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ARCHICAD Training Lesson Outline
Skylights and Corner Windows are essentially variations of the Window tool, in that they create openings in other elements (roofs or pairs of connected walls) using a library part.
SKYLIGHTS
A skylight element can be placed into any roof, multiplane or single plane. It automatically senses the slope of the roof (and will adjust if the roof pitch is changed) and creates a hole in the bounded polygon area.
Special skylight options include angle settings for the header and sill edges, allowing you to set each one either perpendicular to the slope, plumb, horizontal or a custom angle.
The edges of the roof hole can only be adjusted by changing the settings of the skylight. This can be confusing when an Simple Skylight Opening element is placed, simply to create a hole. This special element can only be selected on plan, and the size and placement can only be adjusted there or in the Settings dialog.
The skylight tool can also be used to quickly place dormers. There are only a few in the standard library, with limited options for customization. I find them mostly useful for conceptual design, since the level of detail and geometry are somewhat simplistic.
SKYLIGHTS VS OBJECTS
Like windows, skylights can only be placed into a host element. If the host is moved, edited or deleted, the skylight will adjust or disappear.
You can also place a skylight using the Object tool, in which case it is a free-standing element, requiring both manual adjustment of pitch and elevation, as well as the creation of an actual polygon hole in the roof. This approach may be useful in some cases, depending on the way the roof element is modeled.
You can create a custom skylight library part by following the process to create a new window, then editing the Subtype in the library part definition.
CORNER WINDOWS
The Corner Window tool is found in the More section of the Toolbox. When placed into a wall, it creates a pair of windows meeting at the nearest corner.
Each of the windows may have a different width, but their height is linked.
Unfortunately, if there are mullions, the number of vertical dividers will be the same for both windows, even if one is narrower than the other. However, if you turn off the Corner Window function (in Custom Corner area) then you can work with each one independently.
The Custom Corner > Corner Connection Type is used to define whether there is a Frame, a Column or Glass. One can also turn off the corner function, forcing the window to move back from the corner.
When a window runs between two corners then one can create similar corners at the second edge.