If you are worried that the images of a planned proposal are misleading, or incorrect, I can determine their accuracy for you. In some cases I have found views that should have been included in a planning application but weren’t and others that played down the scale of a development.

If your site is in London, and you are unsure if it sits within one of the strategic views of St Pauls or Westminster, the simplest solution is to click on the links to the free Google Maps resource we created:

London View Management Framework Protected Views of St Pauls

London View Management Framework Protected Views of Westminster and The Tower of London

If you need to test for other landmarks, or have concerns about other important views, we can easily set them up for you. Although the Google Maps versions are 2D, we create the view cones in 3D, so if you need a quick idea of the height of the view cone over your site give us a call. We can often tell you straight away.

Even if your site does sit within a strategic view, we can still determine which parts are the most effected. By projecting the skyline of an important view from the viewpoint over the site we can give you 3D geometry within which you can design. As long as you stay within the build envelope your proposal will not be visible in a view. Or if you want to break the skyline deliberately you will have a good idea exactly where and by how much.

Note a build envelope can be designed from one view, as illustrated, or a combination of views. This allows you to work with respect to many viewpoints at once and greatly reduces your need to continually check the visibility of a proposal in contextual 3D site models or verified photomontages.

Also note that though this illustration shows the GMJ London Citymodel, you do not need a contextual 3D model to perform the exercise. In fact it's better to create a build envelope from good quality photographs from each of your viewpoints

Using a 3D model of your site's context, we can create a map illustrating where your proposal will be visible. In the case above, this is the visibility of the dome of St Pauls Cathedral across central london. Before commissioning any verified views of a tall building it is always worth producing a diagram like this to help determine where your proposal will make an impact. Or if you are contesting a planning application, and feel the right views have not been undertaken, this will highlight if or where some viewpoints are missing.

A Zones of Visibility diagram is also useful if you want to test the effect of different heights or shapes of a scheme. One diagram can be colour-coded to allow comparison between proposals, or we can even provide you with numerical areas or percentage differences.

Note that as these studies are based on 3D digital models, trees and foliage aren't factored in. This gives a worst-case scenario where trees never obscure a view, or as if they've been removed