diff --git a/plugins/de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui/META-INF/services/de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.SynthesisHook b/plugins/de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui/META-INF/services/de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.SynthesisHook
index 0516776811..4e33302c13 100644
--- a/plugins/de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui/META-INF/services/de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.SynthesisHook
+++ b/plugins/de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui/META-INF/services/de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.SynthesisHook
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.HideAnnotationHook
 de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.LabelPlacementSideHook
 de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.LabelShorteningHook
 de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.SynthesisAnnotationHook
+de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.TopdownLayoutHook
 de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.LayoutHook
 de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.ExpandCollapseHook
 de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.ColorAnnotationHook
diff --git a/plugins/de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui/src/de/cau/cs/kieler/sccharts/ui/synthesis/hooks/TopdownLayoutHook.xtend b/plugins/de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui/src/de/cau/cs/kieler/sccharts/ui/synthesis/hooks/TopdownLayoutHook.xtend
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..edea34dcfa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui/src/de/cau/cs/kieler/sccharts/ui/synthesis/hooks/TopdownLayoutHook.xtend
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+/*
+ * KIELER - Kiel Integrated Environment for Layout Eclipse RichClient
+ *
+ * http://rtsys.informatik.uni-kiel.de/kieler
+ * 
+ * Copyright 2024 by
+ * + Kiel University
+ *   + Department of Computer Science
+ *     + Real-Time and Embedded Systems Group
+ * 
+ * This code is provided under the terms of the Eclipse Public License (EPL).
+ */
+package de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks
+
+import de.cau.cs.kieler.klighd.SynthesisOption
+import de.cau.cs.kieler.klighd.kgraph.KNode
+import de.cau.cs.kieler.klighd.krendering.ViewSynthesisShared
+import de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.Region
+import de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.Scope
+import de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.State
+import de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.GeneralSynthesisOptions
+import java.util.EnumSet
+import org.eclipse.elk.core.options.ContentAlignment
+import org.eclipse.elk.core.options.CoreOptions
+import org.eclipse.elk.core.options.SizeConstraint
+import org.eclipse.elk.core.options.TopdownNodeTypes
+
+import static extension de.cau.cs.kieler.klighd.syntheses.DiagramSyntheses.*
+
+/**
+ * Hook that configures SCCharts to be laid out using top-down layout instead of bottom-up layout.
+ * 
+ * @author mka
+ *
+ */
+ @ViewSynthesisShared
+class TopdownLayoutHook extends SynthesisHook {
+    
+    /** Action ID */
+    public static final String ID = "de.cau.cs.kieler.sccharts.ui.synthesis.hooks.TopdownLayoutHook";
+    
+    public static final SynthesisOption USE_TOPDOWN_LAYOUT = 
+        SynthesisOption.createCheckOption(TopdownLayoutHook, "Topdown Layout", false)
+            .setCategory(GeneralSynthesisOptions::LAYOUT)
+            .description = "Use top-down layout instead of bottom-up layout to generate the diagram."
+            
+    public static final SynthesisOption SCALE_CAP = 
+        SynthesisOption.createCheckOption(TopdownLayoutHook, "Enable Scale Cap", true)
+            .setCategory(GeneralSynthesisOptions::LAYOUT)
+            .description = "If the scale cap is enabled, elements will only be scaled down. Otherwise they will be 
+                            scaled up to fill all the available space."
+            
+    public static final SynthesisOption TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH = 
+        SynthesisOption.createRangeOption(TopdownLayoutHook, "Topdown Hierarchical Node Width", 50.0f, 5000.0f, 1.0f, 150.0f)
+            .setCategory(GeneralSynthesisOptions::LAYOUT)
+            .description = "The fixed width to assign to all hierarchical nodes."
+            
+    public static final SynthesisOption TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO = 
+        SynthesisOption.createRangeOption(TopdownLayoutHook, "Topdown Hierarchical Node Aspect Ratio", 0.2f, 5.0f, 0.01f, 1.41f)
+            .setCategory(GeneralSynthesisOptions::LAYOUT)
+            .description = "The aspect ratio all hierarchical nodes should have. Determines the height of the nodes."
+            
+    
+    override getDisplayedSynthesisOptions() {
+        return #[
+            USE_TOPDOWN_LAYOUT, SCALE_CAP, TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH, TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO
+        ]
+    }
+    
+    override processState(State state, KNode node) {
+        
+        node.setProperty(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_LAYOUT, USE_TOPDOWN_LAYOUT.booleanValue)
+        if (USE_TOPDOWN_LAYOUT.booleanValue) {
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::NODE_SIZE_CONSTRAINTS, EnumSet.noneOf(SizeConstraint))
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::NODE_SIZE_FIXED_GRAPH_SIZE, true)
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_NODE_TYPE, TopdownNodeTypes.HIERARCHICAL_NODE)
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH, TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH.floatValue as double)
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO, TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO.floatValue as double)
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::CONTENT_ALIGNMENT, EnumSet.of(ContentAlignment.V_CENTER, ContentAlignment.H_CENTER))
+            
+            if (SCALE_CAP.booleanValue) {
+                node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_SCALE_CAP, 1.0)
+            } else {
+                node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_SCALE_CAP, Double.MAX_VALUE)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    
+    override processRegion(Region region, KNode node) {
+        node.setProperty(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_LAYOUT, USE_TOPDOWN_LAYOUT.booleanValue)
+        
+        if (USE_TOPDOWN_LAYOUT.booleanValue) {
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::NODE_SIZE_FIXED_GRAPH_SIZE, true)
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_NODE_TYPE, TopdownNodeTypes.HIERARCHICAL_NODE)
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH, TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH.floatValue as double)
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO, TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO.floatValue as double)
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::CONTENT_ALIGNMENT, EnumSet.of(ContentAlignment.V_CENTER, ContentAlignment.H_CENTER))
+            if (SCALE_CAP.booleanValue) {
+                node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_SCALE_CAP, 1.0)
+            } else {
+                node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_SCALE_CAP, Double.MAX_VALUE)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    
+    override start(Scope scope, KNode node) {
+        node.setProperty(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_LAYOUT, USE_TOPDOWN_LAYOUT.booleanValue)
+        if (USE_TOPDOWN_LAYOUT.booleanValue) {
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::NODE_SIZE_FIXED_GRAPH_SIZE, true)
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_NODE_TYPE, TopdownNodeTypes.ROOT_NODE)
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH, TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH.floatValue as double)
+            node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO, TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO.floatValue as double)
+            if (SCALE_CAP.booleanValue) {
+                node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_SCALE_CAP, 1.0)
+            } else {
+                node.setLayoutOption(CoreOptions::TOPDOWN_SCALE_CAP, Double.MAX_VALUE)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file