VUCITY is a joint venture between Wagstaffs, GIA and 3D modellers Vertex Modelling. The model visualises more than 200sq/km of London in 3D, more than double the size from when it debuted at MIPIM UK last year. It is expanding at a rate of five to eight square kilometres a month.
VUCITY gives anyone involved in the built environment of London a new view of the city and a revolutionary tool that can transform the planning and communications process around proposed development and infrastructure projects. It is accurate to within 15cm.
Visitors to MIPIM UK will be able to see VUCITY in action and race around a virtual reality model of central London, while strapped into a bucket seat.
Using cutting edge VR headset Oculus Rift, they will journey from London Bridge, along Liverpool Street, past St Paul’s Cathedral, Blackfriars and the Shard, finally finishing back at the start at London Bridge. There will even be a leader board with a prize for the fastest lap.
Live demonstrations of VUCITY will be available on a 55-inch touch table, which will also be displayed on a giant wall of screens measuring 5m by 2.5m.
Future-proofing the city
VUCITY offers London’s planners, architects and councils, a new level of future proofing in property and land development.
Within the city model, it is possible to overlay GIS data, sightlines, LVMFs, transport and sunlight paths, to help developers understand plans in context. Other data overlays also include demographics, traffic and pedestrian modelling. The model is updated every six months.
Users can switch proposed, existing and consented buildings on and off, zooming from a macro overview of the city, right down to the micro detail of one building.
Verifying views
VUCITY can be used during the scoping stage to determine which verified views to assess. All LVMF viewing corridors and points are pre-plotted, allowing users to interactively establish if a scheme is visible from a certain point. VUCITY offers a more informed scoping process with a local authority, reduces the time and costs for scoping and the production of AVRs.
Jason Hawthorne, MD, Wagstaffs said: “VUCITY has already secured buy-in from a number of London Boroughs and developers, as well as interest from other cities and abroad. It offers planners and property developers access to a detailed and extensive view of London which allows users to see proposed developments in context and integrate data at the click of a button. We are genuinely excited about the solutions VUCITY will help to provide and the new level of future-proofing it offers for the built environment.”
As a macro Borough or London wide tool, it can integrate demographic data to plan for infrastructure and amenity provision, such as schools, homes and hospitals, or planned infrastructure such as Crossrail 1 and 2, allowing us to see what investment is required where and when.
To date VUCITY has secured buy-in from the London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Kingston and Southwark. It is also in use by developers Capco and Sellar, as well as chartered surveyors Knight Frank.
