Along with BIM and many other areas of the digital world, Virtual Reality (VR) has developed rapidly over the years.

With improved quality and affordability, it is now realistic for practices of any size to utilize VR in their day-to-day interactions with clients and project partners.

In early 2017, Gensler, one of the world’s largest design and architecture firms, adopted VR throughout the design process. Their design director, Hao Ko, commented on the advantages of being able to walk through a design.

"More often than not, I’ll go to my projects, and I am like, ‘Wow! That’s a lot bigger than I expected."

The Chartered Institute of Building’s BIM+ portal suggested that VR could be the crucial driver for the wider adoption of BIM levels 2 and beyond.

Despite government insistence on BIM’s use on public projects in the United Kingdom, there is evidence that some clients do not require it, and contractors and specialist engineers do not offer it during the tendering process.

Hao’s assertion above that VR helps clients get a “feel” for a building in a way that 2D or even 3D drawings on a screen will never do is only part of its benefit.

The ability to check for constructability issues at the whole building level and when examining small project sections can result in cost and time savings on site.

For instance, you are walking virtually through the service ducts of a building to iron out routing problems and placement of air conditioning in hotel rooms for maximum effectiveness and minimum intrusion.

Placing a building in its environment and being able to visualize it in context has always been a problem when talking to clients and planners.

With up to thirty percent of self-build projects denied planning permission on the grounds of incompatibility with the locality, the use of VR enables stakeholders to understand the architect’s vision and appreciate the effect of the new structure on its surroundings.

Steve Martin Technical Director of the Electrical Contractors Association advocates for the use of VR by specialist engineers

“The price of VR technology has dropped significantly recently. If the benefits become more widely known, we might see the technology become more accessible and affordable to companies throughout the construction supply chain.”

Driving Vision’s long experience in the world of VR is being brought to BIM. Working with clients of all sizes and disciplines demonstrates that VR is a viable, valuable tool that brings project partners together to allow the design to be quickly and cost-effectively delivered.

Implementing BIM can be daunting, but Driving Vision is here to help you at the pace you are comfortable with. Get started by getting in touch now