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554 | ChapTeR 13 Modeling Floors, Ceilings, and rooFs

Creating Ceilings

Ceilings are system families composed of sketch-based elements that also serve as hosts for
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Objective components such as light fixtures. Like other host elements such as floors and roofs, if a ceiling
is deleted, hosted elements on that ceiling are also deleted.
Ceilings are classified as either Basic Ceiling or Compound Ceiling. The Basic Ceiling family
does not have a layered assembly and is represented in a section as a single line; however, it
does have a material parameter that can display surface patterns in reflected ceiling plans and
3D views. The Compound Ceiling family allows you to define a layered assembly of materials
that are visible when displayed in a section view. As with floors, you can change ceiling types
by selecting a ceiling in your project and choosing another type from the Type Selector in the
Properties palette or with the Match Type Properties tool.
Both the Basic Ceiling and Compound Ceiling types can serve as a host to hosted family
components. Ceilings also serve as bounding elements for the volumetric calculation of rooms.
This is critical when using environmental analysis programs. For more information about
analysis for sustainable design, see Chapter 9, “Conceptual Design and Design Analysis.”
You can create a ceiling in one of two ways: automatically or by sketching a boundary. When
you select the ceiling tool from the Architecture tab of the ribbon, you can switch between the
Automatic Ceiling and Sketch Ceiling modes at the right end of the ribbon.

In Automatic Ceiling mode, the software will try to determine the boundaries of a ceiling
sketch when you place the cursor inside an enclosed space. If an enclosed space cannot be
determined, the cursor will still indicate a circle/slash and you must switch to Sketch Ceiling
mode. In this mode, you can use the Pick Walls method as discussed earlier in this chapter to
create intelligent relationships with the bounding walls of the ceiling.
Ceilings are best modeled in ceiling plans even though they can be created in a floor plan.
When you place a ceiling, its elevation will be based on the level of the current plan with an
offset from that level. With the Properties palette open, the Height Offset From Level value can
be modified as you create ceilings.

Room Bounding performance
Floors, ceilings, and roofs all have the ability to be room-bounding elements. This parameter can be
found in the instance properties of each object. if you are not using volume calculations for rooms
or you don’t intend to use the model for environmental analysis, you might consider turning off the
room Bounding parameter in horizontal objects. in larger revit projects, unnecessary applications
of the room Bounding parameter may lead to reduced model performance.

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