WENDY WHEATLEY: Domus.Cad for Residential use Down Under

Wendy Wheatley is an Australian architect in sole practice whose projects are mainly domestic. She has been using Domus.Cad as her primary design and documentation tool for over two years.

Initially, she used it only to create 3D models on particular projects, especially for clients who struggled to visualise spaces or 3D forms.

When asked about how fast Domus.Cad is to learn and use, Wendy said, “When I realised the speed with which I could set up initial ideas and immediately view them in 3D, I also recognised the advantages to myself in terms of understanding design issues and finding effective solutions more rapidly.”

She went on to say, “I can now setup a 3D model of an existing building within the hour and within ten hours have a couple of options for additions to suit the brief. These can be quickly communicated with a plan and a couple of snapshot views of the 3D model.” The next step was to translate those initial models into documentation that was appropriate for Sketch Design and Council submission and then for construction.

Wendy discovered that “Once I had learnt the initial tools and how they worked, the rest became very intuitive. Within three months, I was up to speed and effectively designing and documenting all with the one program. It is also very customisable. I have created some of my own 2-D symbols for the library, and colours/materials that I use all the time. You can set up the Layers and environment the way that works best for you and save it so that it opens the same way every time.”

She has recently used the 3D model and a photo program (Photoshop Elements) to create a photomontage for a presentation to her local Council. This was a controversial project but the presentation quickly convinced them of the appropriateness of the design. An added bonus was that the clients were impressed at how it effectively gave a ‘real’ preview of how their home would look.

Click plan for a larger image

Wendy has found that Domus.Cad easily translates into many formats to send to clients and consultants, and that it is also easy to open in other programs. Wendy uses the Rent-a-CAD option for Domus.Cad. “This was inexpensive, especially for my small, low-turnover business, and low risk in case it didn’t work out as well as I had hoped. It also meant that I could automatically download updates as soon as they were ready, without any additional cost.”

She added, “The more I use Domus.Cad and the more it is improved with every new release, the greater its effectiveness in my work. I have also received efficient and helpful support for the program both from the Australian distributors and from the creators, Interstudio, in Italy.”

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