Designing with Glass Blocks: Custom Grids & Color Patterns in Revit

Designing with Glass Blocks: Custom Grids & Color Patterns in Revit 🧱

In our previous tutorial, we covered the basics of how to navigate and model our glass block curtain walls, from auto-embedding them into solid walls to adjusting grid sizes and mortar styles. Now, it's time to take those skills to the next level!

Glass blocks offer far more than just a standard translucent grid - they are a versatile medium for creating vibrant, multi-colored partitions and intricate architectural patterns. When moving beyond basic walls, you need workflows that allow for ultimate design freedom, whether you are developing a hospitality feature wall or a highly customized architectural screen.

In this tutorial, we dive into intermediate design techniques for glass block facades in Revit. Using our Revit Glass Blocks Pack, we will show you how to break free from rigid layouts to create dynamic visual rhythms. Watch the full video tutorial below, or keep reading for a breakdown of the specific workflows!

🎯 Common Challenges When Designing Custom Glass Block Patterns

When architects and interior designers try to create custom glass block compositions using native Revit tools, they often hit a wall (pun intended). Common frustrations include:

• Rigid, unyielding grids that force every block to be the exact same size and shape.
• Difficulty mixing colors and textures without creating entirely new, complicated wall types.
• Struggling to place standalone blocks or non-modular decorative compositions that don't fit into a standard curtain system.

To solve this, you need to know exactly when to manipulate Curtain Grids and when to rely on Generic Models. Let's explore the methods.

🎒 Method 1: Creating Custom Panel Combinations

You don't have to settle for a monochromatic glass wall. Mixing and matching different glass block patterns, textures, and colors within the same wall system is the best way to achieve a custom architectural look.

How to do it:

• Draw your Glass Block Curtain Wall to establish your base grid.
• Hover over a specific glass panel you want to change, press Tab until it highlights, and click to select it.
• Click the Pin icon to unpin the panel from the wall system.
• Go to your Properties panel Type Selector and swap it out for a different panel from the pack - like a frosted block, an amber-tinted block, or a fluted texture.
• Repeat this process strategically across the grid to create a bespoke, multi-colored mural or a randomized textured pattern.

🎒 Method 2: Using the Generic Model Method

While the Curtain Wall system is incredible for large, repetitive grids, it isn't always the right tool for highly custom, non-modular layouts. If you want to build a staggered partition, a stepping screen, or simply place a few decorative blocks on a shelf, you should use the Generic Model versions included in our pack.

How to do it:

• Go to the Architecture tab, click Component, and select the Generic Model version of the glass block from the Type Selector.
• Place the block individually anywhere in your project - on a wall, floor, or furniture piece.
• Because these act as standard families rather than curtain panels, you have total freedom. You can use the Align (AL) and Array (AR) tools to manually build out unique compositions, non-grid layouts, or staggered running-bond walls with ultimate precision.

🎒 Method 3: Building a Custom Grid Layout

If you want to stick with the efficiency of a Curtain Wall but need a unique visual rhythm, you can heavily customize the underlying grid to mix block sizes and proportions.

How to do it:

• Select your Glass Block Curtain Wall and click Edit Type.
• Change the Vertical and Horizontal Grid Layout settings to "Fixed number". Edit the number of grids accordingly.
• Now, go to the Architecture tab and select the Curtain Grid tool.
• You can use the Add/Remove Segments tool to delete portions of a grid line, allowing you to merge smaller squares into large-format architectural glass bricks right next to standard blocks. The mortar mullions will automatically adapt to your custom linework!

💡 Architect Tip

If you are using the Custom Panel Combinations method to create a randomized, multi-colored glass block wall, don't waste time unpinning panels one by one!

Hold down the Ctrl key, press Tab to highlight a panel, click to select it, and move on to the next one. Select all the panels you want to change at once, click the Unpin icon on your Modify ribbon to release them all simultaneously, and then swap their type. This bulk-editing hack will save you an incredible amount of time when designing complex mosaic patterns.

▶️ Watch the Full Tutorial

Want to see these intermediate design techniques in action? In the full tutorial, we demonstrate how to leverage these workflows so you can design with ultimate freedom.

You'll learn:

• How to quickly swap panels for multi-colored facades.
• When to use generic models versus curtain walls for custom layouts.
• How to manipulate grid segments to create bespoke architectural patterns.

🔗 Watch the Full Tutorial

📦 Revit Packs Used in This Tutorial

To create the different glass block walls shown in this tutorial, we used the Revit Glass Blocks (Curtain Walls) Pack. This pack helps you quickly build translucent partitions, feature walls, and daylight-friendly facades without modeling every single block and mortar joint from scratch!

🪟 Revit Glass Blocks (Curtain Walls)

Download a collection of fully parametric Revit Glass Block families designed for flexible architectural layouts and decorative wall systems. The pack includes unique block patterns, multiple mortar options, and special corner and transition blocks for curved and angled walls.

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