Design your Sophab
Step 1 of 5Shape & size
Windows & doors
Place the openings on the wall your Sophab covers, so the model shows what ends up indoors.
Click a window or door to dimension it — distance to the nearer end of the wall, width, height, and sill height above the floor, in feet, updating as you drag. Doors snap to the floor. Windows snap & show a guide when they line up with another window. The shaded band is where your Sophab covers the wall.
Size
The arch
Glazing Coming soon
Choose twinwall, clear or a mix, and how much of the arch is clear glazing. Priced from the same table today — the picker is what is coming.
Heat capture
A dark, high-mass interior stores and re-releases more sun. The gain it buys you is in the details panel above.
Heat storage Coming soon
Mass in the floor and the back wall, to carry the day's sun into the evening.
Shade Coming soon
Summer shading across the arch. The internal tarp system is on the Location tab today, with the add-ons.
Optional. Your design already works on the generic building above. Give us an address and we trace your real building — then model it on your wall, with your climate, trees and shading.
Search, or click the map to drop a pin on your house. We use free OpenStreetMap data (and GeoNB parcels in New Brunswick).
Which wall?
Click a wall on the map above — or several adjacent walls — to span a wider side or wrap a bay window.
← rounder & taller · flatter →. Changes how the arch sits against your wall.
Slide to move the solarium along the wall — useful when it's shorter than the wall (to clear a door, window, or corner).
Trees, shade & the sun's path
Your property + 10 m. Click the map to add a tree, then click a tree to select it and use the sliders to set its size & species. Pick a season and drag the time slider to watch the sun move and shadows fall across your solarium.
See it on your photo
Optional but powerful: upload a straight-on photo of the wall and we'll drop your Sophab onto it, then email you a polished mockup with your full cost & energy report.
We'll send the polished in-situ mockup of your Sophab on your own wall, plus the full cost & energy report for your home. Free, no obligation.
Terrain Coming soon
Slope, retaining and cut/fill around the base.
Your free Sophab plan
Step 2 of 5Here's what we've designed with you so far. It's yours free — the appearance, the size, and what it should cost to build.
What your free plan includes
- Your design, drawn. The 3D model, a top-down plan and the side profile of your Sophab at your dimensions.
- What it should cost. A turnkey estimate broken down per square foot, with the glazing area and rib style you chose.
- Winter energy. What the arch is modelled to capture over a heating season at your size and orientation.
The summary above is yours to read either way. To have the full free plan emailed to you — and to keep it with any later designs — sign in or create an account. It's free, and it takes one click.
Next steps
If a Sophab is right for you, you'll need to see if your local building inspectors, bylaws, and other localized conditions will permit your build.
We've written a free checklist that walks you through it yourself — what to measure, who to call, and the exact questions to ask — so you know your build is feasible before you pay for anything. If you'd rather not do it alone, we consult through it with you.
What's next?
Step 3 of 5Before you buy plans, confirm your lot can take the Sophab you just designed. None of this costs anything — your municipality answers these for free, and most problems turn out to be dimensional.
- 1What does it count as? A solarium, an addition or an accessory structure — the answer decides which rules apply at all.
- 2Setbacks. How close to the property line your projection is allowed to land.
- 3Lot coverage. Whether there is room left on the lot once the footprint is added.
- 4Height, and what it's measured from. Grade, eave or ridge — the datum changes the answer.
- 5Overlays and covenants. Heritage, flood, or a subdivision covenant can outrank the zone.
- 6Fire separation and glazing near a line. Limits on how much unprotected glazing may face a neighbour.
- 7The loads your location actually has. Ground snow and wind for your address, not a regional average.
- 8What's under the ground. Services, rock and frost depth where the piles go.
- 9Who reviews it, and what they want to see. The reviewer decides what your drawing set has to show.
We've prefilled these from the design you just made, with the wording to use on the phone — open your checklist →
Your model & estimate
Step 3 of 4What you see here is a preview. We'll prepare a comprehensive report for your exact home — engineered sizing, detailed drawings, material options and energy modelling — and email it to you. No cost, no obligation.
Engineer-ready Sophab package
Step 4 of 5You're on your way
Step 5 of 5- We draw your set. Your dimensions go onto the Sophab Arch drawing set, with the rib section sized to the snow and wind at your address.
- We email you when it's ready. Your set arrives in your account to download, and stays there.
- Your engineer reviews and seals it. We produce an engineer-ready set; your own licensed engineer reviews and seals it for permit. We never issue a sealed set.
- We consult through the build. Premium services open up at this point — we walk the set with your builder and answer what comes up on site.
Bring a neighbour, and both of you gain
Sophabs read best in pairs — a neighbour who can see yours is the easiest person in the world to convince. Refer one and you each get a credit toward your set or your premium services. Ask us for your referral link when your plans land; we'll set it up with you.
Other places a Sophab goes
- RoofPhab — the same arch as a rooftop shell, turning a flat roof into enclosed floor area.
- GreenPhab — aimed at four-season growing rather than living space.
- DrivePhab — a daylit carport over the driveway.
- Heat-Phab — the smallest one: a canopy over an outdoor heat-pump unit, free to build from our DIY plan.