White styled model to show proposed new development area.

We’ve worked with several different county councils across the UK but, as you’d expect, we’ve done a lot of work for our local county council and this master plan model is our latest project for them. Commissioned as a part of public consultation process one of the major purposes of the model is to demonstrate the scale and extent of a proposed major redevelopment of the area, including a new Arena venue for concerts and events. Although it’s hard to pick up in these photos, the existing on-site buildings are shown in light grey and the proposed new buildings are shown in white. The model also incorporates LED illumination which is used to highlight some of the key proposals.

Cut-away view of turbines and sluice gates

Designed and constructed within two weeks for a presentation at the House of Commons, the main problem we had with this model wasn’t the tight deadline but how best to show an underwater view of the power generating turbines at the heart of this renewable energy project. We also had to illustrate different water levels on the inside and seaward side of the lagoon structure. Our solution was to create the water as a thin clear layer with a sprayed on rippled, surface finish and then cut out large viewing “windows” on either side of the turbine structure. This allowed clear low angle views through the turbines as can be seen from the inset pic above.

With remote controlled illumination of water.

This simple but eye catching model was commissioned to illustrate the size and position of two proposed tidal lagoons in the Bristol Channel. The lagoons are designed to generate renewable energy by harnessing the rise and fall of the tides in an area that has the second highest tidal range in the world. The topography is represented as a stylized contour map (with exaggerated vertical scale) laser-cut from white acrylic sheet. The water is shown as blue acrylic with LED edge-lighting to add visual interest. The LEDs can be set to varying brightness and colour using a hand held remote control (visible on the front edge of the model in the main pic above).

White styled model showing internal room layout.

We produced two conventional housing models last month but this small model was a bit different, showing the internal room layout of the four standard designs on offer in a large apartment block. The stylised internal modelling is considerably less expensive than realistic colour and detail but still gives a clear indication of room function and spatial organization within the apartment. At 1:50 scale the model base is less than a metre long so doesn’t require too much space in a sales office.

David Cameron views two of our models

A few days after completing these two white styled models we were surprised (and pleased) to discover they had been the focal point for a presentation to David Cameron about the Swansea Lagoons tidal energy project (apparently they couldn’t tell us beforehand for security reasons). The models are both at 1:1000 scale and show two different areas of the lagoon structure. The largest model shows the leisure facilities where the lagoon wall joins the mainland whilst the small model shows where the turbines generate electricity from the twice daily rise and fall of the tide (the Bristol Channel has the second highest tidal range in the world). If you click on the images to enlarge them you’ll see that even at this small scale (1mm represents 1 metre) we can show a high level of detail.

Touchscreen controlled illumination of individual plots.

Unfortunately we weren’t able to get any good photos of this model before delivering it to site because we had to rush the final stages to fit in some last minute amends from the client. The model featured an interactive lighting system which allowed illumination of individual apartments controlled from a tablet mounted on the model edge. The client was very pleased with the finished result and immediately asked us to produce another model for one of their other retirement developments.

New client commissions first sales model.

After a run of industrial models we were happy to return to our roots with an architectural sales model for a nationwide house builder. This project was for their upmarket division who hadn’t traditionally used sales models in their marketing suites but wanted to “give it a try” for this compact development of detached executive homes in the north of England. Time will tell but hopefully they’ll discover, like our regular housing clients, what an effective sales tool these models can be and will come back to us for further models in the not too distant future.

Fourth model this year for national developer.

One of the UK’s largest housing developers has come back to us again for a 4th sales model this year. They’ve been coming to us for many years for their sales models because of the consistent high quality and value we deliver every time. This model was particularly challenging because of the steep topography of the site which meant that virtually every plot was on a different level. As a sales tool it was important that we accurately modelled every step, retaining wall and embankment across the site so that purchasers could easily understand the levels and contours around whichever house they were looking to buy.

Sales models for two housing developers.

Earlier this month we delivered two housing models to different developers on the same day. We’d actually finished both models a few weeks earlier but neither client had their marketing suite set up so they asked us to store the models until they were ready on site. Both marketing suites were completed in early August and, whilst we deliver projects all over the UK, on this occasion the sites were less than 40 miles apart so it made sense to deliver them on the same day. We produce at least a dozen of these residential sales models every year alongside industrial and display models of all types for a variety of different marketing requirements.

1:250 scale sales model updated.

We recently added a new phase of houses to this very large sales model. The overall site model was originally completed in August 2020 but only the south part of the site had detailed houses because the north phase was still at design stage. To minimise the time the model was away from the sales office we made all the buildings in advance in our workshop before collecting the model to update the landform. This is something we’ve done quite often when a client is marketing a development in phased stages. Unfortunately because the model had to be returned to site as soon as possible we only got time to photograph it in our workshop, so the photos aren’t the best.