A glass partition is a wall built differently: a steel frame with glass between the bars. It has the same two ends as any wall, so it still divides a room into two rooms and dimensions still attach to it. It is not a row of windows, and you do not need a wall underneath it first.
Draw one
Pick Wall and set Construction to Glass partition in the panel, or pick Glass partition under More tools ▸ Building. Then click point to point, the same way as a wall. It remembers its own settings: choosing Wall again does not give you a 60 mm masonry wall.
A new partition starts with:
| Setting | Default |
|---|---|
| Frame depth | 60 mm |
| Perimeter posts and rails | 40 mm |
| Internal bars | 25 mm |
| Bays | Target width 800 mm |
| Horizontal bar | 1000 mm above the floor |
| Align at door heads | On |
| Frame finish | Black steel |
| Glass | Clear, no tint |
There is no solid panel at the bottom, only the 40 mm rail.
Turn a wall into one
Select a wall and set Construction to Glass partition. The wall keeps its ends, height, thickness, doors and id. Its build-up and face finishes are kept out of use, and come back if you set it to Solid again. Each direction is one undo step.
A wall cannot convert while it carries something a glass frame cannot hold. The panel says which: a window, a cut-out or projection, a sliding, folding or pocket door, or Massing still owning the wall. Nothing is removed for you.
Grid, frame and glass
- Bays: an equal number per fixed run, or a target width that fits as many whole bays as it can.
- Horizontal bars: heights above the floor, in order. A bar above the top of the wall is kept and not drawn.
- Align at door heads: a bar across the fixed glass at each door’s head.
- Frame: a finish, plus depth, perimeter width and bar width.
- Glass: clear or frosted, with no tint, gray or bronze.
The small front view in the panel draws the same layout as the rest of the editor. A door splits the fixed glass into separate runs, so “equal bays” counts per run.
Doors
Add door arms the ordinary door tool on this partition only, starting with a glazed single steel door, 900 × 2100 mm. Double doors and cased openings are available too. Sliding, pocket and folding doors are not.
A glazed door takes the partition’s bars where they cross it, so its lines run through. Set a door to no bars or give it its own glass in its panel. A solid door stays solid until you press Match partition appearance.
Windows and wall cut-outs cannot be placed on a glass partition.
Split and combine
Split divides one screen into two with the same construction, and refuses to split through a door. Each half then draws its own posts at the split. Combine joins matching screens into one; it refuses a solid wall and a screen, or two screens whose settings differ.
In drawings and numbers
- Plan: a thin glass line, cut posts and bars, ordinary door swings, and no wall hatch across the glass.
- 3D, sections and elevations: frame members and glass. Glass does not hide what stands behind it, and it is not a wall face to paint: room wall finishes, skirting and paint quantities skip it.
- Tables: a Glass partitions schedule with GP marks, one row per screen. Doors stay in the door schedule. Fixed panes are never counted as windows.
- Quantities: their own group, with run, area, door openings, visible glass and frame volume. Visible glass excludes rebates and tolerances; this is not a fabrication list.
- Heat loss: a screen on the outside of the building appears as “Exterior glass partition: thermal performance is not specified” and leaves the sheet visibly incomplete, because no U-value is assumed.
- Light: daylight comes through the panes from a window beyond. A screen with no window behind it does not glow.
Not included
A privacy band or reeded glass on part of a screen, sliding doors, per-pane editing and fabrication data are not in this release. Whether a screen meets fire, acoustic or safety-glazing rules is not checked.