archiParkingLayout Help

Overview

What it does

archiParkingLayout is a feasibility tool for surface parking. Place it, drag its corners onto your site, and it lays out the parking the way a surface car park is usually built. Change the stall angle, the roads or the entrances and the whole layout redraws, with the stall count in the info block.

Stalls at any common angle: 90°, 75°, 60°, 45°, 30°, parallel, or a custom angle, with aisle widths and traffic that follow the angle.
Best fit: the rows turn and shift to the layout with the most stalls, after every change of the site.
A drivable layout: a ring road or end lanes linking the aisles, entrances that open onto a road, and a turning radius at every row end.
Plan and 3D: paving, landscape strip, rounded islands, trees, stall lines, arrows and cars, with a plan drawing ready to present.

Getting started

Quick start

Load the library. In Archicad, open File › Libraries and Objects › Library Manager and add ArchiTools_Library_AC29.lcf (or _AC28). You can use the single archiParkingLayout_AC29.gsm instead, but not both: they are the same object.
Place it. Pick the Object tool, open Site Planning › archiParkingLayout and click once in the plan. A new object starts as an 80 × 70 m L-shaped site with 6 corners and 117 stalls.
Fit it to your site. Select the object and drag each corner onto your site boundary. The layout follows the corner while you drag and refits when you drop it.
Set the number of corners. On Site & Roads, raise Corners to add corners (the longest edges split), then drag the new ones into place. To remove a corner, drop it on a corner next to it.
Choose the stalls. On Stalls & Rows, pick the stall angle. Aisle widths and traffic follow the angle unless you set your own.
Read the result. The info block in the plan and the Result box on the first settings page show the total stalls, the site area, m² per stall and stalls per hectare.

Geometry

The site boundary

The boundary is a polygon of 3 to 24 corners, edited in the plan. Clockwise and counter-clockwise boundaries both work.

Drag a corner anywhere. While you drag, the layout follows the hotspot, and the best fit runs again when you drop it.
Remove a corner by dropping it on one of its neighbours (it snaps there). Its two edges become one.
Add corners with Corners on Site & Roads. More corners split the longest edges, fewer drop the last ones. Then drag the new corners where you need them.
Entrances and per-edge settings move with the corners: an entrance on an edge you split stays where it was.

Why there is no handle in the middle of each edge. Archicad keeps a hotspot drop only when the object leaves the dragged value exactly as it was dropped. A handle that turns into a new corner can never do that, so corners are added by number instead.

Geometry

From the boundary in

Layer	What it is	Default
Landscape strip	A planted setback along the whole boundary, cut open at the entrances.	1.5 m
Stalls along the edges	90°, one stall deep, facing the ring road. Switch them off edge by edge. They need the ring road.	on
Ring road	A two-way road around the inner area. The aisles meet it at both ends.	6.0 m
Inner area	Rows of stalls, double-loaded back to back, single-loaded where only one row fits.	—
Entrances	Up to three, each on an edge. An entrance cuts the strip and the edge stalls and gets an arrow in and an arrow out (in on the right, seen driving in).	1 × 6.0 m
Islands	The space at each row end becomes a raised landscape island, rounded on the aisle side.	on

Geometry

Stalls and aisles

Stalls are 2.5 × 5.0 m by default; parallel stalls have their own size, 6.0 × 2.3 m. The depth of a row is length × sin(angle) + width × cos(angle), so the car fits between the front and the back line. The pitch along the row is width / sin(angle). A module is two rows back to back plus their aisle: the repeat that fills the inner area.

Angle	Row depth	Pitch	Aisle	Module	Traffic by default
90°	5.00 m	2.50 m	6.0 m	16.00 m	two-way
75°	5.48 m	2.59 m	5.5 m	16.45 m	one-way, alternating
60°	5.58 m	2.89 m	4.5 m	15.66 m	one-way, alternating
45°	5.30 m	3.54 m	4.0 m	14.61 m	one-way, alternating
30°	4.67 m	5.00 m	3.5 m	12.83 m	one-way, alternating
Parallel	2.30 m	6.00 m	3.5 m	8.10 m	one-way, alternating

Custom angle: any angle from 20° to 90°; aisle widths between the table's angles are interpolated.
Your own aisle width: set Aisles to Custom and type the width.
Traffic: By the angle (the table), One-way or Two-way. One-way aisles alternate direction and both rows lean with the traffic. Angled stalls on a two-way aisle lean opposite ways on each side (herringbone).
Strip between back-to-back rows: an optional gap for a walkway or planting.

Check against your local standard. The stall sizes and aisle widths are common defaults, not a code. Set the sizes your jurisdiction requires.

Layout

Rows and best fit

Aisles run: Best fit (default), along the longest edge, along an edge you pick, or a custom direction in degrees.
Row shift: Best fit, or your own. Moving the rows across by part of a module often gains or loses a whole row.
Best fit tries the directions of the 8 longest edges, times 8 shifts of the rows, and keeps the layout with the most stalls. It runs after every change and is stored with the object.

To freeze a layout while you keep editing the site, set Aisles run and Row shift to a fixed direction and shift.

Layout

Circulation and turning

Every layout keeps a way through for cars.

With the ring road (the default), the aisles meet the ring road at both ends.
Without the ring road, the rows stop one aisle width short of the inner area at both ends. The end lane this leaves links all the aisles. An entrance on an edge that runs along the rows cuts the rows in front of it down to the first aisle; an entrance on an end edge opens onto the end lane.
Turning radius (3.0 m by default): every row stops at least that far from the end of its stretch, and the island there is rounded on the aisle side with that radius. Back-to-back rows end in a rounded cap, so a car can turn between the aisle and the cross road. The stalls along the edges keep the same distance from each entrance. Set it to 0 for the densest layout.

Planting

Trees

Trees are off by default. On the Trees page:

Tree bays: after every N stalls in the rows and/or along the edges, one place is a planted bay with a tree. A tree bay is not counted as a stall and no car parks there.
Trees on the islands: a tree on every row-end island at least 1.5 m long.
The tree: 6 m tall with a 4 m crown by default. In 3D a trunk and a ball, in the plan a crown seen from above.

Output

What it draws

View	Content
Plan	Fills for the paving, the strip and the islands; the boundary; the curb line open at the entrances; stall lines; cars in a share of the stalls (70 % by default, in one colour or in the five colours of the 3D cars); arrows on one-way aisles and dashed centre lines on two-way aisles; ring road and entrance centre lines; entrance arrows; trees; and optionally the number of stalls per row. While a hotspot is dragged, only the lines are drawn.
3D	Paving, the strip and islands standing 0.15 m above it, painted stall lines, cars and trees. The same stalls are taken in 3D as in the plan.
Numbers	In the info block and on the first settings page: total stalls (in rows and along the edges), site area, m² per stall, stalls per hectare, and the direction and shift of the rows.

Stalls-per-row numbers sit in the aisle in front of each row. The two rows facing each other across an aisle put theirs at one third and two thirds of the row, so they never overlap.

Output

Cars in 3D

By default each taken stall gets a low-poly car: a shaped body and glass cabin with round wheels, in five colours. You can use any car from a loaded library instead:

On Display & 3D › Cars, type the exact name of the library object in 3D car from the library, for example Car 05.
Library cars put their origin in different places, so enter where the car's centre sits from its origin in Its centre along / across.
If the cars face the wrong way, tick Turn it 180°.

Archicad library car	Size	Centre along	Centre across
Car 05	4.38 × 1.97 m	1.30 m	0
Car 01	4.63 × 1.70 m	2.32 m	0.85 m

Plan symbols stay built in. The library car is used in 3D only: in the plan, a library object would bring its own hotspots for every car. Clear the name to go back to the built-in car.

Worked examples

Scenarios

Each plan is the layout the object computes for the settings listed; anything not listed is left at its default. Areas are site areas; the scale bar is 10 m.

Default

Standard car park

The object as placed: 90° stalls on two-way aisles inside a ring road, stalls along the edges, one entrance, and a rounded island at every row end.

L-shaped site with 90 degree stalls on two-way aisles, a ring road, stalls along every edge, rounded islands at the row ends and one entrance.

Setting	Value
Site	L of 6 corners, 80 × 70 m
Settings	none changed

117 stalls (30 in rows, 87 on the edges)
35.9 m²/stall
279 /ha

No ring road

Tight lot without a ring road

No landscape strip, no ring road and no edge stalls. The rows stop one aisle width short of each end, so an end lane links the aisles and traffic can circulate.

Rectangular lot with 90 degree rows, rounded islands and end lanes linking the aisles, no ring road.

Setting	Value
Site	rectangle, 58 × 36 m
Site & Roads	Landscape strip 0 · Ring road off · Stalls along the edges off · Entrances 0

64 stalls
32.6 m²/stall
307 /ha

Angled

Angled 45°, one-way aisles

Angled stalls take one-way aisles that alternate direction. The space at each row end becomes an island with a rounded nose.

45 degree stalls on alternating one-way aisles with rounded islands at the row ends.

Setting	Value
Site	rectangle, 72 × 52 m
Stalls & Rows	Angle 45° · Traffic by the angle

101 stalls
6 islands
37.1 m²/stall
270 /ha

Angled

Herringbone, two-way aisles

The same 45° stalls on two-way aisles: the rows on either side of an aisle lean opposite ways, and the aisles get a dashed centre line instead of arrows.

45 degree herringbone stalls on two-way aisles with dashed centre lines.

Setting	Value
Site	rectangle, 72 × 52 m
Stalls & Rows	Angle 45° · Traffic Two-way

101 stalls
37.1 m²/stall
270 /ha

Narrow lot

Parallel parking on a narrow lot

A long, narrow lot with no room for a ring road. Parallel stalls line one-way aisles; end lanes link the aisles, and the entrance cuts the first row so it opens onto an aisle.

Narrow lot with rows of parallel stalls on one-way aisles, end lanes and an entrance opening onto the first aisle.

Setting	Value
Site	rectangle, 96 × 30 m
Stalls & Rows	Angle Parallel (0°)
Site & Roads	Ring road off · Entrance 1 at 48 m on edge 1

75 stalls
38.4 m²/stall
260 /ha

Direction

Skewed site, rows along an edge

Rows follow one edge you choose instead of the best fit, for example to line up with a building or the street.

Four-sided skewed site with rows running parallel to its first edge.

Setting	Value
Site	4 corners, about 90 × 70 m
Stalls & Rows	Aisles run Along an edge · Edge 1

135 stalls
10.6° row direction
31.8 m²/stall
315 /ha

Entrances

Two entrances, one edge kept clear

A second entrance on the far edge, and no stalls along the edge that faces a neighbour.

L-shaped site with two entrances and no stalls along its right edge.

Setting	Value
Site	L of 6 corners, 80 × 70 m
Site & Roads	Entrances 2 · Entrance 2 on edge 5 at 12 m · Edge to edit 2 › Stalls along this edge off

108 stalls
38.9 m²/stall
257 /ha

Planting

Trees in the rows and on the islands

A planted tree bay after every six stalls, in the rows and along the edges, and a tree on every row-end island.

Rectangular car park with a planted tree bay after every six stalls and a tree on every row-end island.

Setting	Value
Site	rectangle, 90 × 60 m
Trees	A tree bay after every 6 stalls in the rows and along the edges · Trees on the islands on

160 stalls (80 in rows, 80 on the edges)
33.8 m²/stall
296 /ha

Large site

Large irregular site at 60°

On a big, irregular site the best fit turns the rows to the direction that holds the most stalls. Every row end gets a rounded island.

Large irregular six-sided site with 60 degree rows turned by the best fit and rounded islands at every row end.

Setting	Value
Site	6 corners, about 180 × 120 m
Stalls & Rows	Angle 60° · Aisles run Best fit

478 stalls (312 in rows, 166 on the edges)
18 islands
29.9 m²/stall
334 /ha

In the plan

Editing in the plan

Hotspot	Where	Drag it to
Corner	Every corner of the site	Move the corner. Drop it on a neighbour to remove it.
Entrance	The centre of each entrance	Slide the entrance along its edge.
Row shift	About 2 m before the start of the rows, level with the first row	Shift the rows across their direction. The shift becomes custom.
Info block	The info block	Move the summary anywhere.

Reference

All settings

Stalls & Rows

Setting	Default	What it does
Angle	90°	90°, 75°, 60°, 45°, 30°, Parallel or Custom (20°–90°).
Width / length	2.5 / 5.0 m	Stall size for angled and 90° stalls.
Parallel: length / width	6.0 / 2.3 m	Stall size for parallel stalls.
Aisles	By the angle	By the stall angle, or Custom with your own width.
Traffic	By the angle	By the angle, One-way or Two-way.
Strip between back-to-back rows	0	A gap between double-loaded rows.
Aisles run	Best fit	Best fit, Along the longest edge, Along an edge, or Custom direction.
Row shift / Custom shift	Best fit	Best fit, or your own shift of the rows across their direction.
Result	—	Total stalls, site area, m² per stall, stalls per hectare, row direction and shift, and any warning.

Site & Roads

Setting	Default	What it does
Corners	6	3 to 24. More corners split the longest edges; fewer drop the last ones.
Edge to edit / Stalls along this edge	on	Pick an edge and switch its edge stalls on or off.
Landscape strip	1.5 m	Width of the planted setback along the boundary.
Ring road, width	on, 6.0 m	The road around the inner area. Without it, end lanes link the aisles.
Stalls along the edges	on	90° stalls on the ring road, all round the site.
Islands at the row ends	on	Landscape islands where rows end.
Turning radius	3.0 m	The room left at the row ends and beside the entrances for turning, and the rounding of the island noses (0–15 m).
Entrances: how many / width	1 / 6.0 m	0 to 3 entrances and their width.
Arrows in and out	on	An in and an out arrow on each entrance.
Entrance 1–3: edge, centre	edge 1, 31 m	The edge each entrance is on and its centre from the start of that edge.

Display & 3D

Setting	Default	What it does
Paving and landscape fills	on	The fills in the plan.
Stall lines	on	The separators and back lines.
Cars / Cars in five colours	on / off	Car symbols in the plan, in one colour or matching the 3D cars.
Aisle arrows and centre lines	on	Arrows on one-way aisles, dashed lines on two-way aisles.
Ring road and entrance centre lines	on	Dashed centre lines of the roads.
Stalls per row	off	The number of stalls of each row, in its aisle.
Info block, Info X / Y	on, auto	The summary block and its position (0 = automatic).
3D: Cars, Stall lines	on	Cars and painted lines in 3D.
Paving thickness / Landscape strip above	0.10 / 0.15 m	The paving slab and how far the strip, islands and tree bays stand above it.
Cars in % of the stalls	70	The same stalls are taken in the plan and in 3D.
3D car from the library, Turn it 180°, Its centre along / across	empty	See Cars in 3D.

Appearance

Setting	Default	What it does
Pens	closest to built-in	Boundary, curb and drives, stall lines, arrows, car outline and fill, paving, landscape and text. Unticked, a pen is the project pen closest to the built-in colour; tick it to use your own.
Surfaces	built-in	Paving, landscape and stall lines: built-in or your own.
Font / Text size	Arial, 2.0 mm	For the info block and the row numbers.

Trees

Setting	Default	What it does
A tree bay after every … stalls: in the rows / along the edges	0 / 0	One place in every N + 1 is a planted bay with a tree (0 = none). 6 gives six stalls, then a tree.
A tree on every island	off	A tree on each row-end island at least 1.5 m long.
Height / Crown diameter	6 / 4 m	In 3D a trunk and a ball crown, in the plan a crown seen from above.

Help

Limits and questions

The rows stop well short of the boundary.

That is the turning radius (and, without a ring road, the end lane), so cars can turn out of the aisles. For a denser layout, lower Turning radius on Site & Roads; 0 switches it off.

I need more than 24 corners.

The boundary holds up to 24 corners. Simplify the outline, or split the site into two parking objects.

The 3D shows a GDL error, or no cars, after I typed a car name.

The name must match a library object loaded in the project, exactly. Check the spelling in the Object tool, or clear the field to go back to the built-in car.

The library cars sit off-centre in their stalls.

Set Its centre along / across for that car (see Cars in 3D), and tick Turn it 180° if they face the wrong way.

The rows change direction when I move a corner.

Best fit re-runs after every edit. Set Aisles run and Row shift to fixed values to keep the layout.

A sharp corner makes the strip or road reach far inside.

The inner lines are offsets of the boundary, so a very sharp corner reaches far in. Add a corner to blunt it. Where a strip or road is wider than a short edge, that edge disappears and its neighbours meet.

The info block shows a warning.

The boundary crosses itself, or the site is too small for anything inside the ring road. Untangle the corners, or switch off the ring road.

A corner snaps back when I drop it.

You have version 1.0.0. Load 1.0.1 or later; corner drops stick from 1.0.1 on.

What is not modelled?

Ramps, accessible stalls, required stall counts by code, and islands inside the rows. The turning radius is a clearance and a rounded island nose, not a swept-path check.

History

Versions

Version	What changed
1.2.0	Without a ring road, end lanes link the aisles and entrances open onto an aisle. Turning radius at the row ends (rounded island noses) and beside the entrances. Trees: tree bays every N stalls and trees on the islands.
1.1.0	Landscape islands at the row ends, entrance arrows, cars in colour in the plan, row numbers that no longer overlap, low-poly 3D cars or any library car, and dropped row-shift and entrance positions that stick.
1.0.1	Corner drops stick, also when they change the size of the site; a corner dropped on either neighbour removes it; corners are added by number; new objects start as an L of 6 corners.
1.0.0	First release.