Bentley Architecture

• Comprehensive and dedicated tools for every type of building component 
• Parametric, dimension-driven creation and modification of building components
• User-definable attribute schemas (property sets) for any type of building object
• Inherent component attributes and properties significant for design, documentation, analysis, construction, and operations
• Embedded parameters, rules and constraints to capture design intent
• Relationships and associativity between architectural elements for rapid design changes
• Flood-option for automatic generation of spaces, floors and ceiling slabs
• Automated placement of finishes to walls and columns
• Suspended ceiling tools with space height detection option
• Terrain modeling, roof and stair builder tools
• Support for international steel section tables
• Powerful solid modeling for easy creation of virtually any form
• Double-curved surfaces and solids for accurate construction information and smooth rendering

Ease of Use

• Work in plan, elevation, isometric, or perspective view
• AccuDraw function
• Choice to work in 2D plans, 3D models, or both – with a single set of tools
• Storage of ‘most recently used’ input
• Enforcement of national, corporate, and project standards 
• Multiple filtering options, e.g. by level, by symbology, by attribute, by selection set, etc.
• Customizable interface and workspaces
• Floor management tool for floors and floor reference planes
• On-line help

Construction Documentation

• Creation of coordinated floor plans, sections, and elevations
• Automatic coordination of architectural design and construction documentation
• Automatic re-symbolization of 3D objects to 2D symbols
• Material-dependent hatching/patterning, annotation, and dimensioning
• User-definable labeling of  building objects and spaces
• Incremental doors and window numbering
• Room and component schedules, quantity and cost calculation, specifications
• Compatibility with office automation tools for further processing and formatting

Design visualization and 3D output 

• High-end integrated rendering and animation tools, including radiosity and particle tracing
• Export to STL to support rapid model making and prototyping with 3D printers, laser cutters, and stereo lithography machines
• Support of 3D Web formats, such as VRML, QuickVision, panoramas
• Publish Bentley Architecture models to the Google Earth environment

Support of 3D within Adobe PDF

• Creation of Adobe PDF documents directly from Bentley Architecture with embedded 3D navigational models
• Include DGN and DWG drawings, project documents, renderings, and interactive and animated 3D models 
• Navigate models in PDF using hyperlinks and bookmarks

Support of international and custom standards 

• Create, manage, verify, and enforce company and project standards
• Support for U.S. and other national CAD standards 
• Support of DGN, DWG, DXF, PDF, STEP, IGES, STL, and other major industry standards
• Import/export of IFC 2x, the emerging standards for sharing building information
• Viewing of ADT multi-view blocks

Interoperability with building engineering, analysis and facilities management 

• Full integration with Bentley Structural, Bentley Building Mechanical Systems, Bentley Building Electrical Systems, Bentley Facilities, and more
• A shared multi-disciplinary model for team collaboration and coordination
• Interference detection across multiple files and disciplines in conjunction with Bentley Interference Manager
• Simulation of construction schedules in conjunction with Bentley Navigator and project management applications, such as Microsoft® Project or Primavera® P3
• GBXML export/import for creation of analytical model for energy analysis via (Beta)

Integration with managed environment

• Integration with Bentley ProjectWise, Bentley’s comprehensive collaboration server