Creating openings in the building model

Step-by-step guide

Revit offers several Opening tools to create openings in walls, floors, ceilings, roofs, and other building model components. Use openings for dormers, elevator shafts, and wall openings.

1. Open the model for this exercise in the 3D view.
2. From the Architecture tab, Opening panel, click By Face.

The Status bar prompts you to “Select a planar face of a Roof, Floor, Ceiling, Beam or Column”.

3. For this example, select one face of the roof.

On the ribbon, the Modify | Create Opening Boundary contextual tab opens. In the Draw panel, there are several options for sketching opening boundaries, including straight lines, rectangles, circles, and freeform.

4. Select one of the shapes to enable it—for this example, click Rectangle.
5. Sketch an opening within the boundaries of the selected face.

6. In the ribbon, click the green check mark, or Finish.

The new opening is cut perpendicular to the face of the roof. You can also create cut openings in roofs vertically, perpendicular to level surfaces like floors.

7. From the Architecture tab, Opening panel, select Vertical.
8. Click the roof to select it.
9. On the ViewCube, click Top to view the model from the top.
10. In the Draw panel, choose an opening boundary—in this case, pick Rectangle.
11. Sketch the opening onto the face of the roof.
12. Finish the sketch.

13. Use the ViewCube to view the vertical cuts of the opening and return the model to its previous orientation.

The Wall tool allows you to create openings on non-planar faces, such as curved walls.

14. In the Opening panel, click the Wall tool.
15. For this example, sketch a wall opening on the curved wall.

To adjust the dimensions of an existing wall opening:

16. On the ribbon, Architecture tab, click Modify.
17. Click the opening.

The opening highlights, and small arrow grips appear on each of its sides.

18. Click one of the grips and drag to change each dimension independently.

Note: This resizing method is not available for openings created with the By Face or Vertical tools, meaning you must re-sketch them if they are not correctly sized or placed.

To use the Dormer opening tool, the exterior geometry of a dormer must be in your model already, as it relies on the edges of the roof and walls of a dormer to sketch an interior opening.

19. In the Opening panel, pick the Dormer tool.
20. Select the roof.
21. On the View Control Bar, click Visual Style and select Wireframe for a transparent view of the dormer, without surfaces.

22. Pick the inside faces of the dormer walls.

23. Click the Trim/Extend to Corner tool.
24. Close the loop of the selected faces.

25. Finish the sketch.
26. Click Visual Style and select Hidden Line to change the visual style back.

For a better view of the dormer opening:

27. Select the roof of the dormer.
28. On the View Control Bar, click Temporary Hide/Isolate and select Hide Element.

29. Orbit around the model to view the new dormer opening.

Finally, the Shaft opening tool creates a vertical opening through multiple floors of a building—for example, to create space for an elevator shaft without having to sketch an opening on each floor.

30. In the Opening panel, select the Shaft tool.
31. On the Modify | Create Shaft Opening Sketch tab, Draw panel, click the Rectangle sketch tool.
32. For this example, sketch a shaft opening on the first level of the three-level structure.

The Properties palette lists a base constraint of L1, or level 1, and a top constraint of R1—in this case, the roof.

33. Finish the sketch.

Three openings are aligned vertically through each level.

To edit a shaft opening:

34. Select the opening.
35. Use the available grips to resize the opening.
36. To include or exclude levels, click one of the grips and drag vertically.

Alternatively, change the Base Offset constraint to achieve the same result.

37. In this example, manually adjust the Base Offset to 0' 0".

This excludes level 1 from the shaft opening.