Imagine being able to walk around your new house or office long before it is actually built! Using the latest graphics technology, Paul Doherty, age 29, and his team at Urban Art make this possible, creating lifelike 3D simulations and animations from architects designs for use by, town planners, estate agents, property developers and people building their own home. His constant focus on the latest technology has led to the companies rapid growth and ever expanding client list.

Urban Art provide 3D Architectural still illustrations, Artist impressions and marketing design services, however animation is at the forefront of the business... our DVD animations usually come presented and contained within a professional marketing brochure and can be played back on home DVD players or personal computers. The viewer or potential home buyer can experience walking through the interior and around the exterior of the property they are interested in long before any building work actually begins. Our animations also come with voiceover, music and motion text which adds to the experience and makes the tool much more memorable in terms of marketing.

Urban Art, a Derry-based company, is also being assisted by Invest Northern Ireland to win business for its highly innovative technology for the property and construction sectors particularly in markets outside Northern Ireland.

The company, formed by Paul Doherty, an experienced architectural technologist, in November 2006, is investing almost £230,000 in marketing 3D visual software delivered through a variety of channels including the internet for use by construction/property businesses. The company’s innovative technology draws together architecture, technology, property marketing, design innovation and animation to offer customers a unique service.

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Backing for the company, which is based at North West Business Park in Skeoge, was announced by Des Gartland, Invest NI’s North West Regional Office Manager.

Mr Gartland said: "This is a very entrepreneurial business with pioneering new technology with extensive export potential. Our objective is to assist the company in adding further value to its products through increasing the services they offer customers. Urban Art has pinpointed a developing niche within its target markets for strongly visual products that can be accessed and manipulated easily by customers. It has already developed an impressive portfolio of clients across a broad range of business sectors and clearly has significant growth potential.

"Our support has been tailored to enable this small but highly progressive technology-led company to develop its expertise in key activities such as marketing. We are backing the drive, determination and skills of the business owner with practical support and finance that will also make it easier for him to develop his technology, build a capable team and thereby to establish the business as a market leader.

"The company has set challenging growth objectives and aims to create several new jobs over the next two years.

Mr Doherty, commenting on the business, said: "A key objective for the company is to grow sales by around 300 per cent, mostly through export sales to the Republic of Ireland, which I expect to contribute 80 per cent of turnover, over the next two years. Substantial investment is being made to develop the export marketing capability required to realise this goal. In addition, I plan further investment in the software technology, particularly in innovative 3D animation, to ensure our competitive edge in our target markets. Accelerating sales will require a strong brand image that will set us apart in our markets and an effective distribution channel. The demand for these kind of services will continue to grow, because the days of the 2D line-drawing are coming to an end. In five year's time, anyone thinking of designing a building or developing property will be expected to produce a 3D animation presentation and 3D visual impact assessment as an essential part of their planning submission documents."

To learn more about Urban Art, please contact Paul at 02871 359044, or email [email protected]