Q U I C K , C O S T E F F E C T I V E R O O F R E P O R T S

With rising housing prices in the Greater London area,

property owners are finding it more cost-effective to

remodel their homes than search for new dwellings.

Paul Chrysaphiades, owner of Domus Architects & Project

Managers, helps homeowners, landlords, and developers

realise their vision. These property owners commission

Domus APM for home extensions, loft conversions,

and basement additions as well as complete home

refurbishments and new constructions.

“We design to help people enhance their lifestyle choices,”

Chrysaphiades explains. “They like their neighbours, they

like the schools, and they like the locality, but the house

isn’t quite right for them.”

GATHERING THE RIGHT DATAThe owners choose to stay where they are, but challenges

lie ahead for Chrysaphiades and his team.

Each job is unique, so Domus APM need all the details

before they can begin. Clients want the firm to take their

own surveys, but Chrysaphiades says they don’t need to

take a full topographic survey “to show warts and all.”

Surveys must be as accurate as possible, but they also need

to be completed in a cost-efficient manner. Additionally,

the firm doesn’t have access to the heavy-duty,

laser-scanning equipment that a surveyor might use.

To acquire more data faster, Chrysaphiades and his

employees needed to explore where technology could fill

in the gap.

LEVERAGING EAGLEVIEW REPORTSFor a recent loft conversion on a large property,

the homeowner had already ordered an EagleView

PremiumReport™ to see the measurements for himself. He

told Chrysaphiades about EagleView, and Domus APM

have been turning to EagleView for projects involving roof

measurements ever since.

Lofts, in particular, can be tricky to survey, Chrysaphiades

says. A loft conversion on a typical terraced home can add

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EAGLEVIEW REPORTS GIVE LONDON ARCHITECTURAL FIRM THE RIGHT DATA FOR LOFT CONVERSIONS

up to 40 cubic metres in volume to the property. Yet prior

to renovation, clients often use these spaces for storage,

which makes the collection of internal measurements

difficult for Domus APM.

Other times, the lofts are simply inaccessible if they are in

poor condition. This presents significant health and safety

hazards for Chrysaphiades and his team.

“We take certain dimensions internally, but the ideal

situation, and that’s what EagleView provide, is the external

dimensions, which give us accurate information on the roof

pitch, the size of the hips and the ridge beams, and the

things we can never really properly assess,” Chrysaphiades

says. “It’s been an absolute godsend for us to have that

kind of data available because it helps substantiate and

verify what we’re doing during our survey.”

DESIGNING WITH CONFIDENCEThe staff at Domus APM import the DXF files that

come with an EagleView PremiumReport into their design

software. This saves the business from hiring a quantity

surveyor or obtaining heavy-duty equipment to measure

joists for loft conversions and other projects involving

the roof.

“If we haven’t got something quite right externally, then

that can have a real bearing on any [permit] applications

we submit,” Chrysaphiades explains. “Loft space is at a

premium. The EagleView report allows us to get the best

efficiency for the design of that loft space.”

Using the DXF file included with the EagleView

PremiumReport, Domus APM can build an accurate

three-dimensional model of the roofscape to calculate the

volume of the space, maximising the volume and potential

of that roof. With highly detailed models, he and his team

can be more accurate for permitted development.

For projects like loft conversions, Domus APM can import

the DXF file into programs like AutoCAD and SketchUp to

create a scaled drawing. From there, they can work out the

current and proposed volumes for the roof in a shorter time

than it would take to measure by hand. If they plan to add

dormers to a roof, for instance, they can easily send the

drawings to the subcontractors on the project.

INVESTING IN ACCURACYDomus APM have seen increased efficiency on every job for

which they have ordered an EagleView report.

“Using EagleView reports has made us more efficient, and

it’s given us greater confidence on the design of that roof,”

Chrysaphiades says. “It’s given us more certainty on roof

volumes and has helped us to ensure we get a good level

of accuracy.”

Chrysaphiades and team let the property owners know that

they have invested in the project with EagleView reports

to ensure the most accurate measurements possible. This

thorough approach to each home renovation supports

Domus APM’s mission.

“We’re not out there to win a million and one awards, and

we’re not out there to design for fellow designers and get

our name in lights,” Chrysaphiades says. “We’re out there

to design homes for people to live in.”

Copyright © 2008-2018 EagleView Technologies, Inc. - All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2018 Pictometry is a registered trademark of Pictometry International Corp. UK-004 | 06/18

0.7500.919.578 | www.eagleview.co.uk