LT Architect - Full Details

RAPID DRAWING TOOLS TO EASE THE DESIGN AND DETAILING PROCESS

(CLICK ON THE BUTTON IMAGES TO DISPLAY THE DIALOG BOXES)

LT Architect speeds up your design productivity with intelligent automation of previously time-consuming draughting and detailing tasks. It enables you to optimise design efficiency, quality and accuracy, new business proposals and return-on-investment (ROI).

The ability to archive Wall, Window and Door styles saves you time and ensures repeatability throughout a project. And it's really easy to do: just set the parameters you require in the Wall, Window or Door dialog box and enter the name of your new style in the relevant field. The style is then available for selection on other drawings.
The integration of LT Architect into your design environment is not a problem as it has a user-defined layering system, which by default is set to match BS1192-AEC5. CI/SfB and Generic layering systems are also included as standard.

To draw walls is so easy with LT Architect. Create the style you need in the simple dialog box by picking from either external cavity, single, stone or internal wall types and entering the required dimensions. Use the Wall profile tool create the plan outline, then the various Wall build commands allow you to contstruct the wall using the settings from the selected style.

Wall Setup

Add Office partitioning to your layouts, partition types include: Solid, Fully Glazed, Half Glazed, Door & Window. All of the Partition types are compatible with and can be viewed in the 3D Walkthrough facility.

Partitioning

Doors and Windows are equally straightforward to create with LT Architect. Once again, any combination of settings can be saved as a style for future use.

Doors

The Door dialog box allows you to select the elevation, sizes, style, type, jamb size/position and threshold options, whilst the Window dialog box allows you control of elevation, sizes, number of panes, jamb size/position and sill options. The flexibility of LT Architect's Doors and Windows means that almost any design can be produced.

Windows

What is more, LT Architect boosts your productivity with automatic Wall breaks. An intuitive dialog box controls the break style for each Wall type. Then, when inserting a Door or Window, LT Architect inserts the structural opening into the Wall and applies the appropriate break style.

Wall Break

And it's never been easier to generate Building Sections. LT Architect has an extensive library of 2D construction details, so you can finish detailing your designs with minimal effort. The library contains parametric symbols for the Foundations, DPC, Floor Structure, Walls, Sills, Headers, Doors, Windows, Roof Trusses and Fascias. You can use these to build a single or multi-storey building section in stages or you may select from a choice of standard pre-assembled modules.

Building Section Assemblies

Modular Building Sections

Basic roof plans can be created from a simple dialog box: specify the sizes and pitch then select the type - hipped or gable.

Roofs

You have complete control of stairs with LT Architect. There are Straight, ¼ Turn, ½ Turn, Winders, Spiral in Plan view. In elevation you have Straight, ¼ Turn, ½ Turn and Winders. In most cases these can be shown as a full staircase or with cut-line. There are also miscellaneous items such as Lifts and Escalators.

Stairs - Plan

With Stair Elevations and Sections you have the option to conform to Building Regulations.

Stairs - Section

LT Architect gives you parametric Timber stud panels in plan and elevation. You can specify the key sizes and select from the following types: - Door opening, Window opening, Door & Window opening and No-opening.

Timber Framing

LT Architect has hundreds of symbols including Structural Steel details, Plumbing, Heating, Furniture, Electrical and Kitchen fittings, to help you add further detail to your designs. The majority are not just blocks that have to be stretched and scaled to the correct size, but are intelligent parametric symbols. This means that you can define the key dimensions and the symbol is automatically and instantly drawn to the size you require. As many of the symbols in LT Architect are available in elevation as well as plan, they can be used to quickly add detail to your internal or external elevations.

Symbols

LT Architect also incorporates a complete Structural steelwork design system (LT Structural). A comprehensive library of design tools for steelwork construction and fabrication including:- Columns, Foundations, Bolts, Gussets, Holes, Welds and Assemblies. Virtually all of these symbols are parametric, giving high flexibility in the variation of symbol sizes available.

 

VISUALISE YOUR DESIGNS FAST

Now you can create stunning 3D walkthrough models of your designs, straight from 2D plan drawings.

Example Screen Shot

LT Architect creates a 3D file in VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language) format, which can be viewed within any Internet browser that supports it, allowing you to fly around and walk through the building with doors opening automatically.

You can specify materials, textures or colours for each design element within your 2D drawing. This means that you exercise complete control over the look and feel of the 3D walkthrough generated. Even components of standard elements can be assigned an individual material, texture or colour. For example, with doors, the door, frame, lintel and threshold can all be given different materials, textures or colours.

Assign Textures

It is even possible to specify the transparency of glass and to define a staircase as being either concrete, wooden or open.LT Architect includes a library of architectural textures which can be scaled and rotated when rendering individual building elements. The library of textures can be easily enhanced by adding your own specific requirements as simple image files, thus making the range of finishes you can achieve limitless.

Texture Library

Floors and ceilings are created within an intuitive dialog box, and large multi- storey buildings are easily handled by identifying the level number for each floor in a simple dialog box.

Floors/Ceilings & Levels

Complete your designs by utilising LT Architect's range of 3D furniture and fittings, which include symbols for home and office furniture, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, electrical fittings and landscape. All you do is insert the required 2D symbol into your plan, and LT Architect takes care of the rest. Try out some example VRML files.

3D Furniture & Fittings

Once you have created the walkthrough file, it can be forwarded across the Internet, or posted onto a Website. This allows anyone involved in a building project, with or without CAD software on their PC and anywhere in the World, to immediately and simultaneously view your design. The walkthrough file is also compatible with a number of rendering programs such as Artlantis, allowing you to present a photo-realistic image of a project to clients, interior designers and planners. To view/download some example 3D images created from 2D plans click here.

Screen Shot of example photo-realistic image (Rendered by Artlantis)