Creating a Cupola

The information in this article appliesto:

QUESTION

I would like to create a cupola, also known as a lantern, or steeple on top of the main roof of my structure in Home Designer.  How can I do that?

ANSWER

These instructions will walk you through creating a basic square, hip roof cupola as in the barn image below

To create a cupola

1. Select Build> Floor> Build New Floor  to display the New Floor dialog, move the radio button down to Make new (blank) plan for the 2nd Floor and click OK.
   
   

   Home Designer 2015 products are limited to a foundation and five floors. If you have a 2014 or prior versions the limit is three floors. If you already have five floors in your plan, you will not be able to create a new blank floor.

   
   
2. To allow you to see the outline of the walls below, select Tools> Reference Floors> Reference Floor Display .
   
   
   
3. Select Build> Wall> Straight Exterior Wall  and in a clockwise fashion draw the walls that will make up the cupola until you have a completely enclosed room.
   
   
   
   Notice that in our example, as we have two Full Gable walls set on the floor below, that the attic walls to the left and right are created automatically, but we are not placing the cupola inside of an enclosed room.
   
   
   
4. For the purposes of this example, the cupola has a hip style roof using the default pitch, so we do not need to make any changes on the Roof panel of the Wall Specification dialog.
   
   
   
5. Using the Select Objects  tool, click inside of the room to select it, and choose the Open Object  edit tool to display the Room Specification dialog.
   
   
   
6. Set the Room Type as Open Below and change the Ceiling Height from the Default to reflect the height that you want this cupola room to extend up to and click OK to apply the changes.
   
   
   
7. Take a 3D camera view to verify that the cupola displays at the correct height.
   
   Pro users will need to rebuild the roof by selecting Build> Roof> Build Roof .
   
   
   
8. While in your 3D view, you will find it easy to place windows using the Window  tool, or vents from the Library Browser in Architectural> Ventilation.