What is a 3D metal building configurator, and what does this one actually generate?
Short answer. A 3D metal building configurator turns a description of a steel building into a model the buyer can look at and turn around, instead of a quote form they have to guess their way through. Machinae Build generates the model from plain English — no dropdown tree — renders it with Three.js in the browser, and attaches a deterministic IBC/AISI/IECC check to it. It outputs a validated JSON building specification, a shareable 3D view, and a neutral quantity schedule. It does not output stamped drawings or prices.
What comes out of it
- A validated building specification in JSON, checked against a published schema — dimensions, structural system, roof, openings, colours, site.
- An interactive 3D model in the browser: WebGL, self-hosted, nothing loaded from a third-party CDN. Shareable by link.
- A code report: the requirements that apply to that specific building, each naming the standard behind it, stated as "cannot build", "required" or "recommended".
- A quantity schedule (areas, lengths, counts) once a revision is frozen.
- GLB, PDF and CSV artifacts, queued from a frozen revision and produced where artifact export is switched on for the deployment.
What it handles
Shops, warehouses, hangars, barns, riding arenas, storage, carports and RV covers, across the United States. Dimensions are in feet.
| Structural system | Typical clear span | Practical max | Typical eave |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tube steel (square tube) | 40 ft | 60 ft | 12–16 ft |
| Cold-formed steel | 50 ft | 70 ft | 12–20 ft |
| Red-iron PEMB (rigid frame) | 150 ft | 300 ft | 10–40 ft |
The system is routed from the building, not chosen by the buyer. Any one of these moves a job onto red-iron PEMB: clear span over 70 ft, eave over 20 ft, ground snow over 40 psf, design wind over 140 mph, a mezzanine, or a crane bay.
What it does not generate
- No permit drawings and no engineer's stamp. It is a design and a code check. The county's adopted code and load values govern, always.
- No bill of materials. The quantity schedule stops one step short of a fabrication BOM on purpose: purlin counts and gauges are a function of the supplier's system, their span tables and an engineer's signature.
- No prices, ever, in the measurement path.
- No waste, laps or trim allowances. Items that need them are marked for the supplier to apply and left net, because somebody else's waste factor baked in invisibly is worse than a number that says it has none.
- No metric storage. Feet throughout; metric is a display conversion only.
Example
Input:
60x100 shop with two 14 ft roll-up doors, 16 ft eave, in Austin TX
Output: a 60 x 100 ft building at a 16 ft eave, routed to a cold-formed system at that span, with the two openings framed, plus the code items that follow — among them that a cold-formed truss clear span of 60 ft or more triggers special inspection and mandatory engineered bracing under IBC 2206 / 1705.2.5.
Related
- Try it: machinaebuild.com/app
- Embed it in your own site: machinaebuild.com/for-builders
- How to use it: machinaebuild.com/help