Introduction
Hello everyone! This week we are looking at developing a ‘Skyline’ visual.
Anyone outside of the construction industry may not have heard this term before, but it is kind of a combination of a stacked column visual and a kanban board.
It is used in construction to show construction activities (workpacks) that are planned to start or finish during a program of works. These are usually grouped into weeks or months, and the vertical columns can look like a city skyline, hence the name.
In the DevOps world, this may be akin to showing sprint activities.
A limited version of this visual can be created using the native stacked column chart in Power BI, but we will delve into Deneb to provide a more customised version.
Requirements
Using the dataset provided, we want to show as a minimum:
- Stacked workpacks grouped by the week start date
- Application of colour coding by discipline with legend shown
- Include text with the workpack number shown in each box
- Add a tooltip to include all details of each workpack
For more advanced features:
- Apply opacity control on colour and stroke type to differentiate between workpacks where the start pack date has passed (before today)
Optional:
- Test the limitations of a native stacked column chart to see which of the above items can be achieved.
If you get stuck, I have included a json template and a pbix solution file that I have put together.
Dataset
Find the dataset and other assets for this week’s challenge on GitHub.
Share
After you finish your workout, share on social media using the hashtags #WOW2025 and #PowerBI. Tag me (Gerard) on LinkedIn, along with Meagan, Kerry, and Shannon.
On Bluesky, tag @mmarie.bsky.social, @shan-gsd.bsky.social, and @merrykerry.bsky.social.
Solution
Download the solution file to see exactly how the report is built!