Facade panel layout

The facade in FredIQ

• Create a facade as a new project: in the New project window, set Roof type to Facade. The type cannot be changed later. A building with both a roof and cladding means two projects.
• In the cockpit, a facade project has a Facades tab instead of the Roofs tab. Open the editor in the Facade surface card with the Enter surface button, later Open surface.
• The facade covers the panel layout and the cutting plan. FredIQ does not deal with the structural design of the facade at all: no fixing, spacing, substructure or wind load. More in the article What FredIQ does not assess.

Steps in the editor

The Steps window on the right guides you through the steps: Footprint (optional), Upload underlay, Views and planes, Openings, Panel layout and Report. The canvas, mouse and keys are the same as in the roof editors, see Drawing a roof.

Dimensions are entered in millimetres. The origin is the bottom left corner of the facade.

Views and planes

• A view is one side of the building: A, B … A plane is a continuous area of cladding in a view: A1, A2 … A view can have several planes, for example a set-back part or a projection.
• An empty facade offers the options Enter dimensions, Upload an underlay and Draw without an underlay in the How would you like to start? card.

1. Use the Input method switch to choose Dimensions or Drawing.
2. For dimensions, choose the Shape: Rectangle, Gable or Custom points, and enter Width and Height. For a gable, also Eave height, Ridge height and the ridge position.
3. When drawing, draw the outline of the plane with the Outline tool.
4. Add another plane with the New plane in A button and another side of the building with the New view button. Set the position of the plane in the view in the Position in the view section.
5. Click Save surface.

Openings

• In the Openings section, click Add opening. Choose the Type (Window, Door or Other) and enter the position From the left edge and From the bottom edge and the dimensions Width and Height.
• When drawing, draw an opening by dragging with the Opening tool. Fine-tune the exact dimensions in the openings table.
• An opening must lie inside the outline and must not overlap another opening.

Building footprint (optional)

The footprint is an aid from which FredIQ suggests the planes. The layout, the bill of materials and the cutting plan do not read it.

1. In the Footprint step, draw the building perimeter with the Building outline tool, with north at the top.
2. Enter the Wall height including parapet. For the footprint edges, set whether each one is clad (Clad) and whether its top edge is Straight or a Gable.
3. Add a set-back storey with the Add level button.
4. Click Split into planes. Each clad edge becomes a plane, and the planes are grouped into views by compass direction.
5. The proposal opens in the Views and planes step and only takes effect once you save it.

The Footprint and 3D window shows the planes in plan and in 3D, with the openings and the panel joints.

Background

• Use the Upload underlay button in the header to upload a PDF, PNG or JPG of the view. The background belongs to a saved plane.
• In the Scale card, measure a known length. Then click Set origin and the bottom left corner of the facade in the drawing.
• The background is only for tracing. It does not change the surface, the layout or the protocol.

Panel layout

1. Open the Panel layout step. The Panel layout card on the Calculations tab and its Choose panel button work the same way.
2. Choose the Panel and the Format. A format that the catalogue allows to be rotated can be rotated with the Rotate the format by 90° option. One panel and one format apply to the whole facade.
3. Choose the Default vertical grid: Symmetric from the centre line, From the bottom left corner or From the bottom right corner. A plane can have its own choice.
4. Zero level of the rows is the height from which the horizontal joints of the whole facade are laid out. An empty field means the bottom edge of the lowest plane.
5. Click Calculate layout.

The layout is calculated from the saved planes. After the surface changes, it is recalculated automatically.

How FredIQ lays out the panels

• Rectangular pieces only. Around an opening, the grid breaks at the reveal, the sill and the lintel.
• Continuous joints, vertical and horizontal. The horizontal joints lie at one height across the whole facade.
• No piece below the minimum panel size. Instead, the whole row or the grid is shifted.
• Format, joint and minimum piece according to the panel data in the catalogue.
• Panels do not continue around a corner: each plane has its own grid.

For a directional panel and for a panel whose cut edges are sealed, the application reminds you of this below the panel selection.

Warnings

Where the minimum piece cannot be kept, the piece stays and the layout is not discarded. The Warnings section shows the plane and the size, for example a band lower than the minimum piece or a narrow edge column. Warnings do not block the layout. A different format, a different grid start, a different zero level of the rows or an adjustment of the plane can help.

The pieces to order and the cutting are described in the guide Cutting plan.