3D visuals for London homes

Types of visual we produce

Exterior views show the finished building from the street, the garden and the neighbours' side. We pick angles that test the design rather than flatter it. Materials are applied from real samples where you have them.

Interior views show the space you are paying for: a kitchen-diner with the new doors, a loft room with its sloping ceiling, a stairwell with the extra light. They help you settle layouts before anything is ordered.

Before and after comparisons place the proposed design over a photograph of the existing house from the same viewpoint. They are useful because the change is judged against what is already there. Short walkthroughs move through the model at eye height, which is the quickest way to see whether a circulation route works.

How visuals help with planning, neighbours and heritage

The wider policy context favours clear images. London's strategic plan puts it this way: 3D virtual reality and other interactive digital models should, where possible, inform decision-taking and engage Londoners. The national framework adds: Major proposals should be informed by early engagement with neighbours and the community. For a householder scheme this is guidance rather than a requirement, but a good image makes early conversations easier.

Where a building has heritage value, the framework asks for this: Assessment of effects on heritage significance and setting, proportionate to importance. A before and after view from the street is one of the plainest ways to show setting, and it sits alongside the written heritage work, not in place of it.

Neighbours are consulted for at least 21 days on many applications. Showing them a visual in advance, rather than leaving them to read plans, gives them a clearer picture of the proposal. It does not decide the outcome of any application.

Visuals are not a replacement for scaled drawings

A planning application still needs scaled plans. The national guidance is explicit (Plans and drawings must be drawn to an identified scale and plans must show north), so a render alone never validates an application. Think of the visual as the explanatory layer on top.

The same holds for light. A rendering can show sunshine falling into a room, but it is not a daylight assessment. Where overshadowing is a question, officers apply a geometric test: 45. If your neighbours' windows are close, ask us about our daylight and sunlight report service as well.

What the price depends on

We do not publish a fixed starting price for visuals, because the scope varies far more than it does for drawings. A single exterior view of a rear extension is a short job. A fully furnished interior set with walkthrough takes much longer.

The quote is fixed once we have run the free constraints check and agreed the views with you: how many images, which rooms, whether you want a before and after, and whether the model needs more detail than the drawings already hold. Ordered alongside a planning drawings package, the visuals start from a model that already exists, which we take into account in the quote.

How we make a visual, step by step

First comes a brief: which views, what mood, which materials. If we are drawing the project, the model already exists. If not, we survey the house and model it from scratch, using our measured building survey work as the base.

We then set up cameras and send low-resolution test views for your comments. Changing a camera is quick at this stage. Once you approve the angles we finish the lighting and materials and render the final set. An independent check compares each image with the drawings, so a window or chimney never differs between the two.

Delivery is as image files sized for planning portals, presentations and printing. We keep the model, so a later change, such as a different brick, is a small job rather than a restart.

3D visuals by borough

How much a visual helps depends partly on where the house stands. In a conservation area the street view carries real weight, while in an area of mixed housing a clean interior view may do more. Our council pages show the local designations and householder decision figures behind that judgement. See Camden's planning facts for one example, or browse every area under architectural drawings by area.