - Centralized studio document that contains best practices and style rules that are referenced in other studio documents. A studio document relying on a Document Reference can pull in all or a subset of that document’s properties.

Drawing - The illustrated directions or visualization of a home.

Dynamic Entity - An entity with an N to 1 relationship with a Static Entity. A Static Entity is responsible for the creation of possibly many Dynamic Entities. It is not individually editable unless coerced back into a Static Entity by "baking".

Element - Any part of a building model, such as an instance of: Datum, Spatial Relationship, Assembly, Entity, Annotation.

Elevation - The outside look or exterior face of a house – which can have two meanings depending on the context: (1.) the architectural drawing of a side of the house, or (2.) the exterior style and appearance.

Engine - A panel in Studio that creates and/or displays referenced settings that control how a home looks and functions – which come in two primary forms: Global Settings that apply to everything in a model, and Targeted Settings that apply only to specific designated areas.

Entity - An individual element in a building model that represents a physical thing. Examples: Window, faucet, prop.

Explorer - The panel on the left side of the screen in Studio that allows entities, assemblies, blocks and other modeling systems to be created, hidden, grouped and deleted. See Interface and Controls.

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. See Townhomes.

Facade - Style and material rules that are applied to a section of an exterior or interior wall.

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.

Group - An arbitrary collection of related elements that may be used to help organize a building model. Examples: A collection of Setting Sets.

Home Group - A reference-able group of loads in a home only active when referenced by one or more room groups within the home. See Electrical System.

Home Plan - A version of a Community Plan or Master Plan that has been configured and saved in the Higharc platform. A Home Plan will have multiple phases in its lifecycle.

Independent Load Array - Electrical reference that allows for many areas of the home to connect to a group of Electrical items.

Inherit - Settings that are inherited by a default or Reference model. See Setting Sets to learn more about inherited settings.

Inspector - The right panel in Studio that allows entities, assemblies and props to be programmed, sized, styled, moved and manipulated. See Interface and Controls.

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. See Townhomes.

Key Building Measures (KBM) - The raw, unfiltered data describing the geometry of the home.

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).

Lineup - A group of master plans that has been configured for a particular community.

Live Plans - A part of Studio and where documentation sheets and sheet sets are created and managed for producing construction documents and brochures.

Load - An electrical load on a circuit such as a light, ceiling fan or outlet. See Electrical Systems.

Locking - A Studio file is locked once the options are chosen and “Move to Pre Construction” is selected, the file can’t be changed or inherit changes from a referenced file. See Reference Documents.

Lot Matrix - A list of lots and associated data within a Community.

Massing - 3D shapes, typically cubic shapes that represent space, such as a building, without details.

Master Plan - Highest level of a unique plan including floor plan, elevations and options.

Master Plan Presets - Collection of presets in the model that are used to produce plan sets for each preset aggregated together to support purchasing or permitting.

Material Selection - Defines actual material selection such as color or finish information.

Material Specification Level - Detailed material information such as manufacturer name or product series.

Material Takeoffs - A combination of all raw material components with measurements.

Material Type - Defines material composition such as vinyl vs. composite siding.

Modules - A summary of the Bill of Materials related to a specific assembly.

Multi-Unit - A location hierarchy setting that can be enabled to allow a building-level function to be added to a community. See Townhomes.

Opening - A door or window entity. They can also be the addition or absence of walls. See Openings to learn more about how they work.

Option-Specific Plan - An auto-generated PDF complete with all selected options that is specifically assigned to a home configured by the builder/buyer.

Options - Variations from the base model condition, that users can select when configuring a home. See Option Relations for more.

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.

Override - When a Setting becomes the dominant Setting instead of an inherited Setting. See Setting Sets to learn more about inherited settings.

Palette - A set of materials that map to object types for application to geometry in the home. Builders often refer to these as color or material packages.

Project Cycle Plan (PCP) - A plan with phases that represent the path a project takes from the beginning to its end and are generally referred to as the project “life cycle.”

Prop - A layout item assigned to an edge that could be furniture, decorative items, appliances, etc. See Props and Casework.

Property - A defined segment of land that includes its boundaries, geographical attributes and any built conditions associated with it.

Publishing - In order to use a model’s settings and data in Config or load the model’s settings into another studio file, the file must be published. See Reference Documents.

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. See Townhomes.

Roof Pitch - The slope of the incline of a roof or roof system.

Room - A bounded, planar area that serves a function in the home.

Rough Opening - The rough opening is the hole created in a building’s rough framing to accommodate a door or window. This will always be slightly larger than the finished window or door dimension to allow for construction tolerance. In practice “rough opening” refers to the dimensions of the hole that are specified by the window or door manufacturer. Often abbreviated with

Rule - One of a set of explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct within a particular activity or sphere.

Sales Configurator - Plan configurator interface in Higharc used in a builder’s sales center with prospective home buy. See Intro to Showroom.

Schedule - A list of specific elements with material data.

Setting - Builder specific or default command that defines how they build their homes. See Setting Sets.

Setting Set - Containers used to hold Settings, Rules and Catalogs

Sheet - A page from a set of construction documents that gives directions in drawn or written form that dictates the design of a building.

Sites (Site Context) - A series of tools in Studio that adds the ground, road, and neighboring context around around a home – from a quick default lot to a fully custom sloped terrain.

Site Contours - A series of grading tools that designed for creating sloped site context surrounding a home.

Spatial Relationship - Representation of a space in a building, such as a Room or Block. See Rooms and Blocks.

Standard - Without a price and non-optional for a buyer. Inherited from company level/community level/plan level specification.

Structural Option / Non-Structural Option - Customer-facing parameters related to the home with a price. These are not included as part of the base home. These options change the foundation or structural elements of the home. Builders will often define these options as any that would affect the building permit.

Studio Document/File - Includes the 2D and 3D information that instructs and illustrates the design of a home in the Higharc Platform.

Takeoff - An analysis of the quality of elements that are used in the construction of the home. Related to the calculation of an Estimate, the cost of construction for the home.

Toggle - An Attribute with multiple possible states. Only one state may be active at a time.

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. See Townhomes.

Unit Controls - A quantity takeoff

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.

Value - A numerical quantity that is assigned or is determined by calculation or measurement

Variance Control - Measuring, analyzing, and managing the differences (variances) between planned baselines and selected options.

Views - A panel in Studio that allows for creating and managing 2D, 3D, composite level, section, and elevation model views and templates.

View Mode Filters - Controls located in the Canvas of Studio that allow elements, entities, systems and annotations to be toggled visible or hidden. See Interface and Controls.

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.

Void Wall - A tool and function within Studio that converts a solid wall into full opening – essentially removing the wall between two rooms.

Wainscoting - See Water Table.

Wall Strip Domain - The set of connected wall segments within a room vs. the single wall segment represented by the edge.

Water Table - A thickened addition to exterior walls with a cap that helps shed water away from the base of the home. Typically constructed with brick or stone veneer and terminating just below the sill height of the Windows. Often applied only to the front of the building. Also known as Wainscoting. Synonym: Wainscoting.