Woods Bagot Journal

Inside the room, before it’s real: How immersive design is accelerating collaboration.

Rosina Di Maria on how designers are using SharedVR to fast-track better design conversations.

Imagine experiencing your office before a single wall is built – not through a headset but by walking into a room where the design unfolds and adapts around you. Interior designers are turning immersive technology into a practical tool, not a future promise; a working reality that allows clients to test ideas, understand spatial relationships, and make confident, informed decisions.

The integration of shared virtual reality into the consultation process allows designers to transform how clients engage with their future space – aligning vision and expectation before costly commitments are made. By embedding 2D plans into a spatial, 3D environment, SharedVR turns traditional tools like floorplans, renderings and materials boards into an intuitive, exploratory language for design communication. It’s also fast: accelerating approvals from several weeks to a single day.

This shift isn’t about technology for its own sake. It’s about working smarter – with clearer communication, faster decisions, and better results.

“We turned static plans into a shared design language: intuitive, spatial and fast enough to compress weeks of approvals into a single day.”

From drawings to decisions in a day.

The architecture, engineering and construction industry has long relied on static tools, drawings, renders, and dense reports, to communicate design. But for non-technical stakeholders, these methods often fall short, leading to misunderstandings, slow decision-making, and costly rework. As projects grow more complex and budgets tighten, the need for a more engaging, intuitive process is only increasing.

In response, Woods Bagot partnered with ERA-co and Deloitte’s Infrastructure and Industrials team to explore how immersive technology could bridge the gap between design intent and stakeholder understanding. The collaboration centred on Deloitte’s Igloo SharedVR environment – an interactive, 360-degree projection space that allows groups to experience designs as if physically standing inside them.

The concept was put to the test in a one-day prototyping lab for Deloitte’s new Adelaide workplace. In the SharedVR environment, clients and designers stood side by side, virtually walking through the proposed interior—reviewing scale, layout, and materials in real time.

The results were remarkable. What would have taken weeks of back-and-forth was accomplished in a single day. Design approval was immediate. Delivery timelines accelerated. And project contingency dropped from the standard 5% to under 1.5% – a clear sign of tighter alignment, reduced risk, and greater confidence in the design.

The Woods Bagot and ERA teams facilitating a virtual walkthrough of the Adelaide office for Deloitte stakeholders in their Sydney Igloo Vision facility.

“Real-time visualisation is transforming the way design is understood and decisions are made. Working closely with Woods Bagot, our team – as both technology partner and visualisation artists – shaped the experience to illustrate the full potential of the design. Using Igloo SharedVR, powered by Unreal Engine, we created immersive, photorealistic environments that allowed stakeholders to experience the space as if physically present. This dramatically improved spatial understanding and engagement, enabling more agile and collaborative design reviews. The result: faster, more refined decision-making and a shared clarity that would be near impossible to achieve through static drawings or renders alone.”

Tarran Kundi, Global Director of Productions, ERA-co.

Being in an Igloo is like stepping inside a shared virtual world, where 360° visuals and surround sound fully immerse you in content, creating a powerful, collaborative experience for teams.

“For our key decision-making group to be able to connect in the immersive virtual environment prior to any activities commencing onsite was powerful. When navigating the design, we were able to fine tune design outcomes and provide certainty to how we addressed business requirements. This resulted in smoother delivery, less changes in construction and a better change management outcome.”

Hendri Mentz, Managing Partner, Deloitte, South Australia

SharedVR technology enabled the design team to make better, more informed decisions faster through a visceral and relatable medium that could be understood by all relevant parties.

“Achieving 100% first-time, in-person design approval, the process demonstrated how technology, when thoughtfully integrated by design professionals, enhances rather than replaces the essential human elements of collaboration and creativity.”

Bonnie Hamilton, Woods Bagot Senior Associate and Project Leader.

Better design conversations – forever.

By enabling real-time collaboration in a shared, spatially accurate setting, Deloitte and Woods Bagot demonstrate how Shared VR didn’t just improve communication – but how it can fundamentally reshape how design decisions are made.

This collaborative approach yields measurable benefits beyond better visualisation. The dramatic reduction in project contingency is just the beginning. Rework during construction – often triggered by misaligned expectations – can account for a significant share of project costs. On some workplace projects, it has represented up to 10–15% of the total design fee. But when designers and clients identify and resolve issues together in an immersive environment before construction begins, much of that rework is avoided entirely.

The shared immersive environment created a common design language between designers and clients. With real-time changes and spatial feedback, decisions became faster and more confident. Furniture, finishes, and materials added a tactile layer to the virtual walkthrough, making the experience both visual and physical. This single session replaced weeks of back-and-forth, often eliminating the need for follow-up phases. In this case, timelines were shortened by over six weeks, with approximately $100,000 saved through reduced partner time and fewer delays.

This approach achieved 100% first-time, in-person design approval – a clear sign of stronger alignment, clearer communication, and deeper client engagement. Most valuably, it strengthened the designer–client relationship through greater transparency and collaboration. The process showed how technology, when thoughtfully integrated by design professionals, can enhance – not replace – the human elements of creativity and trust. In today’s competitive environment, that kind of client experience is a powerful differentiator.

Immersive design slashed rework, fast-tracked decisions, and delivered first-time sign-off, cutting costs, saving time, and giving clients the confidence to say yes.

“In complex public projects, designers can use SharedVR to align diverse stakeholders early and turn ambitious ideas into shared understanding.”

Extended application: Shared spaces, shared understanding.

When it comes to public infrastructure, airports, transit hubs, civic buildings, the stakes are higher, the stakeholders broader, and the outcomes more visible. Design decisions in these environments affect not just clients, but entire communities. In these settings, SharedVR becomes more than a tool – it becomes a platform for designers to translate complex ambition into shared understanding.

In complex, multi-agency projects, aligning expectations early is vital – and SharedVR transforms this process. With designers guiding the way, transport authorities, government leaders, and community stakeholders step inside the future space itself, immersing in the subtle choreography of light, scale, and sightlines. They don’t just see plans, they experience the framed views from every window, the shifting play of daylight across surfaces, and the intuitive flow through corridors and plazas. Whether it’s navigating wayfinding in a bustling metro station or feeling the material textures and spatial rhythms of a civic setting, immersive design reviews reveal the unseen nuances that spark deeper insight and speed consensus.

Imagine a new international airport terminal brought to life in SharedVR. Airlines, security experts, retailers, and government officials gather inside the unbuilt space, guided by the designer. Together, they simulate a full day’s passenger flow, test wayfinding, and spot friction points – adjusting layouts and signage on the fly. A customs officer raises visibility issues at border control, a retailer tweaks sightlines to key shops – all unfolding in a live, evolving prototype where design and feedback loop in real time.

The future of design is something we can all step into.

The future of design belongs to those who invite others into it early. By integrating immersive tools like SharedVR from the start, designers aren’t just presenting ideas – they’re building trust, shaping conversations, and co-authoring outcomes. This is design as a live, evolving process: testing ideas in real time, adjusting to insight, and translating ambition into shared understanding.

For clients and collaborators, it means fewer assumptions and clearer decisions. For designers, it’s a more responsive, more confident way to work – where the value lies not just in the outcome, but in how we get there.

This is the shift: from drawings to dialogue, from visualising to experiencing, from designing for people to designing with them.

Deloitte Adelaide boardroom in the Igloo and completed.

Rosina Di Maria, MDIA, Principal and Adelaide Studio Chair. 

Woods Bagot Principal and Adelaide studio Chair Rosina Di Maria is an industry leader in design. With extensive global experience, having lived and worked across Europe, Asia and Australia, Rosina returned to Adelaide after leading the Interiors portfolio in the Woods Bagot London studio.

Rosina has led award-winning projects across sectors and is a strong collaborator. Notable projects include the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), The Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy & Research, Journey Beyond’s Rail travel upgrade, BHP’s global workplace transformation, the National Gallery of Australia upgrade and Tarrkarri – Centre for First Nations Cultures at Lot Fourteen in collaboration with New York practice Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

A frequent invited speaker, panellist, and juror, Rosina is a national judge for multiple awards, Property Council of Australia Council Member, W-B’s Chair of the Reconciliation Action Plan and is Ministerially appointed as a Board Member of JamFactory and Carclew Youth Arts. In 2023, Rosina was nominated as South Australian ‘Woman of the Year’.

Talk to Rosina Di Maria about Inside the room, before it’s real: How immersive design is accelerating collaboration.

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Media contact
Tess Dolan
Insights and Communications Leader – Global

Tess is Woods Bagot’s Global Insights and Communications Leader. Passionate about clarity, relevance and the creation of genuinely interesting content, Tess works with our innovators to create insights on the future of design, as applied to its impact on how we live, work, travel, play, learn, stay healthy and anything in-between. See Woods Bagot’s Insights for more.

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