by Dennis Collin
The modelling of complex wall joins has always been a common point of discussion with Revit users. A typical example is the connection of a common party wall to an exterior wall.
In this scenario, it is usually required to have the insulation element, whether it be air, rigid or any type of insulation to bridge through other elements, including structural elements to comply with specific regulations. In the past this was difficult to achieve as Revit required a structural component to reside within the core boundary of slabs and walls. It also linked the priority number to the function leaving users with a rather bizarre situation of assigning a material like air or mineral wall as a structural component in order to get a desired wall clean up result!
Fig 2. With Revit 2026 onwards function is independent of the priority number
Thankfully, some welcome updates in Revit 2026 have made this awkward workaround unnecessary. Firstly, walls and other slab elements do not require any component to be placed within the structural core boundary zone and has separated a material layer function from the priority index. By introducing increased flexibility into the assembly editor, this makes the modelling of awkward wall joins easier and provides other benefits as placing elements such as wall finish components to rooms.
Fig 3. With this new flexibility complex party wall joins will display more ready in general arrangement views.
From default model representations, these views can be worked up into a more suitable detailing format.
Fig 4. The same model but in a detail callout view with detail tags and components added.
Whilst this detail output could always be generated within Revit, the detail representation reflects the default model view more closely.
The improved assembly editor and wall placement options in Revit 2026 also make it easier to provide accurate room finish reporting tasks.
New feature: Place Walls by Room.
There are many more new features and enhancements in the latest version of Revit that are worth investigating click here & here to obtain an overview of some of the improvements made.