Concept Modeling for Architects

Starting with BeachShack.3dm, this tutorial shows how to refine an architectural concept directly in the Perspective | ▾ viewport. You will adjust building volumes, develop roof panels, vary repeated elements, and present the result using Rhino 9’s Concept display mode.

Prerequisites: Rhino 9, and basic Rhino skills: running commands, selecting sub-objects, and working with layers. The model is in millimeters.

The problem this workflow solves

Early design work is about form and volume, and it moves fast. Traditional NURBS modeling can be an indirect way to explore that. You draw curves, set construction planes, extrude or loft, then jump between views to check the result. Changing something often means unwinding part of that chain and building it back up.

Direct modeling offers another route. Instead of describing a shape through a sequence of construction steps, you reshape an existing solid in place: push a wall out, tilt a roof, recess a panel, all by selecting faces and dragging them in a single Perspective | ▾ viewport.

That difference tells most once a model is already resolved, when the amount of work behind a shape is exactly what makes it awkward to change. Rhino 9 puts five tools behind this idea, and the guide takes each in turn: a PushPull that works on several faces at once, an Inset that spans connected faces, Gumball handles that extrude, extend and slope faces directly, a command that varies many objects in a single step, and a display mode built for presenting early-stage design.

Opening the 3D model and its layers

Before anything else, get oriented. This is the model you will edit, and its layers are how you reach the parts you need.

1. Download and open the model BeachShack.
2. Turn on the Gumball in the status bar. It should appear whenever you select an object.
3. Maximize the Perspective | ▾ viewport and switch to the Monochrome display mode. Working in one shaded viewport keeps attention on form rather than material.

The model is organized into layers including 00_Plinth, 01_Walls, 02_Roof, 03_Openings and 04_Balustrade, each with sublayers for individual elements. Every step below begins by selecting geometry from one of these layers, so keep the Layers panel open as you work.

Extending several walls at once with PushPull Multiface

PushPull is the core direct modeling command for adding and removing volume. New in Rhino 9, it works on several faces at the same time, which is what massing edits usually need.

1. Continue with your file or download and open the model BeachShack.
2. Select three adjacent exterior wall faces on the same polysurface, on the 01_1 Exterior walls layer.
3. Run the PushPull command, then press Enter to accept the selection.
4. Move the mouse to set direction and distance, or type a distance of 100 mm.
5. All three walls move together and the corners between them close automatically.

Pushing outward adds volume. Pushing inward turns the preview red, a reminder that volume will be removed.

Carving openings

1. Select the closed curve on the 03_4 Opening curves layer to split the wall into separate regions.
2. Run the PushPull command and click inside the rectangle to select that area alone.
3. Press Enter to accept the selection.
4. Type a distance of 400 mm and push the region inward to recess it.

This is a quick route to a loggia, a recessed entry, or a punched opening.

Run PushPull to create an additional window recess.

Detailing the roof with Inset Group

Next, give the roof enough relief to read clearly in the presentation and turn one continuous surface into separate panels with gaps between them.

Inset offsets the edges of selected faces inward, creating a new inner boundary you can then push or pull. New in Rhino 9, Group mode lets a single inset span connected faces, which is what makes it useful here.

Note

The faces must be joined as a polysurface. If they are still separate surfaces, run the Join command first.

Create the panel boundaries

1. Continue with your file or download and open the model BeachShack-01.
2. Select the roof faces on the 02_2 Roof panels layer.
3. Run the Inset command, then press Enter .
4. At the prompt , set Mode=Group (the first option) and Split=Yes.
5. Type an inset distance of 45 mm, or pick two points. Press Enter .
6. A continuous inset boundary runs across the selected faces, dividing each one into a panel and a surrounding margin.

The two Mode options behave differently, and the choice matters:

• Group insets the connected faces as a single unit, producing one continuous boundary that wraps across all of them. Use it when a band, a recessed panel, or a shadow gap should read as one element.
• Single insets each face individually, giving a separate boundary per face, which suits repetitive per-face openings.

Raise the panels

1. Select the inset panel regions you want to raise.
2. Run the PushPull command.
3. Pull the regions outward 50 mm.
4. Each panel stands proud of the roof, and the margins left by the inset read as shadow gaps between them.

The same pairing works in the other direction. Push inward 20 mm for a recessed panel, window reveal or shadow gap; pull outward for a raised frame, mullion band or projecting fin.

Automatic corner resolution

When you extrude adjacent faces together, Rhino resolves the intersection between them for you. The Corner option at the command prompt controls how discontinuous corners are filled:

• Corner=Sharp extends the new faces so they meet in a crisp corner.
• Corner=Round fills the corner with a fillet for a softer massing.

Combining Inset with PushPull is an efficient way to add architectural detail during concept design.

Sculpting volumes with the Gumball

With the roof resolved, use the Gumball for smaller local moves: lengthening the chimney and tilting a roof face.

The Gumball is a full direct modeling tool, not just a mover. Its handles add and remove volume and slope faces without running a single Boolean command.

1. Continue with your file or download and open the model BeachShack-02.
2. Turn the 02_2 Roof panels layer off.
3. Hold Ctrl / CMD + Shift and select a single face on the 02_1 Roof surface layer. The Gumball then appears on that face rather than on the whole object.

Extrude and extend faces

1. Select the upper face of the chimney.
2. Drag the Extrude handle, the dot on the arrow shaft.
3. The face moves outward and volume is added.

When every surrounding face is planar, the Extrude handle shows a circle around the dot. That means Extend is available: hold Shift while dragging, and the neighboring walls stretch or shorten to keep the solid closed instead of capping a new box on top. This is the same Extrude and Extend behavior PushPull offers, available directly on the Gumball .

Extruding the chimney face with the Gumball.

Slope a roof face

1. Select the top face of a volume.
2. Drag a Rotate arc to tilt it, holding Ctrl / CMD + Shift so the surrounding walls extend or shorten to follow.
3. A flat top becomes a monopitch roof, and the mass stays solid.

Modify the slope of roof faces with the Gumball.

Tip

If the Gumball looks misaligned after you rotate a volume, open its menu and choose Align to CPlane, Align to World, or Align to Object. Click any Gumball handle once to type an exact distance, angle or scale factor. Hold Alt and click a handle to do the same while making a copy.

Varying repeated elements with ScaleEach

Finally, break up the regularity. Identical repeated parts are the quickest giveaway that a model is a model.

ScaleEach , new in Rhino 9, resizes many objects in a single command, scaling each one from its own origin so nothing drifts out of place.

1. Continue with your file or download and open the model BeachShack-03.
2. Select a set of repeated elements, for example the vertical louvers on the central screen on the 01_4 Wooden slats layer.
3. Run the ScaleEach command.
4. Choose how the scale factor is applied:
   • Normal applies one scale factor to every object.
   • Gradient steps the scale progressively from one object to the next, for example louvers widening along the screen.
   • Random varies each object within a range you set, so a run of identical parts stops looking like copies.
5. Each element keeps its position while its size changes, giving variation across the whole run in a fraction of the time it would take to scale them one by one.

Random varies each louver within a range.

Gradient steps the scale progressively along the run.

The same command handles site context in one step if you add it: a row of tree blocks along the street edge, planters, or furniture.

Presenting with the Concept display mode

The model is resolved. Now make it presentable.

To communicate an early-stage design, switch to the Concept display mode, new in Rhino 9 and built for architectural and design presentation.

1. Continue with your file or download and open the model BeachShack-04.
2. Click the viewport title ( Perspective | ▾ , for example) to open its dropdown and choose Concept. The viewport redraws with a gradient background (light blue to light brown, top to bottom), soft shadows, an emphasized silhouette, and a feathered-edge grid, giving a clean, sketch-like look that still holds a clear sense of depth and scale.
3. To fine-tune it, run the DisplayProperties command to open the Display panel and adjust settings live. Choose Edit Concept settings for finer control such as silhouette thickness.
4. Run the Sun command to open the Sun panel, switch the Sun on, and set the Date, Time and Location to study how shadows fall across the model.

Because Concept applies to Details and Layouts as well, you can carry the same look through to presentation-ready architectural sheets.

Note

Concept is a viewport (or detail) display mode, so it cannot be assigned per-object with the SetObjectDisplayMode command. Customize it under Options > View > Display Modes > Concept.

Putting it all together

The complete workflow reads as a short sequence:

1. Open the model: work from the volumes already in BeachShack.3dm, using its layers to reach each part.
2. PushPull Multiface: extend several walls at once and control the corners between them with Sharp or Round.
3. Inset Group into PushPull: divide the roof into panels, then raise them so the margins read as shadow gaps.
4. Gumball handles: extrude and extend the chimney, and slope a roof face while the surrounding walls follow.
5. ScaleEach: vary repeated elements with Normal, Gradient or Random factors.
6. Concept display mode: present the result, and carry it into Details and Layouts.

Each of these edits changed the model in place. Nothing was rebuilt, and each step left the previous one intact, which is what makes it reasonable to keep adjusting a concept rather than committing to it early.

Where to go next

• Cut openings and courtyards with the Gumball Cut handle: draw a closed planar curve on a face, then drag the Cut handle into the solid to subtract it, or hold Ctrl / CMD to boss it outward instead.
• Soften or sharpen roof and parapet edges with FilletEdge for a more resolved massing.
• Run the IsolateToViewports command to show detail geometry in one viewport while keeping the model clean in the others.
• Place the finished model on a Layout in the Concept display mode to produce a presentation sheet at scale.

Downloads

• BeachShack.3dm: the starting model.
• BeachShack-01.3dm: after extending the walls and carving the opening.
• BeachShack-02.3dm: after detailing the roof.
• BeachShack-03.3dm: after sculpting with the Gumball.
• BeachShack-04.3dm: after varying the louvers.