Using guidelines for your design

Architectural Design based on a modular grid

When starting a new design project, sometimes you need a reference system or guidelines to align your elements to it. Revit has several reference elements. In this post, I will discuss two of them; Work Plane and Reference Plane.

Work Plane

"A work plane is always active, even if you don't see it"
-A Revit Rule

Even if you can't see it, the Work Plane is what you create any new elements upon. If you're in plan view, your work plane is usually the current level. To show the work plane, go to Architecture Tab> Work Plane Panel > Show Work Plane
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Once you do this, you will see blue grid lines in your view. If you zoom out, you can see its edges and actually select it to customize as needed.

In the properties bar, change the grid to your preference.

Now you can use the grid as needed to create and align your elements to it.

Notice: You can also Set Work Plane to any flat surface in 3D or rotate the work plane when needed.

Use the new work plane to create line elements or custom elements (In-Place Components)

Reference Plane

Your Reference Planes are 3D planes that you can create in any 2D view. It may look like a dashed line, but it is actually a 3D plane that you can pick as your work plane. You may use it to identify a major axis in your design, define building setbacks or even as a sketch for staircase placement.

One of my favorite exercises for using Reference Planes, is attaching a wall to a plane in elevation or section views. Check the example below ...

Using Reference Planes as attach target for a curved wall

The end result for using attach to Reference Plane

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That's it for this week! If you like this post, share it, and don't forget to comment with your suggestions for next week posts. Until next week, see you!