Zones

In this tutorial, we will explore the various zone types available in PlanStudio and learn how to incorporate them into your floorplan. These zones serve various purposes, from defining interior spaces to adding presentation elements and indicating the different aspects and uses for areas of your building.

Drawing Zones

Rectangle Mode

• Use the Rectangle mode to draw a rectangle over the building area you want to cover.
• Edit the shape of the zone by clicking and dragging the nodes at the corners. 
• Add new nodes by clicking and dragging the centre point between two nodes
• Enter Grow mode by clicking on the centre point to place new nodes wherever you click.

Trace Mode

• Select the Trace mode tool.
• Choose the wall boundary type to determine if the zone should fit the inner, center, or outer edge of the selected walls.
• Click and hold the mouse button to select all the walls you want to enclose within your zone. 
• Click the green tick to create zone when complete.

Types of Zones

Interior Zones

The primary zone type you'll work with in PlanStudio is the Interior zone. This zone helps distinguish what's inside a building from what's outside. PlanStudio uses this information to calculate floorplan areas, assist in creating evacuation paths, display building outlines on site plans, and add fills to make your floorplan stand out.

Common and Tenanted Zones

Common Zones and Tenanted Zones are used to define shared spaces or separate tenancies within a floorplan. Common Zones indicate areas that are shared by multiple tenants, while Tenanted Zones specify individual tenancies. Other Tenanted Zones can be used to indicate areas not included in the scope of work, and they are typically grayed out.

Identified Zones

Identified Zones help categorize and name different parts of a building, making it easier to add color or text labels. You can customize Identified Zones in the properties, choosing colors from the color picker or setting them to 'transparent.' Generic text editing options are also available for labeling.

Presentation Zones

Presentation Zones are used to add color to your floorplan for presentation purposes. You can customize these zones using theming to create visually appealing floorplans for presentations or displays.

Private Zones

Private Zones are useful for concealing sensitive information on a floorplan. By covering an area with a Private zone, you can set a diagram to display only 'Public areas only,' hiding doors, internal layouts, and equipment within the Private zone.

Rooms

Rooms are employed to add simple room labels to your floorplan. You can resize and customize the text labels in the properties and further adjust them when in the Sign preview mode.

Fire Alarm Zones

Fire Alarm Zones are specifically designed for block plans to indicate different alarm zones within a building. You can customize these zones in the properties and set default colors in the theming and Icon library menus.

By understanding and utilizing these different zone types in PlanStudio, you can create detailed, informative, and visually appealing floorplans tailored to your specific needs and requirements.