diff --git a/src/ifcwrap/ifc.py b/src/ifcwrap/ifc.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..73019417a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ifcwrap/ifc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+import string
+import functools
+import ifc_wrapper
+
+if hasattr(functools, 'reduce'): reduce = functools.reduce
+
+class entity_instance:
+	def __init__(self, e):
+		super().__setattr__('wrapped_data', e)
+	def __getattr__(self, name):
+		try: return self.wrapped_data.get_argument(self.wrapped_data.get_argument_index(name))
+		except:
+			try: return self.wrapped_data.get_inverse(name)
+			except: raise AttributeError("entity instance of type '%s' has no attribute '%s'"%(self.wrapped_data.is_a(), name))
+	@staticmethod
+	def map_value(v):
+		if isinstance(v, entity_instance): return v.wrapped_data
+		elif isinstance(v, (tuple, list)) and len(v):
+			classes = list(map(type, v))
+			if float in classes: return ifc_wrapper.doubles(v)
+			elif int in classes: return ifc_wrapper.ints(v)
+			elif str in classes: return ifc_wrapper.strings(v)
+			elif entity_instance in classes: return list(map(lambda e: e.wrapped_data, v))
+		return v
+	def __setattr__(self, key, value):
+		self[self.wrapped_data.get_argument_index(key)] = value
+	def __getitem__(self, key):
+		return self.wrapped_data.get_argument(self.wrapped_data.get_argument_index(name))
+	def __setitem__(self, idx, value):
+		self.wrapped_data.set_argument(idx, entity_instance.map_value(value))
+	def __len__(self): return len(self.wrapped_data)
+	def __repr__(self): return repr(self.wrapped_data)
+
+
+class file:
+	instances = []
+	def __init__(self, f):
+		self.wrapped_data = f
+	def create_entity(self,type,*args,**kwargs):
+		e = entity_instance(ifc_wrapper.entity_instance(type))
+		attrs = list(enumerate(args)) + \
+			[(e.wrapped_data.get_argument_index(name), arg) for name, arg in kwargs.items()]
+		for idx, arg in attrs: e[idx] = arg
+		self.wrapped_data.add(e.wrapped_data)
+		self.instances.append(e)
+		return e
+	def __getattr__(self,attr):
+		if attr[0:6] == 'create': return functools.partial(self.create_entity,attr[6:])
+	def __getitem__(self, key):
+		if isinstance(key, int):
+			return entity_instance(self.wrapped_data.by_id(key))
+		elif isinstance(key, str):
+			return entity_instance(self.wrapped_data.by_guid(key))
+	def by_type(self, type):
+		return [entity_instance(e) for e in self.wrapped_data.by_type(type)]
+	def write(self, fn):
+		self.wrapped_data.write(fn)
+
+
+class guid:
+	chars = string.digits + string.ascii_uppercase + string.ascii_lowercase + '_$'
+	@staticmethod
+	def compress(g):
+		bs = [int(g[i:i+2], 16) for i in range(0, len(g), 2)]
+		def b64(v, l=4):
+			return ''.join([guid.chars[(v // (64**i))%64] for i in range(l)][::-1])
+		return ''.join([b64(bs[0], 2)] + [b64((bs[i] << 16) + (bs[i+1] << 8) + bs[i+2]) for i in range(1,16,3)])
+	@staticmethod
+	def expand(g):
+		def b64(v):
+			return reduce(lambda a, b: a * 64 + b, map(lambda c: guid.chars.index(c), v))
+		bs = [b64(g[0:2])]
+		for i in range(5):
+			d = b64(g[2+4*i:6+4*i])
+			bs += [(d >> (8*(2-j)))%256 for j in range(3)]
+		return ''.join(['%02x'%b for b in bs])
+	@staticmethod
+	def split(g):
+		return '{%s-%s-%s-%s-%s}'%(g[:8], g[8:12], g[12:16], g[16:20], g[20:])
+
+
+def open(fn):
+	return file(ifc_wrapper.open(fn))
+
+def create_shape(inst, settings): return ifc_wrapper.create_shape(inst.wrapped_data, settings)
+
+def clean(): return ifc_wrapper.clean()
+
+DISABLE_OPENING_SUBTRACTIONS = ifc_wrapper.DISABLE_OPENING_SUBTRACTIONS
+DISABLE_OBJECT_PLACEMENT = ifc_wrapper.DISABLE_OBJECT_PLACEMENT
+SEW_SHELLS = ifc_wrapper.SEW_SHELLS