Chapter 18 • Site and Topography 804 Excellent! You are getting the hang of this. Next, we need to create some raised areas (small hills) where we can eventually add some plantings and different materials. The problem is, to create a small hill, we need the site to sharply rise to the new elevation. To achieve this, we have to physically split the surface. Splitting the Surface When you need a drastic change in the surface’s elevation without influencing the rest of the site, you must split the surface. Just to warn you up front, be deliberate about when and where you do this because you are physically cutting a hole in the surface and adding a secondary toposurface to the void. Although you can merge these surfaces back together, in some situations it can be difficult to merge cleanly. The objective of the next procedure is to split the toposurface and create smaller toposurfaces. 1. In the Project Browser, go back to the Site plan. 2. On the Massing & Site tab, click the Split Surface button, as shown in Figure 18.7. 3. Select the toposurface. 4. Zoom in on the corridor area that links the east and the west wings, as shown in Figure 18.8. FIGURE 18.7 The Split Surface button Splitting the Surface 805 5. On the Draw panel, click the Line button. 6. Sketch a perimeter similar to the one in Figure 18.8. 7. Click Finish Edit Mode. You now have a new toposurface. FIGURE 18.8 The split surface sketch Now we can manipulate this surface without influencing the main topography. This is the ideal situation for creating bumps and berms. The objective of the next procedure is to raise this toposurface to an elevation of 4 ′–0″. We do this by using a point and placing the datum in the middle of the berm. 1. Select the newly formed toposurface as shown in Figure 18.9. 2. Click the Edit Surface button on the Modify | Topography tab. 3. On the Tools panel, click the Place Point button. 4. On the Options bar, enter a value of 4 ′–0″ in the Elevation field. 5. Pick three points near the center of the hill, as shown in Figure 18.9. FIGURE 18.9 Adding a new datum elevation Chapter 18 • Site and Topography 806 6. Click Finish Surface. 7. Go to a 3D view, and orbit around so the hill is visible. 8. Select the hill. 9. In the Properties dialog, in the Material field, click the […] button. 10. In the Materials dialog, select Site - Earth. 11. Click OK. 12. Deselect the topography. Your site should resemble Figure 18.10. NOTE Yes, you can copy these little hills around just like anything else in Revit—I am very glad you asked! After you copy the hills, you can edit them just like any other toposurface. Well, I think you can see where this is all going. When you work with sites, it is just good to have some kind of procedure. This takes us to our next perplex- ing situation. Suppose we just want to keep the contours and the dips and hills intact, and we only want to specify a new material in a subregion of the main topography? Well, we can! FIGURE 18.10 The raised area of the site Creating Subregions The purpose of a subregion is to match two surfaces together so any change in ele- vation or lateral movement will be reflected within both regions. We need this abil- ity for walks and most roadways. When you split the toposurface into subregions, After you place the points in the model, you can still pick the points and drag them left and right, as well as up and down. Also, if you look at the site in section or elevation, you can pick the points and drag them up and down, too. Creating Subregions 807 you give yourself the freedom to manipulate two different materials within the same datum. Another benefit to subregions is that the file size will remain as if there was still one toposurface. If you were to split the surface every time you needed a path or a roadway, your file size would bloat. The objective of the following procedure is to create a walkway path using the subregion command. 1. Go to the Site plan. 2. Zoom in on the east entry. 3. On the Massing & Site tab, click the Subregion button, as shown in Figure 18.11. 4. On the Draw panel, click the Start-End-Radius-Arc button. 5. Draw a path similar to the one shown in Figure 18.12. (It does not have to be exact.) FIGURE 18.11 The Subregion button 6. Click Finish Edit Mode. 7. Select the subregion. 8. In the Properties dialog, change Material to Site - Earth. 9. Create another subregion extending to the bottom ramp. Use your imagination. 10. Go to a 3D view and compare yours with Figure 18.13. Chapter 18 • Site and Topography 808 FIGURE 18.12 Sketching the subregion NOTE You cannot cross over and exceed the extents of the original boundary. If you do, Revit will not allow you to finish the sketch. Also, this subregion must form a continuous loop with no gaps or overlapping lines. You will need a straight line at each end of the path. FIGURE 18.13 The sidewalks in 3D How did you do? If you don’t like the line in the sidewalk, you can simply redo the two separate sidewalks and create just one. Adding Site Components 809 Not too shabby! There definitely is something missing from this site, though. It sure would be nice to start adding some trees and plantings. The great thing about adding plantings after you have your topography in place is that any site component added to the model will be hosted by the topography. This means you do not have to determine the elevation. Adding Site Components Adding a site component to Revit is no different than adding a desk or a door. A component is a component as far as Revit is concerned. As you have learned, a component is hosted by a system component. For example, when you are insert- ing a window, there needs to be a wall, or Revit will not allow such a foolish trans- action to occur. The same goes for a site component. You need dirt to plant a tree! The objective of this next procedure is to add various trees and plantings to the Revit model. First, however, we need to load some bushes. 1. On the Insert tab, click the Load Family button. 2. Scroll to the Planting directory. 3. Load every file in the directory. 4. In the Project Browser, go to the Site plan. 5. On the Massing & Site tab, click the Site Component button, as shown in Figure 18.14. FIGURE 18.14 The Site Component button Chapter 18 • Site and Topography 810 6. In the Change Element Type menu In the Properties dialog, click the RCP Shrub Boxwood 2 ′–9″ and line your walkway, as shown in Figure 18.15. FIGURE 18.15 Adding the shrubs to the walkway 7. Click the Site Component button again. 8. From the Change Element Type menu, select any tree you wish, and plant it on our little hill. 9. Put some shrubs around it. 10. Go to a 3D view and compare it to that shown in Figure 18.16. Now that we have all the contours and plantings in place, we need to knock out a small maintenance issue. There is a function that will allow you to automati- cally add contour labels to the site. This is a great feature in Revit Architecture. Adding Contour Properties and Labels Since nothing in Revit Architecture is “dumb,” we can take advantage of a topo- graphic surface having some “smarts” as well. Even the contour lines of a site are smart. Adding Site Components 811 FIGURE 18.16 The trees and shrubs on the hill NOTE Now that looks simply horrible! Don’t worry. When we move to the next chapter, we will focus on rendering. This is where the trees literally come to life. The objective of this next procedure is to examine some site settings and throw some labels into the contours. It is a quick set of steps, but important nonetheless. To examine the Site Settings, run through the following procedure: 1. Click the arrow in the lower-right corner of the Model Site panel, as shown in Figure 18.17. 2. In the Site Settings dialog, you will see a field that contains additional contours. In the Increment panel, change the value of 1 ′ 0″ to 6″, as shown in Figure 18.17. 3. Click OK. Notice the contours are tighter. With the contours in place, it is time to label them. Luckily there is a func- tion in Revit that allows you to do it all in one shot. All you need to do is draw a line specifying the alignment of the contours, and let Revit add the labels automatically. Chapter 18 • Site and Topography 812 FIGURE 18.17 Changing the additional contour increment Follow these steps to add contour labels to the site: 1. On the Massing & Site tab, click the Label Contours button, as shown in Figure 18.18. FIGURE 18.18 The Label Contours button 2. Pick a point to the outside of the toposurface, labeled “1” in Figure 18.19. 3. Pick a second point near the building, labeled “2” in Figure 18.19. After you pick the second point, the contours are labeled. Adding Building Pads to Displace Earth 813 FIGURE 18.19 Adding the contour labels With the site in place, it is time to address a situation that has arisen unbe- knownst to you. You see, we never defined any areas where we may not want earth to “spill into,” such as the basement. This will affect every section that we have. We can place a pad to displace the earth in the basement. Adding Building Pads to Displace Earth When you need to displace a volume of earth, you use a tool exclusive to the Massing & Site tab to do so. By placing a building pad into your model, you tell Revit that you want to cut the earth away from this area while still leaving the earth beneath a certain elevation. For example, if you wanted to remove the earth from the basement (which we will be doing) but you still needed the earth to exist beneath the base- ment, you must place a building pad. To place a building pad into the model, follow this procedure: 1. In the Project Browser, go to the T.O. Footing plan. It is located in the Structural category. 2. On the Massing & Site tab, click the Building Pad button, as shown in Figure 18.20. . site. This is a great feature in Revit Architecture. Adding Contour Properties and Labels Since nothing in Revit Architecture is “dumb,” we can take advantage of a topo- graphic surface having some. Topography 808 FIGURE 18.12 Sketching the subregion NOTE You cannot cross over and exceed the extents of the original boundary. If you do, Revit will not allow you to finish the sketch. Also, this. you do not have to determine the elevation. Adding Site Components Adding a site component to Revit is no different than adding a desk or a door. A component is a component as far as Revit is