05 Unreal Engine for Architects Building the Staircase

Session 5 Summary: Modeling the Stilt Floor Staircase in Unreal Engine 5.6

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🔄 Project Setup

• Continued from apartment_set4.zip.

• Opened apartment_4_lift_and_stairs and saved as apartment_5_stairs_completed.

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📐 Adjusting Ceilings and Pillars for Stair Clearance

• Increased stair width around the lift to 100 cm by modifying ceiling meshes using polygroup edit.

• Adjusted pillar positions (pillar_6, pillar_9, pillar_10) to align with the new ceiling layout.

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🧮 Staircase Dimensions and Calculation

• Total height from stilt to ground floor: 240 cm, minus 30 cm slab = 210 cm climb height.

• Divided into 3 flights of 5 steps each.

• Each step: 14 cm height × 26 cm depth.

• Stair width: 100 cm.

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🪜 Creating Stair Flights

• Created first flight using Stair tool (Dynamic Mesh) with:

  • Type: Floating

  • Steps: 5

  • Height: 14 cm

  • Depth: 26 cm

• Positioned and aligned using Transform tools.

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🧱 Adding Parapet Walls

• Used Insert Edge Loop + Push/Pull tools to extrude parapet wall to 90 cm (3 ft) height.

• Straightened parapet walls by aligning vertices using polygroup edit.

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📋 Stacking and Arranging Stair Flights

• Duplicated stair flights using XForm Pattern along Z-axis (3 levels).

• Rotated and placed them to wrap around the lift shaft in a U-shape.

• Ensured alignment and step continuity across all levels.

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🔧 Fixing Gaps and Finishing Geometry

• Used Push/Pull and vertex alignment to:

  • Extend platforms

  • Connect parapets

  • Remove unwanted gaps

  • Ensure visual continuity across steps

• Merged all stair segments using Boolean Union.

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🧾 Finalization

• Named the final mesh as sm_stilt_stairs.

• Converted dynamic mesh to static mesh using XForm > Convert.

• Applied UV unwrap (polygroup-based).

• Assigned material: ML_Pillar_Concrete.

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✅ End Result

• Fully functional, structurally accurate staircase built around the lift shaft for the stilt floor.

• Proper geometry, material, alignment, and parapet detailing in place.

• Ready for upper floor stairs in the next session