What are blueprints for?
Blueprints let you capture a finished interior layout, from walls and floors to furniture and fixtures, and either reuse it yourself or share it with the community. They turn a tedious manual fit-out into a one-click install, which is invaluable once you run multiple stores that should look and function identically. The system spans three parts: the Blueprint Creator for saving, the Gallery and Steam Workshop for sharing, and installation firms for applying a design to a real building.
Opening the Blueprint Creator
The Blueprint Creator is not accessed inside the live world. From the main menu, open Blueprints and then choose Open Blueprint Creator in the top-left. Inside, you can load any business, apartment, or warehouse, decorate it with walls, floors, and furniture, and then open the interior designer to Save layout as blueprint, naming and saving the result to your library.
Downloading and sharing
From the main menu's BLUEPRINTS button, or by pressing ESC and choosing BLUEPRINTS in-game, you reach the blueprint browser. Gallery shows public blueprints shared by the community, while My library holds your own and any you have downloaded. You can filter by Sort By, Price, Building Type, and Building Size, and sync a blueprint to the Steam Workshop to publish it. At the time of writing, downloading blueprints from outside the game client was not available and is expected to return in a later update, so use the in-game Gallery and Workshop for now.
Building codes: what a blueprint can be applied to
A blueprint is tied to a building code, not to a business type. An A1 retail layout applies to another A1 unit — never to a C1 with three times the floor area, even when both run the same kind of shop. This is the most common reason a saved design refuses to fit a new lease.
Each code fixes both the floor area and the hourly customer ceiling:
| Type | Code | Size | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail | A1 / A2 | 75 m² | 15 customers / hour |
| Retail | C1 / C2 | 225 m² | 30 customers / hour |
| Retail | D2 | 285 m² | 40 customers / hour |
| Retail | M1 | 1,000 m² | 75 customers / hour |
| Office | A3 | 75 m² | 4 customers / hour |
| Office | C1 / C2 | 225 m² | 8 customers / hour |
| Office | D2 / J1 | 285 m² | 10 customers / hour |
| Office | K1 | 660 m² | 50 customers / hour |
| Warehouse / Factory | H1–H3 | 690 m² | 1 vehicle |
| Warehouse / Factory | I1–I3 | 1,292 m² | 2 vehicles |
| Warehouse / Factory | P1–P3 | 2,184 m² | 2 vehicles |
| Warehouse / Factory | Q1–Q3 | 2,610 m² | 2 vehicles |
Codes that look interchangeable usually are not. A1 and A2 are the same size with the same capacity and differ only in floorplan — and that difference alone is enough to block a transfer between them. Read the code on the lease before you save the layout, not after you have paid an installation firm.
Capacity: why a big empty store underperforms
A building's capacity is a ceiling, not a guarantee. An M1 retail unit is rated for 75 customers an hour, but it only serves 75 if you have furnished enough serving stations to handle them. Every fixture carries its own throughput: a cash register handles 20 customers an hour, and a bakery showcase handles 20.
That is why a huge shop with two shelves and one till loses money. Floor area is not throughput — furnished stations are. When you plan a layout, count the capacity-bearing items first and decorate second.
Since 1.0 the store catalog lists each item's customer capacity and any placement requirement, so you no longer have to learn these rules by trial and error. One that still catches people out: a cash register has to sit on a counter, such as a cabinet with drawers, rather than directly on the floor.
The four installation firms
To apply a blueprint to a building you visit one of four installation firms, each specializing in certain building types. The official help documentation lists four, despite some text saying "three," so the authoritative count is four.
| Firm | Address | Specializes in |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom Office | 43 4th Avenue | Offices |
| Kristian Bahood | 2 1st Avenue | Retail & warehouse (also cinema and theater) |
| Nugem Interiors | 11 1st Avenue | Residential |
| Stonegood Architecture | 5 26th Street | Warehouse & factory |
You can find these on the Voogle map, which filters by building specialty so you can locate the right firm for your project.
The installation process
Visit the firm during business hours, or meet the manager first and then contact them by phone. Choose the target building address, pick an installation day, select your design from your blueprints, and confirm. The firm then applies the layout on the scheduled day.
Payment and the clearance risk
Two details matter and are easy to get wrong. First, payment is deducted on the install day, not when you place the order, so make sure the account has the funds that day or the install simply does not happen. Second, installing a blueprint clears and sells everything already inside the building, furniture and stock included, to make room for the new design. Empty the building of anything you want to keep before confirming, or you will lose it.
Blueprints and the Steam Workshop
Because Big Ambitions supports Steam Workshop mods, blueprints can be shared through the Workshop in addition to the in-game Gallery. This lets you download community-made layouts for stores, apartments, and offices, then install them through the relevant firm. It is the fastest way to get a professional-looking, efficiently laid-out building without hand-placing every shelf.
When blueprints pay off
For a single shop, manual decoration is fine. Blueprints become essential once you operate several locations of the same type, such as multiple clothing stores or a chain of gift shops, because you can perfect one layout and replicate it exactly. Combined with the 1.0 HQ Pricing Manager that updates prices across a district at once, blueprints are part of the late-game toolkit for running an empire efficiently.