William Gray Associates

Technology in the office
As an architect, modern technology has become a way of life…. I am often amazed by the ability of technology to assist with building design.
We spend hundreds of pounds on keeping our software and hardware up to date allowing us to work as a team on our projects within the office. Each year seems to bring along a further advance to help us work more efficiently and allow our clients to see their proposals in ever greater detail before work has even st...arted on site.
Since all our projects are modelled in three dimensions from the start, we have a very good idea of the overall structure of the building as the design progresses. Low beams or areas where headroom is tight can be quickly spotted.
We can add textures and materials to the model allowing for a rendering that shows clients how the finished spaces will look. We can geo-locate our projects and produce sun studies to show how an extension may affect other parts of the building or neighbouring properties at any time of the year with a push of a few buttons. Carefully considered decisions can be made at minimal expense to our clients as these steps are made as part of our design process using the software’s inbuilt technology. The views are often not seen by the clients as they are rough and ready 3D sketches but they form part of our design process.
The technology allows for overrides to make walls seemingly transparent so that structural arrangements can be modelled or furniture visualised.
Our modelling software will output the two dimensional plans to a tablet using a smart app (BIMx). These can be easily downloaded by a client or builder and, again with a touch of a button, be transformed into a three dimensional model. Specification information is linked to all the new elements within the building which can be accessed (and printed out) by a touch of a screen. Links to product websites can be easily added. Updating is quick and easy avoiding potential issues with outdated drawings.
We can also output the BIMx model to allow virtual reality walkthroughs. From the outside this can look pretty odd, but within the headset, the building comes to life in a manner that traditional drawings never could!
Linking through to other consultants is rapidly becoming more straightforward. Both client and professional can mark up drawings so that changes can be rapidly made and transmitted to all parties without having to worry about which make of technology they’re using.
It’s been quite a transformation from the traditional pencils or pen and ink on paper, through 2D black and white CAD drawings to an almost realistic three dimensional technicolour reality over the past few years.
Technology is amazing!
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Feel free to give us a call if you're looking for building ideas or need an architect!

We've just updated our website!!
Please take a look at www.williamgrayassociates
Google has stored our old pages (which have a black background). The new site has a white background throughout so it may be a case of try again!
... We've tried to cover the kinds of projects we work on. There's plenty of links to useful sites providing information on building, planning and technical help. We've run through the process of using an architect and outlined what an architect can do to help you with your building projects.
We've also added plenty of photos showing examples of our work.
Hopefully you'll find something of interest and if so, please give us a thumbs-up
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Remember the pitfalls of buying property in old coal mining areas. You may well need a Coal Mining Risk Assessment for planning approval. This is to ensure that there is no risk of settlement to a new house or extension or any possibility of gas leakage from underground workings. These can potentially add several hundred pounds to your project costs if a licence from the Coal Authority and exploratory boreholes are required. We can assist with planning issues such as this and offer advice if you are thinking of extending an existing building.