
Sheffield
VU.CITY Sheffield is a stunning 3D model that’s accurate to within 15cm. Explore potential massing, import and test refined designs, highlight pain points and realise opportunities.
Now all stakeholders can collaborate on solutions for smarter decisions and project success.
Sheffield is thriving and developing into a modern, 21st century city for people to live in and businesses to thrive in. Sheffield City Council is forward-thinking and has already played a key role in flagship projects which have changed the city’s image over the last decade, including Heart of the City, The Moor and Castlegate, as well as major infrastructures such as Lower Don Valley Flood Defence Scheme, with significant investment coming from Sheffield’s universities and global industry leaders such as Boeing and McLaren.
Investment is now at an all-time high and major regeneration programmes are set to take place across the city. The £1.5bn transformation of Sheffield coupled with the arrival of HS2 and focus on the Northern Powerhouse will see these trends continue, so understanding the potential for any new scheme and de-risking it will be vital. VU.CITY’s digital planning and design platform helps predict and examine the impact of change in cities and on the environment. The more that everyone involved can collaborate, the lower the risks.
As the major city at the heart of a wider city region, Sheffield needs to increasingly assert its role as one of the main drivers of economic growth in the north of England. A new Sheffield Local Plan will guide the future of the city by setting out how and where development will take place up to 2038, with the intention to build around 40,000 new homes over the next 20 years to cater for the growing population there. The Sheffield Plan will cover the whole of Sheffield City Council area, except for the area within the Peak District National Park, respecting Sheffield’s natural environment and the city’s identity and heritage. With VU.CITY enabling proposals to be seen clearly and readily understood at last, increasing the likelihood of a project and agreement all the way from public consultation to planning committee is all the more straightforward.
Users of VU.CITY Sheffield are benefiting from the model from being able to understand and assess a site’s opportunities and challenges, testing refined designs in context, enhancing pre-app conversations and planning submissions, to improving how everyone involved collaborates.
VU.CITY Sheffield: Highlights
Test Massing
Assess multiple initial massing options at an early stage and GEA potential quickly.
Consented Schemes Timeline
Realise a site’s potential by viewing and assessing recently consented developments across Sheffield.
Import Designs
Easily import your designs from external 3D software (such as Revit, Rhino, SketchUp & 3ds Max) into the Sheffield model and test how they will work in situ.
Sunlight Analysis
Quickly view and assess the initial impact of light from your proposed developments.
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.
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.
Annotate with Tags
Mark up comments and actions and easily collaborate on a site or scheme with project team members.
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.

Data Layers


Data Layers


Data Layers


Data Layers


Data Layers


Data Layers


Data Layers

Sheffield Coverage

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

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.
Transform design and planning
Quickly identify and appraise sites. VU.CITY's visualization, design functionality and planning data, allow you to optimise your designs.
Build trust and collaboration
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.
Improve
outcomes
Remove barriers and minimise risks early. Have confidence in your designs and plans. Increase buy-in for project success.
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
