Would you like to walk through your new home months before the builders arrive? It might sound fanciful but it’s become the new reality for home builders. One that can save money and mistakes down the line.

Communicating ideas accurately can be an incredibly hard thing to do. And when those ideas involve an investment as significant as your new home, you want to know that both you and your designer are understanding each other.

We live in a visual age and we also have amazing technology at hand. These two factors have seen massive changes in the building design industry. At Etchells we’ve embraced this new way of working and believe that it’s of great benefit to our clients.

The days of a large, two dimensional, paper house plan (and your designer trying to talk you through what the various black lines represent) are all but gone. Mind you, we love our architectural drawings, and they’re still our starting point, but they can be tough for a client to understand, let alone to get a feel for what life in their new home will be like.

Just as we try to accurately create the home that’s in your heart and mind, we want you to thoroughly understand what we’re delivering. We do this by giving you accurate yet easily digestible information. Here are some of our strategies.

An early step we like to take with you is to have you set up a Pinterest board for your new home and start pinning! It’s amazing just how much this can get the ideas flowing and also accurately identify your preferences. Once you’re happy with your pin board we’ll ask you to share it with us. It’s that easy. It’s a great first step in the visual communication of your project – creating a mood board for your dream home. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with Pinterest, we can introduce you to it. We promise you’ll be hooked before long …

We’ve found that these are one of the best visual tools available to convey the overall look of your new home. We create anywhere from six to 12 of these high quality, photo realistic, rendered illustrations of your build, from different angles, showing interiors and exterior. You basically get what looks like an expensive photoshoot of your home … before the foundations have been laid.

Integrated landscaping

We like to deliver a full service so we always include integrated landscaping in our renders. These are details that you needn’t go ahead with, but many of our clients do once they’ve seen it. It’s a great way of visualising your build as a finished home, settled into its surroundings, and a way to take advantage of Etchells’ design expertise in all aspects of your home.

Colour palette

We also create a palette of colours and wall finishes when producing your renders. These can include a range of cladding options as well as paint colours, taken from a library of paint manufacturers’ swatches. Again, it gives you an accurate indication of what your home can look like upon completion.

BIMx is a simple and intuitive interface with viewer applications for both Apple and Windows. You can even use it on your smart device. It basically delivers sophisticated 3D models in a form that’s easy for the layman to use and explore.

Our clients love this feature – an easy to use tool that means you can virtually ‘walk’ around your new home. You can even take measurements (maybe you’ve seen a sofa you love!) and if you’re technically inclined, the real-time cutaway function means you can view the construction details within the model.

Most clients find the 3D modelling is simply the best way to get a feel for their new home – the functionality and ‘liveability’ of the spaces within. It’s a really exciting step in the design process. It’s also the best way of insuring you’re absolutely happy with the layout. Changes can be very costly once construction commences, so it’s essential to have a thorough understanding of your design before building starts.