Virtual Reality Architects
Recent advancements in technology, particularly in virtual reality and visualisation software, have been fundamental in transforming the architecture industry and innovating the architectural design process!
At Cherry Architects, we offer a virtual reality experience to our clients within our service, allowing them to explore how spaces work throughout the whole design process and before anything is built. As we design primarily in 3-dimension, we are constantly considering how design is experienced beyond just the 2D layout.
What are the benefits of Virtual Reality in Architecture?
Experiencing what space looks and feels like
Virtual Reality allows us to accurately experience what it would be like to live and work in the architecture we design. Whilst 2D floorplans allow you to see the sizes and spatial configurations of design proposals, they do not communicate how tall spaces are, how bright they are and what it is like to experience a space in real time.
Less costly design charges during construction
Virtual reality architects are able to take our clients on a journey through their future architecture. This means that there are less costly design changes during the construction process as the client has fully comprehended the constraints of the space, so there are no surprises when seeing it in real life on site.
Experiencing space during different times of day and seasons
Just as demonstrated in Your Home Made Perfect, virtual reality architects can change the time of day and the seasons to show how the experience of being in a space will change throughout the day and year and design architecture to best serve that.
Experimenting with different design options in real-time
Virtual reality serves as a tool for the client and architect to collaborate and discuss design choices. At Cherry Architects, we can change the design in real time, updating the model in front of our clients so that they can instantly experience what their suggestions would look like. Virtual reality allows us to experiment with different materials and colour pallets and to assess their effects on space before committing to a final design.
Take a look at this before and after showing VR and the finished building...
Your Home Made Perfect Architects
The BBC’s popular ‘Your Home Made Perfect’ series has showcased to the masses the exciting opportunities that some architects are offering, involving virtual reality technology into the design process.
On Your Home Made Perfect, architects model their design concepts in 3-dimension then, putting on headsets, clients can place themselves into the space as if they are really there! Through viewing their new house extensions in 3D they can understand exactly what it would be like if the design were to become a reality.
As Your Home Made Perfect architects have demonstrated, regardless of budget, VR shows how their spatial problems can be solved through good design and clever layout strategies, which would be difficult on a 2D drawing.
Types of Visualisation and Virtual Reality in Architecture
Visualisation is not just about using VR headsets. There are many other effective ways of exploring space!
VR headset
Virtual reality headsets are the most popular way of exploring virtual reality as they allow our clients to immerse themselves fully inside a room. They can move their head up and down and side to side and the view will respond as if they are standing in a space.
3D Panoramas
Our virtual reality architects use 3D panoramas to communicate design changes to clients remotely. We can send them links to updated models by email. By providing them with cardboard VR goggles to keep, they can open the link on their phone to look around the space. They can move their head and the view will respond as if they are standing in the space.
3D Walkthrough
At Cherry Architects, we find 3D walkthroughs to be the most effective way of communicating design to our clients. 3D walkthroughs allow you to understand the experience of moving through space. We can open up a 3D model and move around it together on the screen, or send over a video from the 3D model capturing this experience. By sitting around the screen and reviewing the design together, we can make progress with architectural design ideas.
Still Visualisations
Still visualisations offer realistic still views from key positions within proposed spaces. They are a great way of showing a snapshot of how the space will look and how it will be used and their high resolution means that a lot of intricate details can be included down to the location of electrical sockets, furniture and lighting.
Types of Modelling
At Cherry Architects we work to two different levels of detail within our 3D modelling for Virtual Reality:
White Render
At an early stage of the design process, we model everything in white in order focus attention on the for, layout and flow of spaces. At this stage, we can establish how much glazing to add and how sunlight falls within the space.
Depending on the design package selected, we may use White Render throughout the design process.
Detailed Renders
When the design has developed sufficiently, our virtual reality architects start to explore materiality by testing out different materials and colours. We can add specific products from window, lighting or flooring manufacturers to give a realistic view of how these would look in our architecture. We can even replicate personal touches, such as our client’s artwork, or specific pieces of furniture, to see how they would work in the space.