The house outside, the site and the sun
Design the outside too: outer walls round every level, roofs, terraces, stairs and railings, facades, the garden and pools, gates and compound walls. All are priced under Outside and the Site. Walk the client from the gate into the rooms and set the sun to any date and hour. Make lifelike photos in the browser and open the builder's IFC model in 3D.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- A villa client wants the landscape, the facade and the interiors in one proposal, but each is drawn by a different firm.
- The client cannot judge whether the west bedroom gets the evening sun until they move in.
- Facade cladding, the pergola and the pool deck are quoted as lump sums with no drawing.
- Photo-real stills cost credits or an outside renderer for every change.
How it works
- On the building (Interior Design > 3D Design > Buildings and Rooms), open the Outside tab and press Draw the Outside. The outer walls are worked out round the rooms of each level, with their doors and windows cut through.
- Set the wall thickness and colour, and the roof (flat with a parapet, hip, gable, one way, or none) with its covering, slope and eaves. Set the site: plot outline, way in, latitude, longitude, time zone, north and neighbours.
- In the designer, add Stairs and Railings, Facade, Garden and Site things from the rail. Each finds a sensible place, and you change it in the panel or pick another variant from Essential to Luxury.
- Use the views: Site from above, Level with Roof lifted, and Cut at 1.2 m. From the gate walks up the path and the stairs. Sun sets a date and lets you drag the time of day.
- Press Photo for a picture traced in the browser, and Save it with the design's snapshots. The design's outside things go into its estimate under Outside and the Site; the drawing set gains the site plan, roof plan and elevations.
Everything it does
The building
- Outer walls round the rooms of every level; rooms closer than 1.6 m are one house
- Outer walls 230 mm, slabs 150 mm, parapets 1 m, eaves 600 mm, slopes 25 degrees to start with
- Roofs: flat with a parapet, hip, gable or one way, in concrete, clay Mangalore tiles, metal sheet or shingles
- Columns, balcony slabs, beams and the building's own outer doors and windows
- Site: plot outline, way in, latitude, longitude, time zone, north, neighbours as blocks with their height
What you add outside
- Stairs: straight, L, U, spiral, floating, lift shafts; the floor opening above is made with the stair; climbed when walking
- Railings along a balcony, a terrace or round a stair opening
- Facade: paint, cladding, louvres, fins, jaali, glazing, canopies, planters, lights in five styles that glow at night
- Garden: pools, water features, decks, pergolas, gazebos, lawns, beds, trees, palms, planters, paving, driveways, paths, stepping stones, lights, furniture
- Site: carports, compound walls cut at the gates, gates, a security cabin, grills, solar panels and tanks on the roof
- Brand and Model No. on every outside type
Views
- Site, Level (the dollhouse), Roof, Cut, From the gate, Sun by date and time at the site's latitude and longitude
- At night the windows glow and the garden, gate and facade lights are on
- On the client's 3D page: The house, The site, From the gate and Sun, when the building draws its outside
Photos traced in the browser
- Photo in the designer, the building's 3D view and the client's page; no AI and no credits
- Starts at 256 samples and 6 light bounces on Best; drag samples to stop sooner or later
- Clients may make photos on their page (up to 40 a design, marked as the client's) unless Settings > 3D Photos says no
- Needs a good graphics card for a clean picture in seconds; on a phone it is the view drawn once at twice the size
The builder's IFC model
- An IFC file from Revit, ArchiCAD, Tekla or BlenderBIM on the building (Outside tab > IFC Model), placed by its origin and turn
- Shown in 3D with its storeys and IFC types to show or hide; tap an element for its name, type, storey and properties
- Read with web-ifc (MPL-2.0); checked with one sample file so far; very large files are slow in the browser
Drawings and money
- Site, Roof and Elevations in the drawing set: A-001 site plan, A-002 roof plan, an elevation of each side
- The design's own outside things priced into its estimate under Outside and the Site
- The building's own outside things (placed by a builder in the building's 3D View) show in every design, marked with a building icon. They are not in the design's estimate
Not built
- Sloping ground: the site is flat
- Dragging stairs and garden things in 3D: they are placed by numbers or by tapping the ground or a wall
Who uses it
DesignerDraws the outside, adds the facade, garden and site, and walks the client in from the gate.
Builder or architectPlaces the building's own outside in its 3D View, or hands over an IFC model.
ClientSees the house and the site on the 3D page, checks the sun by date and hour, and makes photos.
Interiors AdministratorKeeps the stairs, railings, facades, garden and site structure catalogues and their rates.
Where you use it
- Web: Interior Design > 3D Design > Buildings and Rooms > the building > Outside tab and 3D View
- Web: the 3D designer, Outdoor and Build on the rail; Site, Level, Roof, Cut, From the gate, Sun
- Configuration: Interior Design > Configuration > Structure and Outdoor (Stairs and Lifts, Railings, Site Structures, Garden and Pools); Furniture and Furnishing > Facades
- Settings > 3D Photos
- The client's 3D page: The house, The site, From the gate, Sun, Photo
- Not in the phone apps
What you control
Settings
- Per building: wall thickness and colour, roof type, covering, slope, eaves, parapet height
- Per site: plot, way in, latitude, longitude, time zone, north, neighbours
- Settings > 3D Photos: samples (256), light bounces (6), Clients Make Photos
- Catalogue rates (sample rupee rates to start with)
Works with
SmartMy ConstructionThe same building, outside and site: a builder that also runs Interiors walks the client from the gate into the finished rooms.
Questions
Is the sun position real?
Yes. The sun stands where it does at the site's latitude and longitude on the date and hour you pick, turned by the site's north. A site without a latitude takes 20 degrees.Do photos use AI credits?
No. Photo traces the light in your browser. The AI renders are a separate feature and do use credits.Can an interior studio use this without the outside?
Yes. The outside appears only when the building draws it. Without it, the designer shows the rooms of the design.How fast is it?
On our test machine without a graphics card, opening a furnished house took 7 to 9 seconds. It has not been measured on a real tablet or phone yet; we check it on your devices before go-live.Related features
DESIGN STUDIOSketchUp, IFC and DXF export and importSend the building and its design to SketchUp and other tools as COLLADA, glTF, IFC or DXF plans. Models made in SketchUp come back into the 3D view as reference models. SketchUp's own .skp files are not read or written: save them as COLLADA or IFC in SketchUp first.DESIGN STUDIO360 views and the client's galleryMake 360° views of the rooms in the browser and send each one on WhatsApp with a link that needs no login. Record a filmed tour with captions and a small plan, and show day and night side by side. The client's gallery keeps it all.DESIGN STUDIODrawings made from the modelFurnished plans, elevations of every wall, tile layouts, ceiling sections, ceiling and electrical plans come straight from the 3D design. They form a numbered drawing set with a cover, an index and a title block. Each issue is a revision in the drawing register for the client to sign off.AIPhoto-real renders and rooms from a photoTurn a 3D snapshot into two photo-real pictures, and show a client three ideas for their room from a photo. Build a room in 3D from a picture. AI also drafts the brief from your call notes and reads sizes and finishes when you clip a vendor page.DESIGN3D designer with a price on every boxDraw the rooms wall by wall and put your own kitchen and wardrobe boxes on the walls. Each box shows in 3D with its materials, its price and anything wrong with it. The client turns the design on their phone, tries other material sets with their prices, and approves.
See your next quote on it.
Tell us what you design and build, how many enquiries and jobs you have in a month and how you quote today. We will set up your packages and rates with you and send your first instant quote.