A short note from the workshop on the last couple of weeks. None of it is loud, but each change makes the plates read a little closer to the ground they trace.
Landmarks that hold their shape
Most of a Cityform plate is built from LIDAR — height measured from the air, terrace by terrace. That works for the ordinary fabric of a city, but a handful of buildings have a silhouette you read from the river, and a flat height field flattens them.
So we have been rebuilding those few as true solids. On a London square the Shard now tapers, the Gherkin curves, and Tower Bridge carries its two towers and the deck between them. The rest of the plate stays measured from LIDAR; only the landmarks are swapped for their real shape. It is in testing, on the squares that need it.
Scotland, coming onto the map
For a while most Scottish locations would not build — a gap in the source terrain data was leaving holes where the relief should be. We traced it, fixed how the data is read, and the great majority of Scotland now renders cleanly. More of the country is reachable than it was a fortnight ago, and those squares are working their way toward the catalogue.
Rivers that cut through
On a city that sits on water, the river is not background — it is part of the form. We reworked how water is carved so the channel drops through the plate as a clean basin rather than sitting flat against the streets. A waterfront now has an edge you can run a finger along.
A sharper look on the site
When you spin a model on a product page, the relief should catch the light the way the printed plate does. We adjusted the lighting and contrast in the 3D preview so the ridges and cuttings stand out instead of washing flat. Same model, easier to read before it reaches your hands.
More of Britain on the way
Behind all of this we have been queuing up thousands more 1 km squares across the country, so the list of places you can hold keeps growing. Every one is the same 9 × 9 cm format at 1:11000, with heights measured from LIDAR.
Want a square we have not made yet? You can commission your own street, or browse what is ready in the full collection.