QSG - Add your units

This chapter covers the creation of units (base and wall) for your design. For details on positioning units with Drag and Drop, see Positioning Units with Drag and Drop.

Due to the large number of units available in ArtiCAD, it is impossible to cover the creation and options for every single item. This chapter will cover the principles behind adding and modifying units.

The principles covered here apply to all room systems. Exceptions will be noted.

When adding units you should switch to Drag and Drop mode. Click on the "Drag n Drop" button on the Utilities Window or click "Mode" then "Drag and Drop". For details on using "Drag and Drop" mode to move and position your unit, see Positioning Units with Drag and Drop.

Adding a unit to your design follows the same principle as adding Wall items. Choose the layer you wish to add to (Base Units or Wall Units) then click on the required button. However, unlike with "Walls", the buttons for adding units are arranged in several sub-menus. You will be presented with either a properties dialog or a further unit selection dialog that will allow you to choose your unit from an available range.

More ArtiCAD Conventions.

Searching For Items.

To search for items click the "Select..." button at the top of the ArtiCAD screen.

Use the Search Dialog to find a unit that fits certain criteria. You can do this either using a random text search through the code and description of the item you are looking for, or you can also look for specific dimension information, namely Width, Height and/or Depth. Additionally, it is possible to respectively search units from the articad catalogue or the currently used manufacturer.

Useful Search Approaches:

Narrowing down:

You can narrow your search at any time by ticking the relevant boxes i.e. unticking "Base Units" will hide all items on the base unit layer

Using the Criteria List View to Search:

Choosing Your Item

Please Note - You can use both the edit box and the criteria listview in conjunction with each other. Along with the Walls, Base Units and Wall Units checkboxes.

Kitchen Examples

Basic Cabinets

Example 1. A 600 wide base cabinet, full height door

To create this unit click the following toolbar buttons:

Wall Units - Standard Units - Ordinary

These are the properties of the base unit we are about to create. Every unit has a default width. For an Ordinary Base Unit, it's 600. The Depth, Height and Plinth Height are all "*"'d values. This means they are using the default values for this design, as specified under "This Design" - "Room Settings" (See Room Settings). If you wish to change one of these "*"'d values, make sure you delete both "*"'s - leaving one or both stars will make it revert to the default value.

To the right of the Width, Height etc is a box containing the hinging and style of the unit.

For this example we will leave everything as default. Click "OK" to add the unit onto your design.

Example 2. A 600 wide base cabinet, drawerline.

To create this unit click the following toolbar buttons (same as creating the full height unit):

Base Units - Standard Units - Ordinary.

To change the style of this unit to drawerline, click on the "Style" button.

Select the "Drawerline" style from the list in the bottom-right by left-clicking on it. The preview in the top-right will update to show an enlarged example of the selected door arrangement. Click "OK" to return to the unit properties window. Notice that the door preview has updated to the selected arrangement. Click "OK" to add the unit onto your design.

Example 3. A 800 wide base cabinet, three drawers (2 pan drawer, one cutlery)

To create this unit click the following toolbar buttons (same as creating the full height unit):

Base Units - Standard Units - Ordinary

Change the width of the unit to 800. Change the style to "Three Drawers Full Width" (see Conventions above).

Select the style in the same way as the drawerline unit. Click "OK" to add the unit onto your design.

Example 4. Fly-over Shelf

To create this unit click the following toolbar buttons:

Wall Units - Shelves - Shelf

Select "Shelf" in the "Generic" category

The width of the shelf will depend on the gap between the units you wish the shelf to run between. See Measurement Line for details on measuring the distance between units.

Click "OK" to add the unit onto your design.

Appliance Housings - Sinks, Hobs and Ovens

Example 1: A 1000 sink base

To create this unit click the following toolbar buttons:

Base Units - Appliances - Sink Base

Select "Sink" from the list and click "OK".

Width, Height etc: Works the same as any other unit. Any unit with an appliance on (sink or hob) will have the properties "Distance to move along" and "Distance to move in"
Distance to move along: how far to move the appliance along the unit from left to right. Negative values move the appliance from right to left.
Distance to move in - how far to move the appliance into the room, or from back towards the front of the unit. Negative values move the appliance out of the room, or from front towards the back of the unit

For our example unit, we need to move the appliance along by 50 to centre it. The distance you need to move the unit will depends on the size of the appliance you have chosen.

Click "OK" to add the unit onto your design.

Example 2. A 600 sink base with an overhanging sink.

To create this unit click the following toolbar buttons:

Base Units - Appliances - Sink Base

Select "Sink" from the list and click "OK".

Change the width to 600. To change the sink from a left-hand drainer (LHD) to a right-hand drainer (RHD), click on the "Select..." button beneath the sink.

Select the "Single Bowl RHD" by clicking the button beneath the preview drawing.

The sink should also be moved along by 50 to centre the bowl in the unit.

Click "OK" to add the unit onto your design.

The free-standing washing machine is created by clicking:

Base Units - Appliances - Washing Machine.

Select "Washing Machine". Click "OK" to add the unit to your design.

Example 3. A 600 tall oven housing with a warming drawer, oven and coffee machine.

To create this unit click the following toolbar buttons:

Base Units - Tall Units - Tall Oven Housing.

Select "Tall Oven Housing with User Options" and click "OK".

Width, Height etc work the same as any other unit. Two extra values are available - "Height of Door 1" and "Height of Door 2". When working with tall housings, everything works from the bottom of the unit upwards. So door (or drawer) 1 is the one at the bottom of the unit. Door (or drawer) 2 is the one above that. As with other units, the door arrangment can be changed by clicking the "Style" button.

The height of any item described as "user" will depend on either "Height of door 1" or "Height of door 2". Otherwise the height will be calculated automatically.

For this example, change the style to "Tall Oven Housing User Bottom Door (No Filler)". As per the description, the height of the bottom door will depend on the user defined value. As it's the first (lowest) door, it will use "Height of door 1" - set it to 500. For this particular style "Height of door 2" is not used, so can be left as the default.

Appliances also work from bottom-to-top. Whatever is selected in the left-most (first) appliance box will be placed at the bottom of the stack of appliances. The second (middle) appliance will be placed above the first. The third (right-most) appliances will be placed above that.

For this example, change the first appliance by clicking on the relevant "Select..." button, leave the manufacturer as "Standard Graphics" and choosing "Warming Drawer - 140mm High".
For the second, click the relevant "Select..." button, change the "Manufacturer" to "CDA" and choose the "CD308" oven.
For the third, click the relevant "Select..." button, leave the manufacturer as "Standard Graphics" and choose the "Coffee Machine".

Click "OK" to add the unit to your design.

Floating appliances

Floating sinks and hobs have no attached base unit. They can be placed on top of any other base unit. The worktop on the unit underneath the floating item will be automatically cut out. You can change the type of appliance by pressing the "Select" button.

For details on creating the cabinets the floating items sit upon, see the "Basic Cabinet" examples above.

Example 1. An 800 base unit with a 70cm floating hob.

To create a floating hob:

Base Units - Ovens, Hobs - Floating Hob

Width: No longer used - for backwards compatibility with previous versions
Depth: No longer used - for backwards compatibility with previous versions.
Height Off Ground: Defaults to the worktop height in your design
Distance to move in: No longer used - for backwards compatibility with previous versions
Distance to move along: No longer used - for backwards compatibility with previous versions

Change the type of hob by clicking on the "Select" button.

Click "OK" to add the floating hob onto your design. Position using drag and drop.

Example 2. An 800 base unit with a floating sink, drainer grooves and tap.

To create a floating sink:

Base Units - Ovens, Hobs - Floating Hob

Width: No longer used - for backwards compatibility with previous versions
Depth: no longer used - for backwards compatibility with previous versions
Height Off Ground: Defaults to the worktop height in your design
Distance to Move In: No longer used - for backwards compatibility with previous versions
Distance to Move Along: No longer used - for backwards compatibility with previous versions

Change the type of sink by clicking on the left-hand "Select" button. Change the type of tap by clicking on the right-hand "Select" button. For this example, change the sink to a Standard Graphics UM Single Bowl. We are going to use a floating tap, so change the tap to "No Appliance".

Click "OK" to add the floating sink onto your design. Position using drag and drop.

Create another floating sink, but change the sink to Standard Graphics - UM Drainer RH, and the tap to "No Appliance".

Click "OK" to add the floating sink (actually drainer grooves) onto your design. Position using drag and drop.

Create the floating tap

Base Units - Misc - Special

Select "Tap" on the list of items and click "OK".

Height off ground - - defaults to the worktop height in your design.
Width - no longer used - for backwards compatibility with previous versions.
Depth - no longer used - for backwards compatibility with previous versions.

Change the tap to Standard Graphics - Astracast Jordan. Click "Ok" to add the tap onto your design. Position using drag and drop.

Accessories

Accessories is a catch-all term for items used to decorate a room. This includes items such as light and electrical fixtures, cutlery and soft furnishings.

The two main sources of these items are "Decorative Accessories" and "Special Items":

Base units - Miscellaneous Items - Decorative Accessories

Base units - Miscellaneous Items - Special

You will also find cubic boxes, ceiling wedges and velux windows under "Specials". See Cubes and Wedges on how to use them to create sloped ceilings, pitched roofs and other projections into your design.

There are hundreds of different accesories. They are all created and positioned in the same way as ordinary items. See Positioning units with Drag and Drop for details.

If you are having trouble finding an item you can use the search system to look for the item you require. See Searching below.

Example 1. Downlights.

The downlight is found in under the "Specials" button.

Base units - Miscellaneous Items - Special

Down light is found under the "Lighting" category.

Height: refers to the height of the light fitting itself, not the height above the ground.
Position: The height above the ground of this light fixture. "Ceiling" will place the top of the downlight flush with the current ceiling height. "Fly-shelf" will place the top of the downlight flush with the underside of a standard height fly-over shelf. "Specify height" will place the top of the downlight at the height specified in "Specified Height"

Position the downlights as you would any other item. In the above example the two downlights nearest the top of the image have their position set to "Ceiling", the two below the fly-over shelf are set to "Fly-shelf".

Example 2. Electrical socket.

Electrical sockets are found in under the "Specials" button. For this example we will use a double socket.

Base units - Miscellaneous Items - Special

Electrical sockets are found in the "Electrical" category.

Height off ground: The distance from the floor to the bottom of the socket.
Width: The width of the socket.
Height: The height of the socket.
Depth: The depth/thickness of the socket.
Plan graphic: How the socket will be represented on the plan. "Standard" is a simple rectangle the width/depth specified. "Electrical symbol" will draw the relevant services representation of an electrical socket.

Example 3. Saucepan on hob.

Saucepan is found under the "Decorative Accessories" button.

Base units - Miscellaneous Items - Decorative Accessories

Sauce Pan is found under the "Pots & Pans" category.

Height off ground: The distance from the floor to the bottom of the pan. In the example image above the height off ground was increased to 950 to make it sit on top of the burner.

Bathroom Examples

Basic cabinets

Example 1. 500 wide floor standing cabinet, full height door.

To create a regular base cupboard with a full-height door.

Base units - Base Units - Straight Base Cupboard - Base Cupboard

Select "Base Cupboard" and click "OK".

These are the properties of the base unit we are about to create. Every unit has a default width. For an Ordinary Base Unit, it's 500. The Depth, Height and Plinth Height are all "*"'d values. This means they are using the default values for this design, as specified under "This Design" - "Room Settings" (See Setting up your design - Room Settings). If you wish to change one of these "*"'d values, make sure you delete both "*"'s - leaving one or both stars will make it revert to the default value.

To the right of the Width, Height etc is a box containing the hinging and style of the unit.

For this example we will leave everything as default. Click "OK" to add the unit onto your design.

Example 2. 500 wide floor standing cabinet, drawerline.

To create this unit click the following toolbar buttons (same as creating the full height unit):

Base units - Base Units - Straight Base Cupboard - Base Cupboard

To change the style of this unit to drawerline, click on the "Style" button.

Sanitary ware

Sanitary ware is catagorised by manufacturer. There is a special manufacturer called "Generic". These items are created by ArtiCAD and can have some, if not all, of their dimensions altered. For other manufacturers the dimensions are fixed to whatever that item should be. If an item is available in a range of sizes it will be included as a seperate item e.g. Heritage Shower Bath 1500 and 1700.

Example 1. Close-coupled lavatory.

To create the close-coupled lavatory: Base Units - WC + Bidets - Close Coupled

Select "Generic Round Toilet" and click "OK".

The Width and Height of this lavatory can be altered. However the depth cannot so it is greyed out.

Click "OK" to add the lavatory onto your design.

Example 2. Back-to-wall lavatory.

This consists of two seperate units - the cabinet and the lavatory.

To created the cabinet:

Base units - Base Units - Straight Base Cupboard - Back to Wall WC Base

For this example the dimensions were left as default. Click "OK" to add to the unit to your design.

To create the lavatory:

Base Units - WC + Bidets - Back to wall toilet

Select "Generic Toilet" and click "OK".

For this example the dimensions were left as default. Click "OK" to add to the unit to your design.

See Drag and Drop for details on positioning the lavatory in front of the base unit.

Example 3. P-shaped bath.

To create the bath:

Base Units - Baths - Shower baths

Select "Mezza Bath LH" and click "OK".

this example the dimensions were left as default. If you wished to change the tap click the "Select" button under the tap. Click "OK" to add to the unit to your design.

Example 4. Wet rooms

To create the wetroom enclosure:

Base Units - Showers + Enclosures - Wet Room - Rectangular

Select "ROMAN Sliding Door for Single Wall" and click "OK".

For this example the dimensions were left as default. Click "OK" to add the unit on to your design.

For details on adding the shower vales and the waste see the "Accessories" section below.

Accessories

Example 1. Towels

To create a towel:

Base Units - Accesories - Special

Towels are found under the "Towels" category.

Adjust the height off ground (the distance from the floor to the underside of the towels) as required. Click "OK" to add the towels onto the design.

In this example there are three sets of towels set to 1200, 1240 and 1280 off the ground.

Example 2. Toothbrush holder.

To create a toothbrush holder:

Wall Units - Accesories - Special

For this example select "SHOWERLUX Edge Toothbrush Holder" and click "OK".

Adjust the height off ground as required. In the above example it was changed to 1000. Click "OK" to add it onto the design.

To create a toothbrush:

Base Units - Accesories - Special

For this example select "Toothbrush Leaning" (which is found under the "Misc" category) and click "OK".

Adjust the height off ground as required. In the above example it was changed to 1000. Click "OK" to add it onto the design.

Example 3. Shower valves.

To create the shower valves:

Base Units - Showers + Enclosures - Shower Valves

Select "Shower Tap" under the "Generic" section. Click "OK"

You can specify the height of the valves off the floor (measured from the floor to the lowest point of the valves). You can also change the type of shower (Wall Mounted, Electric etc). For this example all settings were left as default. Click "OK" to add the item onto the plan.

Example 4. Wet room waste.

To create the wet room waste:

Base Units - Accessories - Special

Select "Shower Wet-room Waste" under the "Services" category. Click "OK".

You can specify the height of the waste off the floor (measured from the floor to the underside of the waste). Click "OK" to add the item onto the plan.

Bedroom Examples

Wardrobes

Example 1. Regular wardrobe.

To create a regular wardrobe:

Base Units - Wardrobes - Wardrobe

Select "Wardrobe" under the "Generic" category. Click "OK".

Specify the width/depth/height etc. It is also possible to specify some simple internals (Full or Double hanging). For more detailed internals, see examples below. Click "OK" to add the item onto the plan.

Change the style to select a full height door, door with drawers etc. as described above in the Kitchen examples.

Example 2. Angle cut robe - 4-sided door.

To create an angled wardrobe:

Base Units - Wardrobes - Wardrobe

Select "Angled Cut Wardrobe" under the "Angled Cut" category. Click "OK".

Specify the width/depth/height etc. "Height" refers to the heights of the left-hand side of the robe. "Height of right hand side" refers to the height of the right-hand side of the robe. Click "OK" to add the item onto the plan.

See Cubes and Wedges for details on creating sloped/pitched roofs.

See Angled Robe Calculator for help calculating the heights for the robe under a sloped ceiling.

Example 3. Angle cut robe - 5-sided door.

To create an angled wardrobe (5-sided door):

Base Units - Wardrobes - Wardrobe

Select "Angled Cut Wardrobe with Flat Top LH" under the "Angled Cut" category. Click "OK".

Specify the width/depth/height etc. "Height" refers to the height of the left-hand side of the robe. "Height of right hand side" refers to the height of the right-hand side of the robe. Click "OK" to add the item onto the plan.

See Cubes and Wedges for details on creating sloped/pitched roofs.

See Angled Robe Calculator for help calculating the heights for the robe under a sloped ceiling.

Example 4. Slide robe.

To create a sliding wardrobe:

Base Units - Wardrobes - Slider Unit

Select "3 Panel Sliding Door Robe" under the "Generic" category. Click "OK".

Specify the dimensions for the sliding robe.

Width
Opening width: Can be the same as the overall width, or less. The difference between the opening width and the overall width will be replaced with fillers.
Filler: Where to place the fillers (if required).
Number of doors: Each door will be "opening width" divided by "number of doors" wide.
Single panel on door 1, 2 etc.: Replace the 3-panel door with a single, full height panel.

In the above example, we have changed the colour of the second panel on the second door. To do this click the "More" button.

Panels are counted from the bottom of the door up i.e. panel 1 is the lowest panel on the door.

The colour of the panel is controlled by "sliding_door_extra" under "This Design" - "Photo Realism Colours". See Changing colours for details.

Click "OK" to add the item onto the plan.

Example 5. Stable door robe.

To create a stable door unit:

Base Units - Corner Wardrobes - Left Hand Stable Door

Select "Double Stable Door LH" under the "Generic" category. Click "OK".

Specify the width/depth/height etc. "Height of stable door" refers to the overall height of the stable door. The filler panel below is automatically adjusted. Click "OK" to add the item onto the plan.

Wardrobe internals

To create a robe internal:

Base Units - Accesories - Internals

Select the type of internal you wish to add, then position it inside your robe. See Position units with Drag and Drop for details.

In the example image above, we have added internals to a 3 Panel Sliding Robe. From left-to-right:

Rails: Full hanging
Uprights: Interior Unit Side Panel (carc)
Rails: Double Hanging
Shelf Stack: Full Shelf Stack
Chest: Internal Drawer Chest with Filler

To see inside your units, see Viewing your design for details.

Beds and other accessories

Example 1. Double bed.

To create a double bed:

Base Units - Accesories - Bed

Select "Double Bed" under the "Generic" category. Click "OK".

Specify the width/depth/height etc. Click "OK" to add the item onto the plan.

Example 2. Knee hole space (with drawer).

In the above example the knee hole space is between two regular base cabinets.

To create a knee hole space (with drawer):

Base Units - Base Units - Knee hole space

Select "Knee hole space" under the "Generic" category. Click "OK".

Specify the width/depth/height etc. Add a drawer by selecting "with drawer". The back panel can be turned off as well (on by default). Click "OK" to add the item onto the plan.

Example 3. Radiator.

To create a radiator:

Base Units - Accesories - Special

Select "Radiator" under the "Radiator & Covers" category. Click "OK".

Specify the width/depth/height etc. Click "OK" to add the item onto the plan.

Add Your Units.

More ArtiCAD Conventions.

Searching For Items.

Useful Search Approaches:

Narrowing down:

Using the Criteria List View to Search:

Choosing Your Item