Your First Project in 10 Minutes

Try a real example, with no account needed. A short card on the screen follows these same steps the first time you visit.

1. Open the Example

On the first screen, under Try an example, choose North Melbourne. There are others too: townhouses in Ivanhoe, mixed use in Malvern and an activity centre in Moonee Ponds. Townhouses don't have floor plans, so North Melbourne suits every step here. If that screen has gone, use the Search at the top to go to North Melbourne and draw your own site as in Your Own Site.

You'll see a 12-storey apartment building on a vacant lot, already filled to the zone's limits. The figures at the top of the map are for this scenario: population, homes, jobs and value.

2. Look Around

Drag to move, scroll to zoom, and right-drag to tilt in 3D. Click the building to select it, and you can move it, turn it or change its storeys.

3. See the Homes Inside

With the building selected, look in the panel on the right under Units. You'll see a typical floor with its homes, coloured by type. Pick a unit on the plan to see its rooms and how it does against the rules. Units in Drawn Buildings explains more.

4. Walk Through a Home

With a unit picked, choose Walk through. Use W A S D to walk and drag to look. Change the floor to see how the view changes, and move the time to watch the sun. Esc leaves. Walk Through a Home has more.

5. Check It

Choose Check on the left, then Run the check. It tests the design against the rules and lists what's fine, what to fix and what wasn't checked. Without an account it runs on your one scenario, kept for 7 days. Reading the Results explains the words.

6. See What It Would Mean

Choose Run analysis for the quick models: cost, transport and more. Without an account you get the quick ones.

7. Go Further

To save your work and use everything, request early access. Your example stays in this browser in the meantime.

Sources

The example and its figures come from the sources named on each page it links to.