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Autodesk Architectural Desktop: Walls and Foundations

By Ed Goldberg
Every good wall needs a good foundation, and you can create both, and increase
your drawing productivity if you use the Wall Styles that ship with Autodesk
Architectural Desktop 3.3 software.

Figure 1: Base Height, Baseline, Edge, and Floor line concepts.

You can also create new styles and modify existing ones. It is not difficult once
you become familiar with the concepts the software uses to build Wall Styles:
Base Height, Baseline, Edge, and Floor line (Bottom of Wall) (see Figure 1).
In this tutorial, you learn how to create a wall and foundation using the
components shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Wall components for this tutorial.

Creating the Wall Style

1. Start a new Autodesk Architectural Desktop drawing using the Aec arch
[imperial] template, and select the Work_FLR layout.
2. Select Desktop > Style Manager from the Main toolbar to bring up the Style
Manager dialog box.
3. Open the Wall Style tree, select Standard, right-click, and select Copy from the
contextual menu that appears.

4. Right-click again and select Paste from the contextual menu.

You have just created a new Wall Style called Standard (2).
5. Rename Standard (2) by entering Wall with Foundation at the command line
and click OK to complete the command.
6. Select Design > Walls > Add Wall from the Main menu to open the Add Wall
dialog box.
7. In this dialog box, select Wall with Foundation (which you created in Step 5),
set the walls width to 1-0, its height to 10-0, and left-justify it.
8. Insert a wall approximately 8 long into your drawing.
9. Change to the Right View.
Adding and Modifying Wall Components
1. Select the wall, right-click, and select Edit Wall Style from the contextual menu.
The Wall Style PropertiesStandard dialog box opens.
2. Select the Components Tab (see Figure 3).
On the Component tab, notice that the Edge Offset box reads BW* -1/2. This
means that the Edge Offset is set to be half the width of the Base Width (BW).
(Base Width refers to any wall having a parametric or user-enterable width.) I
normally set the Edge Offset to the outer edge of the total wall.

Figure 3: The Standard wall has an Edge Offset set at half of its Base Width.

Figure 4: At the Component Offset dialog box set the Base Value to 4.
Making the BRICK Component (Index 1)
3. In the Name field , enter BRICK, and click the Edge Offset button. The

Component Offset dialog box opens (see Figure 4).

4. In this dialog box, set the Base Value to 4, clear the Use Base Width check
box, and click OK to return to the Wall Style Properties dialog box.

Figure 5: At the Component Width dialog box set the Base Value to 4.

5. Click the Width button to open the Component Width dialog box (see Figure 5).
6. In this dialog box, set the Base Value to 4, clear the Use Base Width check
box, and click OK to return to the Wall Style Properties dialog box.
7. Select Baseline from the Bottom Elevation Offset drop-down list to set the
bottom of the BRICK to the baseline (see Figure 6).
You have now created the walls 4 BRICK component.

Figure 6: Select Baseline from the Bottom Elevation Offset dropdown list.

Adding the CAVITY Component (Index 3)

8. Click the Add button (near the top-right of the Wall Style Properties dialog box)
to create another component (by default it will have the same name and properties
as the BRICK component).

Figure 7: The 2 CAVITY component.

9. In the Name text box on the Component pane enter CAVITY.
10. Set the CAVITYs Edge Offset to 6, its Width to 2, its Top Elevation to 0
from Wall Top, and its Bottom Elevation to 0 from Baseline.
You have now created the walls 2 CAVITY component (see Figure 7).
11. Click the Add button again to create another component.
12. In the Name text box on the Component pane, enter BLOCK.

Figure 8: The 8 BLOCK component.

13. Set the BLOCKs Edge Offset to 14, its Width to 8, its Top Elevation to 0
from Wall Top, and its Bottom Elevation to 0 from Baseline.
You have now created the walls 8 BLOCK component (see Figure 8).
Adding the INTERIOR WALL Component (Index 4)
14. Click Add again to create another component.
15. In the Name text box, enter INTERIOR WALL.

Figure 9: The 4 INTERIOR WALL component.

16. Set the INTERIOR WALLs Edge Offset to 18, its Width to 4, its Top
Elevation to 0 from Wall Top, and its Bottom Elevation to 0 from Baseline.
You have now created the walls 4 INTERIOR WALL component (see Figure 9).
Adding the LOWER BLOCK Component (Index 5)
17. Once again click Add to create another component.
18. In the Name text box, enter LOWER BLOCK.

Figure 10: The 14 LOWER BLOCK component.

19. Set the LOWER BLOCKs Edge Offset to 14, its Width to 14, its Top
Elevation Offset to 0 from Baseline, and its Bottom Elevation Offset to 1-0
from Wall Bottom.
You have now created the walls 14 LOWER BLOCK component (see Figure
10).

Figure 11: The 48 wide FOUNDATION component.

Adding the FOUNDATION (Footing) Component (Index 6)
20. Click Add to create another component.
21. In the Name text box, enter FOUNDATION.
22. Set the FOUNDATIONs Edge Offset to 31 its Width to 48, its Top
Elevation Offset to 1-0 from Wall Bottom, and its Bottom Elevation Offset to 0
from Wall Bottom.
You have now created the walls 48 wide FOUNDATION component (see Figure
11).

Figure 12: You have now set all the wall components.

Note: Did you notice

that the FOUNDATION
and LOWER BLOCK
components do not show
in the Viewer? To
correct this, you must
set the Floor line (Wall
Bottom) on the Defaults
tab of the Wall Style
Properties dialog box.
23. Select the Defaults tab.
24. Select the DFloor line checkbox.
25. On the Offsets pane, enter 2-0 in the From baseline box (see Figure 13).

Figure 13: Set the DFloor line dimension to 2-0 from

baseline.

Now display all the components correctly in Plan and Model views.
Setting the Display Properties
26. In the Wall Style Properties dialog box, select the Display Props tab.
27. From the drop-down list, select the Model display (see Figure 14).

Figure 14: Select the Model display from the drop-down list.

28. Click the Edit Display Props button to open the Entity Properties dialog box
(see Figure 15).
29. In this dialog box, under the Component column, select Boundary 6 to match
the FOUNDATION Component Index 6.
30. Under the Linetype column select HIDDEN2 (see Figure 15), and click OK to
return to the Wall Style Properties dialog box.

Figure 15: Set Boundary 6 to HIDDEN 2.

31. From the drop-down list, select Plan.

32. Click the Edit Display Props button to reopen the Entity Properties dialog box.
33. Again under the Layer/Color/Line; select Below Cut Plane and set its Linetype
to HIDDEN2.
34. Click the OK buttons to finish the commands.
Using Your New Wall with Foundation Wall Style
This tutorial assumes that you already know how to import Wall Styles.
To use the Wall with Foundation Wall Style you have just created.
1. Change to WorkFLR layout.
2. Erase existing viewports and create two vertical viewports.
3. In the left viewport, right-click and select Design > Walls > Add Wall from the
contextual menu, which opens the Add Wall dialog box.
4. Select the Wall with Foundation style and place a wall 20 long.
5. Set the left viewport to Top View and the right viewport to SW Isometric View
(see Figure 16).

Figure 16: Set the left viewport to Top View and the right viewport to SW Isometric View.

Stepping the Foundation

6. Select Modify > Break from the Main menu.
7. Select the wall and press the Enter key.
8. Enter F (First Point) and press the Enter key.

9. Using the Near Object Snap, select a point on the wall.

10. Press the @ key (Shift+2) and then press the Enter key.
You now have two wall segmentsyou may not see the break in plan view, but it
is there (see Figure 17).

Figure 17: You now have two wall segments.

11. Select the first wall segment, right-click and pick Model Tools > Floor Line
from the contextual menu that appears.
12. At the Command line enter O (for Offset) and then press the Enter key.
13. Enter 1-0 on the command line and then press the Enter key.
You have now stepped the wall foundation 1-0 deeper (see Figure 18).

Figure 18: The final stepped foundation wall.

Conclusion
Autodesk Architectural Desktop software is very powerful, and you can best use
its power by taking advantage of its standard Wall Styles as well as by modifying
the standard styles and creating your own.
Good Luck, Ed Goldberg, AIA
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