Considerations

We would always seek to advise our clients without prejudice as to the option that we believe would best suit them, however the final decision remains the client’s choice.

Some questions that we would advise our clients to consider before making a decision, would be as follows.

Is your project relatively straight forward?

To gauge this, have you seen many other examples of what you would like to achieve close to your site?  This is an indication of whether there are local contractors who will be able to undertake the construction works with information that we would categorise as Basic Detail. If you’re trying to create something unique, then designing to a higher level of detail will be key to achieving your goals.

Do you find it easy to visualise spaces in your mind?

Many of our clients have little or no previous experience of working with architectural drawings.  Making the mental leap from a 2D set of plans and elevations, to imagining living in those spaces may be asking a lot of yourself, or the other people that will live or work within the spaces.

To what degree would you want to participate in the design process?

There are many ways that this can be achieved.  At one end of the spectrum, hand-drawn sketches can be exchanged between the designer and client (and vice-versa) to explain ideas.  At the other end of the spectrum, our 3D workflows lead to the generation of a computer model that can be explored together (via a projector) at our consultation meetings.

If a planning application will be required, will the planning officer appreciate what you’re trying to achieve?

If your aims are simple and consistent with similar examples in the locality, then a Basic Design approach may be adequate.  If however your proposals will be fairly unique, then demonstrating to the planning officer that your aim is for a high quality solution that will benefit the locality, may require additional levels of detail.

Production Differences

All of our information starts off as a series of sketches and survey information.  With the Basic Design (2D) workflow, this is then digitised in our computer software, with simple lines representing the building elements.

With the Standard Detail (3D) and High Detail (3D) workflows, the survey information is developed into a building model using the same software as the 2D workflow, but the building elements are intelligent objects, and the relationship between these components is understood by the software.

As you’ll appreciate, the production of a building model (3D) takes longer than the drafting of the equivalent 2D line drawings.  The difference in the amount of time equates to a difference in the fees that we charge as a practice, to ensure that the work is undertaken in sufficient detail, so that it can be relied upon throughout all stages of the project.

The following 3D image types are available in the High Detail workflow.