PODIUM to Rhino

The PODIUM Rhino plugin lets you bring PODIUM project data directly into Rhino as native 3D geometry, complete with PODIUM metadata, so you can work with your feasibility, project, and building models alongside your existing Rhino workflows.

Requirements

Rhino 7 (Windows)

A PODIUM account

1. Installation

The plugin is installed via the Rhino Package Manager (Yak).

In Rhino, run the PackageManager command (or Tools → Package Manager).

Search for podium-io.

Select the package and click Install.

Restart Rhino if prompted.

2. Launching the Plugin

Once installed, a PODIUM tab appears in the Rhino ribbon.

Open the PODIUM tab.

Click Load Podium (this runs the Podium command).

PODIUM ribbon tab — Load Podium

This opens the Podium.io window, which guides you through login, project selection, and geometry generation.

3. Logging In

On the login screen, enter:

Url — your PODIUM tenancy URL (e.g. https://podium.app.podium.io/)

Username — your PODIUM account email

Password

Remember Me — keeps you signed in so you don’t need to re-enter your credentials each time.

SSO — sign in using single sign-on with your PODIUM credentials, if your organisation uses this.

Get Podium.io! — takes you to the PODIUM website to get in touch, for anyone who doesn’t yet have an account.

Click Log in once your credentials are entered.

A link to the Podium Knowledge base is available at the bottom of every screen in the plugin.

4. Selecting a Project

After logging in, you’ll see the Podium Projects screen, listing projects available to you.

Filters:

Ownership tabs — Owned by me / Private / All / Shared with me

Typology — e.g. Industrial, Residential

Status — Active, On Hold, Completed, Archived (multi-select)

Select a project from the list and click Open.

Logs shows recent activity/fetch logs for troubleshooting.

Projects screen

5. Selecting a Scenario

After opening a project, select a Scenario from the list.

You then have four options:

Button	What it does
Return	Goes back to the Projects screen
Access Building(s)	Takes you to a list of individual buildings within the scenario, solved to the elemental (structural/services/spatial) level — see Section 6
Create Geometry	Generates the scenario’s geometry in Rhino
Create Geometry ++	Generates the scenario’s geometry and maps PODIUM properties onto the generated objects as metadata

Note: In PODIUM, the scenario/masterplan level is known as Site View — covering multiple buildings, zones, and landscape at a high level. For detailed, element-level data (individual structural members, services equipment, etc.), you need Building View, accessed here via Access Building(s).

Scenario screen

6. Selecting a Building (optional)

If you selected Access Building(s), you’ll see a list of buildings in the scenario that have been solved in PODIUM (i.e. resolved to elemental detail). Only solved buildings appear here.

Select a building, then choose:

Button	What it does
Return	Goes back to the previous screen
Create Geometry	Generates the full elemental geometry for the selected building (structural, services, spatial elements), with properties mapped — equivalent to Create Geometry ++ but scoped to one building
Create Spatial	Generates only elements in the Spatial domain, with their properties
Create Structural	Generates only elements in the Structural domain, with their properties
Create Services	Generates only elements in the Services domain, with their properties

This lets you load just the discipline you need, rather than the entire building.

Buildings screen

7. Generated Geometry and Metadata

Once generated, PODIUM objects appear in your Rhino document, organised onto layers and coloured according to their PODIUM data.

Layer naming convention:

For example: PODIUM - Structural - Slab, PODIUM - Services - Transformer.

Each element type generated gets its own layer, so you can isolate, hide, or style elements by discipline and type using Rhino's standard layer controls.

Metadata

When generated with property mapping (Create Geometry ++, or any of the building-level commands), each object carries PODIUM metadata, visible in Rhino’s Properties → Attribute User Text panel:

Key	Description
`podium:type`	Element type, e.g. `equipment`, `pile`
`podium:nature`	Discipline/domain, e.g. `services`, `structural`, `spatial`
`podium:name`	Element name as defined in PODIUM
`podium:modelId`	Reference to the specific PODIUM model data the element was loaded from
`podium:id`	Unique element identifier (GUID)
`podium:generated`	`true` if the object was generated by the plugin
`podium:facets`	Detailed structured data for the element (see example below)
`podium:dynamicFacets`	Additional structured data for the element

Generated geometry with metadata panel

Facets Example

podium:facets and podium:dynamicFacets contain structured JSON data specific to the element. For example, a Floor Power Distribution Unit:

Inspecting Metadata

To view an object’s PODIUM metadata without opening the Properties panel, select the object and run:

This displays the same information — type, nature, name, IDs, facets, and dynamic facets — in a readable popup window.

PodiumInspect output

8. Clearing and Regenerating

Command	What it does
`PodiumClear`	Clears the cached PODIUM model data held by the plugin
`PodiumGenerateModel`	(Re)generates Rhino geometry from the currently cached model data

Use these together if you need to refresh a model — clear the cache, then re-fetch and regenerate.

Command Reference

Command	Description
`Podium`	Opens the main PODIUM workflow — login, project, and scenario selection
`PodiumGenerateModel`	Generates Rhino geometry from the currently loaded PODIUM model
`PodiumClear`	Clears cached PODIUM model data
`PodiumInspect`	Displays PODIUM metadata for a selected object