A Planning Inspector determining an appeal at an Inquiry relating to a 49-storey mixed use building in east London reported that “At the site visit, virtual reality goggles allowed me to ‘see’ the proposed building in its future surroundings.”
Permission was granted at appeal for the development at 225 Marsh Wall, London earlier this month.
Tower Hamlets had refused the development as ‘The proposed scale, height and massing would result in a development that fails to present a human scale of development at street level, is too large for the plot size, is overbearing, is unduly prominent in local views and detracts from the low-rise character of the area to the south and the east.’
However, the Inspector disagreed with this statement and concluded ‘This proposal would deliver a high-quality, high density residential development and public realm on Marsh Wall, complementing the tall building cluster in Canary Wharf while respecting the existing surroundings.’
Frank Filskow, the Architect, said ‘This is the first time we have used virtual reality to help the Inspector assess the scheme on site and it made a real difference.’
Technology is advancing every day and it may be that virtual reality could be the future for application and appeal site visits…
30 October 2018