Revit Retaining Walls

Streamline your structural and site planning with this comprehensive Revit Retaining Walls collection. Containing 8 distinct retaining wall families, this system is designed for maximum efficiency and ease of use. Because most walls operate on the same structural logic, once you learn the basic workflow of the first family, mastering the rest of the collection is effortless.

The foundational workflow is highly intuitive: place the wall, adjust the dimensions, fine-tune the profile angles, add footings or reinforcements as needed, and seamlessly connect the walls using the built-in corner controls.

Footing On/Off

Easily toggle the footing visibility without needing to load a separate family. This is controlled via a simple Instance Parameter in the Properties palette, allowing you to instantly show or hide the footing on a wall-by-wall basis.

Shear Key On/Off

Available in the Cantilever T-Type family, you can quickly add a shear key below your footing for extra sliding resistance. Simply check the Instance Parameter box to turn its visibility on or off, and adjust its specific width, height, and offset in the Type Parameters.

Wall Angle Options

Design sloped or straight retaining walls with ease. The families feature left and right join angle parameters, which can be used separately or together to create custom profiles, or simply uncheck both for a standard straight wall.

How to Change Wall Angle

• Select your placed retaining wall.
• Under the Visibility group, find the Left and Right join angle.
• Enter your desired angles (in degrees), click Apply, and watch the wall profile instantly update.

Lower Height Options

Easily accommodate sloping terrain by creating stepped wall profiles. The Lower Height feature allows you to slope the top of your retaining wall downwards from its starting height without ever needing to manually edit the wall sketch.

How to Use the Lower Height Feature

• Select the wall in your project.
• In the Properties palette, locate the Dimensions section.
• Check the box for Enable Lower Height.
• Enter your desired end height in the Lower Height value field.

Topography Tutorial - Revit 2020 to 2023

When placing retaining walls on sloping sites in older Revit versions, you are working with Toposurfaces. To correctly separate the grade on either side of your retaining wall, use the Split Surface tool (under the Massing & Site tab). By tracing the path of your wall, you can divide the topography into distinct sections, allowing you to independently adjust site elevations, assign different materials, or hide the excavated area to perfectly accommodate your wall and footing.

Topography Tutorial - Revit 2024 and Newer

Revit 2024 introduced Toposolids. To embed your retaining walls, you must use Mass Voids or In-Place Component Voids. Trace the profile of the earth you need to remove for the wall and footing, and use the "Cut Geometry" tool to carve the void out of the Toposolid.

Anchored Wall Options

Experience maximum flexibility for custom retaining structures with three distinct modeling methods:

• Wall with Nested Anchors: The absolute fastest way to model. Use the fully integrated Anchored Wall family to instantly generate a retaining wall complete with an automated, built-in anchor array.
• Standalone Anchor System: Need to add tie-backs to a different wall type? Use the standalone parametric anchor grid family and host it directly onto any other wall in your project.
• Standalone Single Anchor: For ultimate control and highly specific detailing, use the single standalone anchor family and host it exactly where it is needed on your site.

Unmatched Flexibility

This system is engineered for rapid modeling, intelligently separating controls for maximum efficiency. Core geometry and sizing controls are handled as Type Parameters, while visibility toggles (like footings) and spatial adjustments are Instance Parameters for quick, on-the-fly modifications.

PDF Guide

Our Retaining Walls Walkthrough PDF Guide is a beginner-friendly manual that breaks down how to use all 8 retaining wall families. It provides clear, step-by-step instructions on the main workflows: placing walls, adjusting dimensions and sloped angles, toggling footings and shear keys, utilizing the lower height feature for stepped walls, and a detailed mathematical guide on how to cleanly connect custom angled corners.

Key Features:

• ✅ 8 comprehensive families: Gravity, Cantilever (T-Type and L-Type), Counterfort, Buttress, Anchored Wall, Single Anchor, and Anchor System.
• ✅ Parametric profile controls: adjust Front and Back Angles independently for sloped faces, or toggle the "Lower Height" option to instantly create stepped wall profiles without editing sketches.
• ✅ Customizable footings: easily modify Footing Height, Toe Length, Heel Length, and Side Offsets.
• ✅ Auto-array structural supports: quickly populate counterforts, buttresses, or anchor grids.
• ✅ Built-in corner connection system: cleanly join walls at any custom angle by simply dividing the measured corner angle by two.

Ideal Use Cases:

• 🏗️ Site Planning & Topography – Effortlessly manage grade changes using gravity, cantilever, or stepped wall profiles.
• 🌉 Heavy Civil Infrastructure – Design robust retaining structures using counterforts, buttresses, and fully parametric anchor systems.
• 🏡 Residential & Landscape Architecture – Quickly layout property boundaries and garden retaining walls with precise custom corners and footing clearances.

Technical Specifications:

• 📐 Highly efficient parameter structure: geometry and sizing controls are primarily Type Parameters, while visibility settings and specific offsets are Instance Parameters for quick adjustments.
• 🔗 Easily connect customized corners (e.g., for a 60-degree corner, input a 30-degree join angle on both connecting walls).
• ⚡ Includes specialized options like shear keys for T-Type walls and independent anchor grids for flexible site detailing.

Downloads:

• 📁 Includes: 8 Revit Retaining Wall Families, One Showroom, and a PDF Guide.
• 📏 Unit System: Metric and Imperial.
• 💻 Compatibility: Ensure your Revit version supports this product (2020 or newer).