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Bringing Our Community Together: VU.CITY Insider Showcase Recap

 

Last week, we gathered around 60 members of our community at the stunning Eric Parry Architects studio in London for something special: An exclusive first look at what's coming next for VU.CITY. A huge thank you to the Eric Parry team for hosting us in their incredible Discovery House space and making the whole afternoon possible.

vu-city-eric-parry-01602

 

Face-to-face with our community

There's something irreplaceable about getting everyone in a room together. After months of virtual meetings and email chains, seeing the genuine excitement and curiosity on people's faces as they explored what we've been building reminded us why we do this work. It gave us the opportunity to celebrate the journey we’ve been on together and a chance to say thank you to the beta testers, customers, and partners who've helped shape where we're heading.

 

 

What we shared

Our CEO Jamie Holmes kicked things off by setting the scene: the built environment is more complex than ever, and we're building tools that help teams move together without losing creativity. Then our CTO Ossian Whiley took everyone through what's new.

Here's what got people talking:
  • A Complete Rebuild
    Eight years in the making, we've rebuilt VU.CITY from the ground up, keeping everything you know and love, but with solid new foundations to support what's coming next.

  • Powered by Unreal Engine
    We're now leveraging the same AAA gaming technology that brings blockbuster games to life, which means better visualisation, more realistic lighting, and the ability to support more complex geometry and models.

  • Smarter Data Workflows
    Import geoJSON (with more formats coming soon), see your data render almost instantly, and filter it in real-time. We've made it simple enough for anyone, no GIS specialist required.
  • Flexible Organisation
    The new Hub works like the best-in-class and familiar file management and sharing platforms. Organise your projects your way, with granular permissions that actually make sense for how teams collaborate.

  • Scenes & Viewpoints
    Switch between options, toggle data layers, and manage viewpoints more efficiently. A solar study that used to need 25 cameras now needs just 5.
  • Expanded Drawing Tools
    Create simple data layers in-app, annotate in 3D or build out your canvas with intuitive tools for points, lines, and areas.

 

 

The hands-on bit

After the presentations, attendees got stuck into demo stations where they could explore the platform, ask questions, and give feedback. Lots of "how do I do this?" and "could it work for...?" conversations with our team.

 

We wrapped the evening with drinks, nibbles, and the kind of conversations that only happen when you get the right people together in person.

 

 

A word from our CEO

VU.CITY Beta Insider Event at the Eric Parry Architecture offices in London

"Last week reminded me exactly why we do what we do. Seeing the room light up during Ossian's presentation, watching people lean in at the demo stations with genuine curiosity, and then hearing the calibre of questions and feedback during drinks, that's what makes all the hard work worthwhile. The built environment is facing challenges we've never seen before, and events like this show me we're building something that can genuinely help. The energy in that room, the conversations happening between attendees who'd never met before, the ideas people were throwing around, that's the community we're building with, not just for. I left feeling genuinely excited, and I can't wait to get the new platform into people's hands."

Jamie Holmes, CEO

 

What's next?

The new VU.CITY platform is launching in Spring 2026, and we'll be sharing more between now and then.

Hearing what resonates with you, what workflows matter most, and where you'd like us to focus next is invaluable as we head into the home stretch. If you'd like to be part of beta testing or have questions about what's coming, get in touch with our team.

And if you want to stay in the loop with all the latest VU.CITY news, make sure you're following us on LinkedIn.

 

This was the first of more gatherings to come, we're already thinking about the next one. Thanks again to everyone who joined us, and to the Eric Parry team for making it all possible. Here's to what comes next.

 

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VU.CITY showing team comments on a collaborative 3D city model