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Complete a building shell

Place foundations on bearing lines and a roof above the walls, then inspect the whole building in 3D.

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After the first Wall, Door and Window exercises, extend your own model with foundations and a roof. Willow House shows the selected element settings; Test Mansion shows a more developed two-storey result with a garage. Their dimensions are examples, not instructions for your project.

Place the foundations

  1. In Levels, add a Level for the foundation reference below the ground-floor working Level. Set its Elevation from Project Zero to the height required by your design.
  2. In Top 2D, select that Level above the viewport, then choose Foundation under Construction. Select a foundation type in the right panel and confirm its Level.
  3. Trace foundation baselines along the intended bearing lines. In a coordinated plan, center each bearing Wall and its foundation baseline on the appropriate Axis. Add a separate Foundation for each required run, then inspect the result at the foundation Level and in a side view. The reference foundation preset needs project-specific engineering sizing.

The complete Willow House editor in Top 2D at Foundation Level, with a strip Foundation selected in the Project tree and its settings visible on the right.
Select a Foundation to check its Level and section settings.

View the full-size Foundation screenshot.

Add the roof and check the shell

  1. Add or select a roof datum Level above the supporting Walls. Choose Roof under Construction, select the Roof Type and Level in the right panel, and click the intended footprint corners. Click the first corner again to close the contour. A complex building may need more than one roof part; use the Roof comparison to understand the available forms.

The complete Willow House editor in 3D with the Hip Roof selected in the Project tree and its Type, Level, Pitch and Overhang shown at right.
Inspect the selected Roof above the two-storey building.

View the full-size selected-Roof screenshot.

  1. Select Save, switch to 3D, choose Iso, and use Fit viewport to content. Check that the roof covers the intended Walls, the openings remain in their hosts, and the foundation is below the building. Reopen the project to verify that the modeled elements remain. Test Mansion illustrates a developed result; its roof is assembled from several parts.

The complete Test Mansion editor in 3D isometry with a multi-part roof, two storeys, a garage, hosted windows and doors, and the foundation visible at the base.
A complete shell combines several modeled parts; the 3D view helps reveal their relationships.

View the full-size building screenshot.

The roof and foundation shown are model geometry, not structural verification. Their type, elevation and dimensions depend on the actual project. Next, move an Axis to see how coordinated construction changes together.

Last updated 27th September 2026