Niches: recesses in a wall

A niche is a recess built into one face of a wall. Unlike a window or opening it doesn't go through: some wall is always left behind it.

Before you start

• A wall at least as wide as the niche, thicker than the niche will be deep.
• Edit access to the design.

Add a niche

1. Choose the Niche tool in the toolbar (the box icon). On a phone, it's under More.
2. Move over a wall. The preview shows on the face your pointer is on.
3. Click to place it. Red means it doesn't fit there, and the reason is shown.

You can also turn an existing opening into a niche: select it and choose Niche under Kind in the inspector.

Edit it

Select the niche to set:

• Width, Height and Sill height (how high above the floor it starts).
• Depth into the wall. It must be less than the wall's thickness. The inspector shows how much wall stays behind it.
• Recessed into Side A or Side B, or Flip side.
• Drag it along the wall to slide it, or drag its ends to resize it, like a window.

Rules

• Niches follow the same rules as doors and windows: they must fit on the wall, be no taller than the wall, and can't overlap a door, window or another niche on the same wall.
• If a wall gets thinner than a niche is deep, the change is refused. Make the niche shallower first.
• New niches are 100 mm (4 in) deep. In a thinner wall they start at half the wall's thickness.

On the plan, in 3D and in exports

• The plan shows the recess as a dashed pocket in the wall.
• In 3D the wall is carved: the back of the niche is the wall thickness minus the depth.
• Niches are listed in the Doors, windows & niches schedule of the PDF project report with their depth. They don't count as door swings or doorways in design checks, and they're not deducted from wall paint area.