Import a site to bring real-world context into your project: property parcels or a site boundary you draw, terrain (elevation), a satellite or street map, and the surrounding neighbourhood buildings. Use it to place your design on its actual site, study the topography and run sustainability analysis against the real context.

Open the Import Site window

Use either entry point:

Click the project name at the top left of the screen and choose Import. In the Import dialog, under Snaptrude's Toposolid, click Import Site.
Type import site in the Search tools & actions box at the bottom centre of the screen.

The window shows a Mapbox map with a search box, checkboxes for Elevation, Neighborhood Buildings and Satellite, and a Property Parcels section for picking parcels to import.

Find your site

In the Search places, addresses, or coordinates box, type an address, a place name or coordinates.
Select the result to move the map to that location.
Pan and zoom the map until your site fills the view.

Note: Parcels and drawing only become available once you are zoomed in far enough. Hint tooltips tell you to zoom in, and the Import site button stays disabled while the map is zoomed out.

Select property parcels

In the US and Canada, where parcel data is available, property parcels come from Regrid and appear on the map when you zoom in. You can select up to 30 parcels.

Zoom in until the parcel outlines appear.
Click each parcel you want to include.
Keep every parcel you want in view. Parcels that are panned out of view are not counted or imported.
Click Import site.

When you import Regrid parcels, Snaptrude sets the datum automatically and calculates the site area for you.

Draw a site boundary

Where there is no parcel data, or the parcel does not match your site, draw the boundary yourself. In regions without parcels, drawing is the default tool. You can draw up to 10 parcels.

Zoom in to your site.
Click on the map to place each corner. Follow the Add a point hint as you go.
Finish the shape by pressing Enter, double-clicking, or clicking the first point again (the close shape hint shows when you are about to close the loop).
Check the site area, which is calculated automatically.
Click Import site.

To change a drawn parcel before importing, hover over it to select it, then drag its edges or vertices. Moving and editing a drawn site use the same gesture.

Note: Drawn boundaries use straight edges only, and you can't type exact edge lengths. A notice warns you if a boundary intersects itself or if you reach the 10 drawn parcels limit.

Turn terrain, satellite and buildings on or off

Before you import, tick or clear Elevation (terrain), Neighborhood Buildings and Satellite in the Import Site window. You can change them after importing:

Select the topography on the canvas to open the Properties panel.
Click Turn On Buildings to bring in the neighbourhood buildings around your site.
Use the site settings in the Properties panel to switch terrain or satellite view on or off.

Neighbourhood buildings are editable blocks. Use the Edit tool (P) to change a building's height or shape if it has changed since the map data was captured, or select it and press Delete to remove it. A space you draw and label as a neighbourhood building behaves the same way.

Tip: Topography has its own visibility toggle and settings in View Styles.

Position the site on the canvas

Select the imported site.
Use Move (M) and Rotate (Q) to line it up with your design.
Click Go to 3D at the bottom right (Shift + >) to check the site against the terrain.

In 2D views, the True North indicator at the bottom right stays visible and rotates with the topography, so it always reflects the site's rotation. Hover over it to see the tooltip True North updates with Site Rotation. The indicator is not shown in 3D and does not carry into Present Mode.

Edit the topography

Select the topography to see its settings in the Properties panel. From there you can:

Set the datum: choose Set Datum, click a point on the site to use as the base level, then click Update Datum. Regrid imports set this for you, but you can change it.
Change the ground depth: edit the depth value.
Adjust opacity and fade: use the Opacity and Fade sliders to make the site less dominant while you design.
Switch to a low-poly toposolid: use the low-poly option to show the terrain as a simplified, low-poly toposolid.

Cut and fill the terrain

Cut and fill shapes the toposolid to sit under your building, filling gaps beneath it and cutting away terrain above its base.

Select the topography and choose Cut Fill in the Properties panel.
Select the base of the space or site you want to cut and fill under.
Tick Cut, Fill or both.
Set the cut and fill angles.
Click Apply.

To undo cut and fill, right-click the topography and choose Reset Site.

Tip: The Measuring Tape tool (T) works on cut and fill regions, so you can check distances, slopes and elevation differences on the reshaped terrain. To snap to the terrain, open Settings (gear icon, bottom left), go to All Snaps and turn on Topography.

Hide, isolate, lock or delete the site

Right-click the site and choose an option from the Right-click menu:

Hide hides the site. Click Show All at the bottom left of the screen to bring it back.
Isolate shows only the site.
Lock prevents accidental edits.
Delete removes the site. You can also press Delete.

Note: If you use Design Proposals, the topography can't be duplicated when you configure a new proposal.

Troubleshooting

The Import site button is greyed out: zoom in further on the map.
No parcels appear: parcel data is only available in the US and Canada, and only when zoomed in. Draw the boundary instead.
A parcel I selected is missing: it was outside the visible map area when you imported the site. Keep all selected parcels in view.
My building floats above or sinks into the ground: set the datum to the correct point, then use cut and fill.

Which coordinate system does the site map use?

The site map and terrain data come from Mapbox, which uses the Web Mercator projection (EPSG:3857). Units are meters, with X pointing east and Y pointing north. Geographic coordinates are given as longitude and latitude in decimal degrees and converted to Web Mercator for display.

Sustainability Analysis
View Styles
Design Proposals
Keyboard Shortcuts

Import a Site: Parcels, Terrain and Context