Yes. Statistics zones can overlap each other and any other feature, including the site boundary and generative zones. If a building's centroid sits inside two overlapping zones, it counts fully in both, which is useful for phased or layered analysis but means zone totals do not always sum to the project total.

Buildings, units, and floors are assigned by building centroid. If the centroid sits inside the zone polygon, the whole building counts for that zone. If the centroid is outside, none of it counts, even if part of the building visually overlaps. Roads, parks, restricted areas, and parking use area intersection instead, so partial overlaps are counted proportionally.

A statistics zone is a polygon you draw on the map to report areas, ratios, and unit counts for a part of the site separately from the project total. Use them for neighbourhoods, phases, or ownership boundaries. They only group results, they do not change generation or any other feature.

Hektar's scenarios are designed for early-stage decision support, not for construction documentation. The geometry is accurate enough to inform acquisition, typology selection, and density negotiations. KPIs like BTA, coverage, and daylight hours are calculated from the actual generated geometry, not estimated. The trade-off is that Hektar does not replace detailed structural, MEP, or compliance verification. A scenario that performs well in Hektar still requires later validation. The accuracy is calibrated for the decisions made at this phase: yes or no to acquisition, which typology to develop further, how to negotiate density with the municipality.

Yes, raw land acquisition is one of the highest-value use cases. Before a bid, Hektar tests buildable density against the actual site constraints rather than rules-of-thumb. A site that looks weak under traditional density modeling can look strong when typology and constraint geometry are tested together. A site that looks strong on a coverage ratio basis can look weak when daylight, noise, and slope are layered in. Acquisition decisions made on tested density carry less hidden risk than those made on paper density.

Yes, though Hektar's strongest fit is multi-family and mixed-use development. Single-family housing works for projects with multiple units on a shared site, such as row houses, point houses, or small clusters. For a single villa on a single lot, Hektar is overkill. The tool's value scales with the number of decisions to make about typology, layout, and density. The more parcels and typology options on the table, the more useful Hektar becomes.

Yes. Master plans are one of Hektar's strongest use cases. The tool handles large sites with multiple parcels, road networks, and varied typology zones. For municipal master planning, Hektar produces comparison scenarios that show how different density targets, typology mixes, or street networks affect outcomes. This is particularly useful for early dialogue with stakeholders, where comparing three master plan options side by side is more productive than presenting one finished proposal.

Hektar handles projects from single-parcel infill to multi-hectare master plans. The most common use case is housing development on raw or under-utilized land, where typology and density are the main questions. Single-family housing projects work, as do mixed-use schemes where residential is the dominant function. The tool is at its strongest when the brief is to test what a site can carry rather than to refine a known design. If you already have a fixed scheme and need to detail it, Hektar is not the right phase.

Parametric design uses rules and parameters to drive geometry rather than drawing each scenario by hand. In urban planning, it means defining typology rules, site constraints, and density targets, then letting the system generate combinations that satisfy them. The advantage is exploration. Instead of designing three schemes manually over two weeks, parametric workflows can test thirty scenarios in an hour. The trade-off is that parametric tools require clearly defined inputs. Vague briefs produce vague output. Hektar makes this approach accessible to non-computational designers by handling the parametric logic in the background.

BTA (Bruttoarea) is the total gross floor area including external walls. BOA (Boarea) is the net habitable area inside dwellings, excluding shared spaces and walls. BYA (Byggnadsarea) is the building footprint measured at ground level. All three are used in Swedish planning but for different purposes. Detaljplan rules typically constrain BTA. Pricing and sales materials use BOA. Coverage ratios use BYA. Confusing them is one of the most common sources of miscommunication between architects, developers, and municipalities. Hektar exposes all three for every generated scenario.

E-tal, also called Floor Area Ratio (FAR) internationally, is the ratio of gross floor area to site area. An e-tal of 1.0 means buildings can have a total floor area equal to the site area. E-tal is the most common density metric in Swedish planning, used in detaljplan documents and in municipal density targets. It is a useful starting point but not a complete picture. Two schemes at the same e-tal can produce very different outcomes in terms of unit mix, daylight, courtyard quality, and political reception. E-tal tells you how much, not how.

Byggrätt is the legally permitted building volume on a parcel, typically expressed in BTA (gross floor area). It is determined by the detaljplan and constrained by zoning rules, height limits, coverage ratios, and protected zones. Calculating byggrätt accurately requires understanding the interaction between site geometry, daylight requirements, parking norms, and typology behavior, not just the e-tal on paper. The difference between paper byggrätt and tested byggrätt is often substantial. A site with a stated e-tal of 1.2 may only carry 0.9 in practice once daylight, noise, and slope are layered in.

A volume study is an early-stage analysis of how much building mass a site can carry. It tests typology, coverage, height, orientation, and site constraints to produce a buildable-density estimate. Volume studies sit between zoning analysis and detailed design. They answer questions like: how many units fit on this parcel, what typology mix works, how does daylight perform, and what is the BTA potential. Volume studies are typically the first quantitative analysis in a project, used to support land acquisition decisions, markanvisning submissions, and early negotiations with municipalities.

Yes, there is! We’ve collaborated with multiple developers and architects to integrate custom building systems in Hektar. To know more about this, send us an email and we’ll setup a call to discuss the possibilities further.

It depends on the complexity of the project, but usually it should take no more than 5-10 minutes to complete the setup and start seeing design alternatives pop up. After that, the parameters can be refined and more alternatives generated, so the project is never really done until you think it is.

We're constantly working to make Hektar better, but we're still at an early stage and some features are still to come. We choose what to build next mostly based on feedback from our users, so if there's a feature you'd like to see, please let us know through the feedback form in Hektar or by sending us an email.

Yes. You can share a project by inviting someone who already has a Hektar account. If the person you're trying to invite hasn't signed up, you can invite them to create a free account so they can access your project. You can also use a shareable link to invite anyone to your project, but only send it to people you want to have access — anyone with the link can see your project.

Generative design is a design philosophy where we use goals and constraints to guide the design instead of drawings. One advantage of using generative design in an early design phase is that it can account for many different types of rules at once, and it makes it easier to explore a vast design landscape quickly.