Generate a unit mix¶

The Units tab splits a floor into units. You give Termite the floor outline, any hallways and staircases, and the mix of unit types you want. Termite returns several options.

Make sure a project is selected in the context bar first. See Core concepts.

Not sure which geometry to select? See What to select in each CAD tool.

The tab has four steps. All four are required: a floor needs a boundary, hallways and staircases before Termite can generate units.

Video: project, floors, staircases and hallways¶

Shown in Archicad. The steps are the same in Rhino and Revit. For what to select in your tool, see What to select in each CAD tool.

Step 1: Floor boundary¶

Type a Floor Name, for example Level 01. If you leave it empty, Termite names it Floor 1, Floor 2 and so on.
Click Pick Boundary and select the closed polyline of the floor in your model.
Click Send Floor.

The new floor appears in the Floor dropdown and is selected.

Note

If a floor with the same name already exists, Termite asks whether to update it.

Step 2: Hallways¶

Required

Every floor needs at least one hallway. Termite places the units along the hallways.

Click Select Centerlines and select one or more lines that run through the middle of your corridors.
Every hallway appears as a row. Change its name and width if needed.
Click Submit.

Row buttons:

Remove: removes the row from this list only. The saved hallway stays on the server.
Delete: deletes the hallway permanently.
↻ Refresh: reloads the saved hallways for the current floor.

Step 3: Staircases¶

Required

Every floor needs at least one staircase. Termite uses it as the escape route for the fire safety distance.

Choose the Scope:
- Mass: the staircase is on every floor of the current mass.
- Project: the staircase is on every floor of the project.
Click Select Staircase Regions and select one closed polyline for each staircase.
To limit a staircase to certain floors, type their IDs in Floors (ids, blank = all).
Click Submit.

Remove, Delete and ↻ Refresh work the same way as for hallways.

Step 4: Preferences and generate¶

Shown in Archicad. The steps are the same in Rhino and Revit. For what to select in your tool, see What to select in each CAD tool.

Unit mix table¶

Add one row for each unit type you want:

Column	Meaning
Name	The unit type, for example Residential or Office
Percentage %	The share of the floor for this type
Area	The target area of one unit, in m²

Warning

The percentages must add up to 100%. If they don't, Termite shows a warning and does not generate.

Example: 80% Residential at 45 m² and 20% Retail at 80 m².

Constraints¶

Setting	Default	Meaning
Min unit width (m)	3.5	No unit is narrower than this
Fire safety distance (m)	15	The maximum distance from a unit to an escape route

Advanced (optional)¶

Click ▸ Advanced to fine-tune the generator. The defaults work well for most cases.

Setting	Default	Meaning
Number of Results	3	How many options you get (1–10)
Exploration per Iteration	10%	How much each round tries new ideas. Higher means more variety.
Iterations	100	How long Termite searches (50–250). More iterations give better results but take longer.

Generate¶

Click Generate Units. The status line shows the progress. When the run is done, the results appear as thumbnails.

Use the results¶

Every result is a tile named Result #….
Click Load Units on a tile to draw that result into your model. Each unit gets its own outline and a label (Unit 1, Unit 2, …).
To try other options, change the mix or the constraints and generate again.

Next: pick a unit and generate a plan for it.