The Envelope refers to the three-dimensional space within which a building can legally be constructed on a given piece of land

Generate your allowable envelope, or the extents of your buildable area, with this transform.

The envelope transform models a complex building form using offsets and angles.

How to:

Select a polygon to use as the envelope boundary.

Click “Open Flow Builder”

Select “Envelope”

Envelope Settings:

1. Max height
2. Sides
   1. the offsets and height restrictions may vary on different sides of your site
   2. You can define different values for every side.
   3. You can add as many unique sides as you need
3. Add new side (after you’ve given it a name in the text box)
4. Sides names - rename by double clicking the name
5. Edit side setbacks, step backs, and angles
6. Edit faces of the polygon wich sides apply to
7. Delete a side
8. Enable Usage fills
9. Enable setback polygon output
10. Map edit mode
11. Clear parameters (reset to defaults)
12. Edit Mode toggle
13. Forward properties
14. Edit display name

Edit Heights and Setbacks

Many zoning codes have stepped setback requirements. The height and setback settings allow for any combination of stepped condition.

Maximum Height: Input the maximum height of the building allowable by code

Setback and Levels

Click the “setback and levels” button to open the editor.

Click and drag points to change their location, or select a point and input exact values

1. Side name
2. Y axis - height above ground plane
   1. Max height shown with a red dash
   2. Heights of specific setback points shown on the axis
3. X axis - Inset from polygon edge
   1. The amount the edge is set back from the polygon boundary
   2. Insets of specific setback points shown on the axis
4. Selected Point
5. Add another point
6. The height of the selected point relative to the ground plane
7. The inset of the selected point relative to the polygon boundary
8. Delete the selected point

The combination of heights and setbacks results in an envelope shape:

Edit sides

Many zoning codes have different setbacks for different street frontages. Control different conditions and apply them to sides of your model.

By default, a front, rear, and side condition are included. Add a new side for more conditions.

Rename any side by double clicking the name.

There are 2 ways to apply a condition to the envelope geometry:

In the app UI:

Click the edge selection button

Click “select” on the applicable edges.

Click unselect to un-apply the condition.

On the Model:

Toggle “edit mode”

(or use the shortcut shift + a)

Click the red triangle at the center of an edge.

Select the condition to apply.

Envelope Output:

The default output of the envelope is a generic mass with no usage applied. The shape will reflect the setbacks, heights, and slopes applied.

The envelope output will appear in the Generated Features List:

An envelope with no usage applied

<aside> 💡 Hint: apply a land use usage to the envelope polygon

</aside>

Setback Polygon

Toggle on “setback polygon” to generate only the footprint of the setbacks as a flow output.

This will render the initial setback from the polygon boundary only. Additional step backs are shown only in the envelope output.

An “envelope” with only the setback output

<aside> 💡 Hint: apply a Parcel/Lot type usage to the setback output

</aside>

Usage Fills

Clear Parameters

Editing the Flow in the Flow Builder

Edit the transform values and outputs from the flow builder by: