A "5 over 1" podium building is a mid-rise residential structure with five stories of wood-framed construction on top of a one-story concrete base, called a podium. The podium level is typically used for commercial space like retail or restaurants, parking, or residential amenities. This construction method is popular because it is cost-effective and faster to build than steel-framed buildings, allowing for denser housing development in urban areas.
The maximum building height is typically limited to 65 feet above the podium, but some jurisdictions allow for up to 85 feet for a 5-over-2 design under specific fire and construction type requirements
Creating a 5 over 1 in Giraffe is pretty simple! Let's take a look.
Draw the Podium
Using the Building Draw tool create a podium. You can choose to start with any applicable usage - such as Amenity, Retail, Commercial, or even multi-deck parking.
Edit the shape using control points and extruding sides until you are satisfied with the size, shape, and placement on the site.
The podium sections is often 14 to 20 feet (4.2 to 6 meters) tall. The usage you selected may not reflect the correct floor to floor height by default. Override the floor to floor in the properties palette to be correct for your building design.
Draw the Residential
Next, add 5 levels of residential over the podium. Select Residential from the Buildings Tool, and draw a shape on top of the podium you designed. Set the number of levels to be 5 if it is not already.
The footprint of the residential portion may match the podium exactly, or it might overhang or be set back in different areas to add interest.
Check that the total height and FAR/FSR of the building meets your local jurisdiction's requirements in the Urban Tab.
If it is too tall, adjust the floor to floor height of the residential to reduce.
If the FAR is too high, remove some area from the building.
Edit the Dwelling Mix
Perhaps one of the most import metrics for a multi-family development is the dwelling count.
Click the Residential geometry, then open the Usage Editor.
Scroll down to the dwellings section.
Here, you can change the size, rent print, parking requirements, and residents for each unit. Add or delete units as required to match your goals.
Review the resulting unit count and mix in the Urban Tab.
Finishing Up
Lastly, you can add parking, landscaping, circulation, and other details to round out the design.
You could also use the Apartment Flow to generate unit layouts for the residential portion of the building. Check out the Flow Use Cases section of the Knowledgebase for instructions!
