Turn a multi-floor building into one 3D model

A house with an upstairs, a basement or a few storeys is one building, not a set of separate plans. In Sketch2Space you add each floor from its own sketch, and the floors are stacked into a single 3D model you can look at as a whole or edit one floor at a time.

How a building works#

• One sketch per floor. Every floor has its own drawing, its own 3D model and its own furniture, just like a single-floor project.
• Stacked for you. Each new floor sits on top of the floor below, starting where that floor's walls end. It is lined up so that as many of its walls as possible land on the walls underneath, and its stairs on the stairs below when both floors have them.
• One place to manage it. The Floors list, under the source sketch, shows every floor of the building, top floor first.

Add a floor#

1. Open your project and find the Floors list under the source sketch.
2. Click Add floor and pick the new floor's sketch.
3. The new floor opens on its own and its analysis starts, the same as when you upload any sketch.
4. When the analysis is done, the building shows all its floors stacked.

You can't add a floor while a sketch is still being analysed. Wait for it to finish, then add the next one.

Look at the whole building, or one floor#

• View all shows every floor stacked, the way the building stands.
• Spread floors pulls the floors apart so you can see into each one. The ground floor stays put and the floors above step aside. Stack floors puts them back.
• With View all off, you see the floor you are editing on its own. The floors below it stay faint, so you still know where you are.

Edit one floor at a time#

• Click a floor in the list to edit it. It shows Editing, and its walls, doors, windows and furniture can be changed like in any project (see edit your 3D model).
• Click it again to stop editing. Walls, doors, windows and furniture can't be changed again until you pick a floor.
• A building opens with no floor picked, in View all.
• While you edit a floor in View all, the other floors turn see-through, so the one you are working on stands out.
• If you turn View all off with no floor picked, the top floor is picked for you.

Line the floors up#

The automatic placement is usually right. The note under each floor tells you how it was placed, and if a floor sits wrong you can fix it:

• Turn a floor. Drag its turn slider, or use the arrows beside it to turn it 90° at a time. The slider settles on 0° when you drag near it.
• Change the order. Drag a floor by its handle to move it up or down the stack.
• Raise or lower the building. The tall slider beside the list moves the whole building against the ground. At 0 the ground floor stands on the ground; below 0 the lowest floor becomes a basement, dug into the garden. Double-click the slider to put it back at 0.

Turning a floor and raising or lowering the building can both be undone with Undo.

Hide or delete a floor#

• Hide a floor with its eye. A hidden floor shows a Show button, so it's easy to bring back.
• Delete a floor with its bin. You're asked first, and its sketch and 3D model go with it.

What the floors show#

The Sketch / Flooring / None button in the bar above the model changes what you see on the floors. Each click moves to the next one:

• Sketch: each floor shows its own drawing inside its walls.
• Flooring: every floor has real flooring. Seen from below, each floor looks like a ceiling.
• None: no floors at all, so you can look down through the building.

Balconies count as part of their floor, so they get the drawing and the flooring too.

FAQ#

Can I make a 3D model of a house with several floors?#

Yes. Add each floor from its own sketch with Add floor in the Floors list. Sketch2Space stacks them into one building and lines each floor up with the one below.

What if a floor doesn't line up with the one below?#

Turn it with its slider until it matches, or drag it to the right place in the order. If the walls of the two floors are very different, a floor is centred over the one below, and its note says so.

Can I add a basement?#

Yes. Add the basement as a floor, drag it to the bottom of the list, then lower the building with the height slider until the basement sits below the ground.

Can I export the whole building to CAD?#

The CAD export downloads the floor you have open. Open each floor and export it to get the whole building. See export to CAD.

Does it work on my phone?#

Yes. See use Sketch2Space on your phone or tablet.