SPLIT LEVEL DESIGNS |
Building a split level home is actually quite easy as long as you follow this simple rule. You want to make sure you build your Stairwell(s) inside the footprint of the level that is highest in elevation. If you have 3 levels and 2 different stairwells, then each stairwell should follow this same rule. If level 1 is the lowest and level 3 is the highest, then the stairwell between levels 1 & 2 should be incorporated in the area of level 2. Between levels 2 & 3, the stairwell should be in level 3s footprint. |
Start this lesson by constructing a building approximately 30' x 60'. Then insert a wall, splitting the building in two. Now draw walls in the right side room, creating a stairwell about 5' wide and 12' long. Next double click the room on the right and it's Room Specification dialog box will open. Completely replace the 0 (D) in the Floor Height text box and replace it with 48. Click in the Ceiling Height and it will turn to 48 (D). Change that value to 96. Click OK. That should make the room on the right the "Highest in Elevation" and why we placed the stairwell withing its footprint. The room on the left should remain as is, but the stairwell needs to change. Double click the stairwell and change the Ceiling Height to 144 (48" + 96") in the Room Spec dialog box. Leave the floor at 0 (D). Click OK. The stairwell now has a floor height as low as the lowest floor (0) and a ceiling height as high as the highest ceiling (144). |
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Now let's insert some stairs. Click on the Stair Tool and build the stairs by taking the cursor and placing it about 1/3 way down from the top of the stairwell and dragging the cursor toward the bottom of the stairwell. This photo shows about 9 Treads. That will be too many, so double click the stairs to open its dialog box. Change Treads to 6 and click OK. Next, add a doorway at the top and bottom of the stairs, as shown in the previous picture, using the Door tool in the Door toolbar. |
Now view the stairs by clicking the View Toolbar and the Cross Section tool. Drag the cursor from left to right inside the stairwell as shown in the next picture. The picture below should be similar to what you see. |
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Notice the distance between the top step and the next floor indicated by the dotted red lines. It is about the same as 1 step. That should make the right transition between stairs and the upper split floor. You could have added a 7th step. Now return to plan view by closing this 3D view. We need to adjust the position of the stairs as well as tighten up the stairwell. |
1st, move the stairs closer to the doorway in the lower floor (left side) shown in the next picture, 1st diagram. 2nd, reduce the size of the upper floor door. 3rd, move the lower stairwell wall upward to touch the stairs. 4th, Select the doorway that is obviously too small and widen it as shown in the 4th & 5th diagrams in the picture to the right. |
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Now view the stairs by selecting the view toolbar and the Full Camera tool. The small red camera in the plan view side of the picture to the left shows the direction of the view.(from the lower floor, north of the stairwell, pointing toward the stairs) From the Main Menu, select Window-> Tile and you should have two views open (3D and Plan). Double click the red camera in the plan view and the Camera Set Up dialog box will open. Change Height above 1st floor to 30 and Clip Surfaces within to 60. Your view may look like the picture to the left. If not, then click on the 3D view and use the camera movement tools to achieve this look. From this picture, you can see that the stairs correctly connect the lower and upper split floors. |
If you view your model in Full Overhead view it would look
like the following picture. The split level design is evident.
But go ahead and add windows, doors, and two gable roofs to the model. My model turned out like the picture below. Notice how the stair well projects below the rest of the upper split level. This is because we set the floor level of the stairwell to be the same as the floor level of the lower floor and the ceiling height to be as high as the upper floor. If we wanted to add a standard 3rd level, it would obviously be placed above the 1st level on the left as a 2nd story. The only thing you would want to do would be to move the stairwell from the right side to the left because that would be the area with the highest elevation. |
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