 The study explores the possibility that flat-clathrin lattices grow with vacancies to lower energetic and topological barriers for the transition from flat to curved, using the EDEN model for cluster growth as the most appropriate modeling framework and identifying for possible variants based on the specific architecture of the clathrin triskellion. Computer simulations show that different models lead to clear differences in statistical distributions of cluster shapes and densities, while experimental results provide first indications for the model variants with a moderate level of lattice vacancies. This article was authored by Felix Frey, Delia Butcher, Keme Sachaki, and others.