Columns & grid

Place a column

1. Click Column on the toolbar.
2. Move to where it goes — a preview follows the cursor.
3. Click.

The tool stays active for the next one.

← / →	rotate in 45° steps
Type a number + Enter	exact angle in degrees
↑ / ↓	reference point

Reference point decides what the click means: the centre of the column, one of its corners, or the middle of an edge. Corner and edge are what you want when a column sits against a wall or in the corner of a room, because that is the face you are dimensioning to. A round column offers centre and edge only.

Rotation happens around the point you clicked, not around the centre — so an edge-referenced column stays against its wall as you turn it.

Sections

Rectangle	width × depth
Circle	diameter, built as a smooth cylinder
Profile	from the European catalogue

The catalogue covers IPE, HEA, HEB, UPE, L, RHS, SHS and CHS. Pick the family in Section, the size in Profile. Hollow sections are built as a real ring, so the quantities come from the actual cross-section rather than a bounding box.

Height defaults to the wall height, so columns match the storey without being told.

Grid

Grid lays out axes and, optionally, columns on every intersection.

1. Double-click the Column Grid button on the toolbar to open its settings.
2. Type the spacings.
3. Confirm — the tool starts with a live preview of the whole grid at the cursor.
4. Click to place it.

Spacing syntax

6000;2x4500;3000

Bare numbers are millimetres. 2x4500 means two bays of 4 500. X and Y are set separately, with a live preview and a summary as you type; bad syntax turns the field red and blocks the button.

Axes are drawn as dashed construction lines that SketchUp’s inference will snap to, labelled 1, 2, 3… across and A, B, C… down, with bubbles at both ends.

The grid is one object

Axes live in a sub-group, columns sit inside the grid group, and the whole thing is one undo step. Right-click gives you:

Grid Properties	change spacings and regenerate
Grid Columns Properties (n)	edit every column in the grid at once
Explode Grid	break it apart into loose axes and columns

Caution

Columns placed by a grid have no live link to it. Regenerating the grid replaces them; moving one afterwards is just moving a column.

This is the same one-off principle used everywhere in Archeform — the grid is a layout aid, not a constraint system.

Parameters

Field	Default	What it does
Section	Rectangle	rectangle, circle, or a profile family
Width / Depth	300 × 300 mm	rectangular section
Diameter	300 mm	round section
Height	wall height	of the active storey
Reference	Center	what the click point means
Rotation	0°	around the reference point

Defaults set by double-clicking the Column button apply to new columns, including those the grid places — so set the section once and the whole grid follows.

In IFC and in drawings

Exports as IfcColumn with Qto_ColumnBaseQuantities and Pset_ColumnCommon. Round columns get an exact πr² area, not a polygon approximation. A catalogue profile is written into ObjectType, so HEB 240 survives the export.

Grids export as IfcGrid.

See also

• Beams — the same catalogue
• Foundations