AV Rack Design & Elevations

How to design AV racks that can be built and serviced, rack elevations, layout order, weight and thermal planning, power, and cable management.

A rack is a decision you live with for years

Racks outlive the shows they were built for. The layout you weld in this month is the one a different tech services at 2 a.m. three years from now, which is why rack design is mostly about future access: heavy gear low, hot gear spaced, patch points reachable, service loops real.

The working documents are the front and rear elevations, a rack-unit-accurate drawing of what sits where, plus the internal wiring documentation that explains what happens behind the rails. How to design an AV rack elevation walks the full layout method: RU budgeting, weight, thermal zones, power, and the drawing itself.

  • Elevation first, screwdriver second, moving a drawn rectangle is free; moving a mounted amp is not.
  • Rear elevations earn their keep: connector clearance and cable dressing live back there.
  • Document internal patching as its own layer, see the rack internal connections guide.

Guides in this topic

  • How to Design an AV Rack Elevation, Design an AV rack elevation that survives the build: RU math, layout order, thermal zones, weight balance, and the rear view most drawings forget.

Build your rack elevation in WireFlow

Drag gear into front and rear rack views, document internal patching, and export install-ready PDFs.

Open the rack builder · Start free