How to help planners visualise your development.

Author | Paul Skuse, Oakfield Design & Creation

Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is an irreplaceable property design and development tool.

It offers a wide variety of uses across every stage of the property development process thanks to the way it can depict almost any object. It enables property developers to create incredibly realistic environments that don’t exist in the real world.

For anyone associated with the planning process, CGI can be a godsend. It can often be challenging to convince a planning committee of the minimal impact your development will have on the local area or demonstrate the value it will add.

CGI can help you overcome any design, planning, conservation and third-party objections to accelerate a successful outcome. Here, we take a closer look at what planning CGI is and how it can help planners visualise your proposed development.

What is planning CGI?
Planning CGI (computer-generated imagery) creates a digital model of a building or other object, which you can use for planning and design purposes.
The use of planning CGI – also known as architectural visualisation – has become increasingly popular in recent years as technology has become more advanced and affordable.

Property professionals use CGI to visualise a building before it is built. They also use it to create marketing materials for new developments or show potential buyers what a property will look like once finished.

With CGI, you can create images of any size and complexity, making it an incredibly versatile tool for architects and designers looking to create images of individual buildings, or entire neighbourhoods or cityscapes.

In the context of planning, CGI helps local authority officers and planners understand the context and visual impact of proposed buildings, developments and landscapes before they are built. This can be extremely useful for getting a sense of how a building might fit into its surroundings, as well as working out any potential problems before construction begins.

The benefits of CGI for planners
There are many benefits to using planning CGI. Perhaps the most obvious benefit is that it can help visualise existing and proposed buildings. It allows planners to get a better idea of how a building will look when it is complete, and how things like the placement of windows and doors, materials, colours, textures will affect the overall aesthetics.

Planning CGI can also help ease any concerns or objections from residents, community stakeholders and other interested third parties. Often, standard planning documents and traditional architectural drawings don’t do a proposed scheme justice regarding how the finished development might look. This can lead to all sorts of rumours, unfounded concerns and misinformation circulating, which can slow – or completely derail – planning application progress.

With CGI, you can show those affected the vision behind a proposed development and how the finished project will look, to help alleviate their concerns and demonstrate the positive benefits your scheme aims to bring. Some of the other benefits of planning CGI include:

Save time and money
CGI can help you save time and money when planning or visualising buildings. With CGI, you can create high-quality 2D or 3D renders of your project, which can help with pre-construction planning. It can help with the execution stages of a project too, as it allows you to catch potential issues early on and make necessary changes. Additionally, using CGI for marketing purposes can give potential buyers or tenants a better idea of what the property will look like, helping speed up the sale or lease process.

Sell your vision
CGI can help you create realistic images to let planners see what a building will look like before it’s built. It can also be used to visualise existing buildings, to show how they could be remodelled or renovated. The level of detail you can achieve with CGI is much higher than any other medium, allowing for a high degree of accuracy when visualising buildings.

Better project management
CGI can help you plan and manage your project more effectively. Visualising the building or space you’re planning can help you make better decisions about the layout and design of the project. It can give your proposed scheme more context and, consequently, more realism. You can use it to enhance your proposals with real-life elements such as trees, traffic, and people. It can also help you determine how much space is needed for a particular building or landscape.

How can Oakfield Design and Creation help?
Accurate CGI visualisations can be the difference between securing or losing planning permission. They can help you present the context of your scheme in a real-world environment to maximise your chances of success.
With more than 30 years’ industry experience, we understand the planning process and the importance of providing the proper context to sell your vision to planners.

Our CGI visualisations can help remove speculation and uncertainty by showing how your scheme will look in the real world. They help planners and residents understand the architect’s vision and expedite the planning process with minimal objections and delay.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can support your next project.