Oxford

Oxford

VU.CITY Oxford allows proposals to be seen clearly at last. Using a 3D digital model of Oxford to show proposals in context can save time and money for anyone involved in design, planning and development, despite all the challenges presented by such an historical city.

#N/Asq km
MODELLED TO 15CM ACCURACY
263,147
TREES, ACCURATE TO HEIGHT & CANOPY
55,628
Buildings
sq km
MODELLED TO 15CM ACCURACY
TREES, ACCURATE TO HEIGHT & CANOPY
Buildings

Oxford is known as the city of dreaming spires and protecting these is of key importance.

With 18 conservation areas and over 1,200 listed buildings, Oxford is famed for its historic buildings and skyline, so any interplay with the skyline must make a positive contribution: the city therefore has a series of strategically important view cones which are protected views from ten different aspects and are key to planning policy. VU.CITY Oxford allows for many of these long range views to be fully analysed, and the impact of a scheme on the skyline to be understood. Features, such as the AOD tool, allows for height sensitivities in the centre of the city to be considered easily. 

Oxford’s notable past is set to be matched by an interesting future as it anticipates significant economic and population growth: the OxCams Arc is a significant area between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge and a government ambition for securing sustainable growth and prosperity for all. 

Oxford’s situational constraints raise questions about the need for increased density in areas with potential for development. While daylight, sunlight and privacy will be among the many important considerations, VU.CITY Oxford makes examining such constraints, in both the present and the future, easy and straightforward to ensure that Oxford’s famed picture-postcard views remain here to stay.

Users of VU.CITY Oxford include Cityscape Digital, Oxford City Council, Oberlanders and Hawkins\Brown who are using the model’s many benefits, from being able to understand and assess a site’s opportunities and challenges, testing designs in context, enhancing pre-app conversations and planning submissions, to improving how everyone involved collaborates.

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VU.CITY Oxford: Highlights

Create, edit and assess massing

Easily test massing to understand design feasibility.

Assess multiple initial massing options at an early stage and GEA potential quickly with VU.CITY Oxford.
Test Massing

Assess multiple initial massing options at an early stage and GEA potential quickly.

VU.CITY Consented Schemes Timeline. View all major consented schemes across Oxford.
Consented Schemes Timeline

Realise a site’s potential by viewing and assessing recently consented developments across Oxford.

Easily import your designs from external 3D software (such as Revit, Rhino, SketchUp & 3ds Max) into the Oxford model and test how they will work in situ.
Import Designs

Easily import your designs from external 3D software (such as Revit, Rhino, SketchUp & 3ds Max) into the Oxford model and test how they will work in situ.

Quickly view and assess the initial impact of light from your proposed developments in VU.CITY’s model of Oxford.
Sunlight Analysis

Quickly view and assess the initial impact of light from your proposed developments.

Conduct high-level townscape and visual impact assessments with an accurate 3D model of Oxford.
Camera Studies and Presenter Tool

Conduct high-level townscape and visual impact assessments. Agree on key views to analyse further. Select key views and confidentially present your proposals to take stakeholder on the journey of design.

Use an accurate 3D model of Oxford to assess where your scheme can be seen from with Zone of Theoretical Visibility.
Zone of Theoretical Visibility

Save time by eliminating unnecessary views for analysis. Understand where your scheme can be seen from and which views are critical to assess.

Oxford_Hub
Scope, Design & Collaborate

VU.CITY's project collaboration space, the Hub, allows you to seamlessly communicate with stakeholders, to make better design & planning decisions, faster.

Work more collaboratively on designs with VU.CITY's 3D model of Oxford
Annotate with Tags

Mark up comments and actions and easily collaborate on a site or scheme with project team members.

   Data Layers

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Consented Schemes Timeline

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Listed Buildings

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Trees

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Land Registry Query

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Energy Performance Certificates

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Scheduled Monuments

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Allocated Sites

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Annual Average Household Income 2021

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Areas of Change

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Oxford City Boundary

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City Centre Primary Shopping Frontage

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Conservation Areas

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View Cones

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City Centre Archeological Areas

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Deprivation Index 2021

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Employment Sites

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Floodzones

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Green and Blue Infrastructure

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Natural England

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Oxford City Wildlife Sites

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SAC's

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Green Belt

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Allotments

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Open Air Sports

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Historic Core Area

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Local Cycle Connection Routes

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Population Density 2021

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City and District Centres

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Primary Shopping Area

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WestGate Shopping Frontage

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Covered Market Shopping Frontage

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District Centre Shopping Frontage

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Local Centre Shopping Frontage

Oxford Coverage

Can't see your area? Get in touch.  
VU.CITY is constantly expanding in coverage.

SUBMITTING A SCHEME FOR ANALYSIS

How can using VU.CITY benefit my application?

Create smart cities the smart way

VU.CITY helps organise, visualise, and analyse city data in the clearest and most accessible way to make better decisions.

VU.CITY covers the whole of London and 25 major UK and international cities.

Quickly identify and appraise sites.  VU.CITY's visualization, design functionality and planning data, allow you to optimise your designs.

Transform design and planning

Now everyone involved can have a clear, universal understanding of what’s proposed and why, in a single, secure place. VU.CITY makes decision-making democratic and fair.

Build trust and collaboration

Remove barriers and minimise risks early. Have confidence in your designs and plans. Increase buy-in for project success.

Improve
outcomes
Test out ideas in situ, from one building to a masterplan. Create your vision and submissions with confidence.
Collate site information in one place
Communicate complex spatial arrangements
Make documentation stand up and stand out
Speed up planning conversations
Strengthen relationships
Create winning submissions
Discover where there is potential for change, and help everyone easily understand what’s involved and why.
Collate site information in one place
Communicate complex spatial arrangements
Speed up the planning process
Speed up planning conversations
Strengthen relationships
Create winning submissions
Reduce guesswork and unwanted costs – make the right decisions for the right outcomes, faster.
Appraise site capacity and viability, faster
Save time and costs through collaboration
Reduce planning uncertainties; increase buy-in
Speed up the planning process with better informed decisions
Sell or lease earlier to realise profits sooner
Understand designs and plans with ease, and make decisions with clarity to benefit your city and your communities.
Make the best possible decisions, quicker
Collate site, scheme and planning information in one place
Standardise decision-making
Have informed and transparent conversations
Improve how you consult on policies and plans
Understand the cumulative effects of planning changes

In your words

“We’re bringing in architects and our clients and different consultants in one room and we’re viewing the drawing, the architecture and the massing through VU.CITY.”
Charlotte Orrell
Senior Planner at Iceni Projects
"The digitisation of planning as outlined in the Whitepaper presents an exciting step in speeding up the planning process and improving engagement with communities. We are already working with VU.CITY and some of our local authority partners to be a leader in digital consultation in line with the ambitions outlined in the new government Whitepaper."
VU.CITY logo
David Bloy
Planning Director - British Land
"VU.CITY gives us the full visual story in a matter of seconds."
VU.CITY logo
Paul Finch
Editor - Architects Journal

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VU.CITY is all yours to try out. Let your imagination run free in designing, planning and seeing an entire city develop right before your eyes. 

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See for yourself why leading architects, developers and planners across the UK and Ireland trust VU.CITY to help them understand projects in context and bring everyone, everywhere together.

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