London-based architecture studio PHASE3 have developed a digital 3D masterplan for ‘The Life Above’ – a Croatian leisure development stretching along the Adriatic coast.

The company’s director, Tyen Masten, revealed to CLAD that the latest 3D technology has been used to map out a 3.59sq km (1.38sq miles) complex of high-end hotels, villas, spas, restaurants, retail and entertainment facilities in Dubrovnik.

In an exclusive interview, he said: “The use of 3D modelling enables us to research and refine the ideal arrangement of form and materials which will be combined with contemporary building technologies to achieve an elegant and luxurious end product.”

The studio’s masterplan visualises interior and exterior spaces flowing into one another, “creating a game of shadow and light and allowing interplay between the landscape and the built forms”.

Masten told CLAD the biggest challenge facing PHASE3 was to create a coherent identity for the development “which could respond to the setting and express a classic yet contemporary idea of luxury.”

To achieve this, the architects will use materials and colours that complement and contrast with “the landscape’s lightly coloured natural stones, the deep turquoise sea, purple lavender fields and dark green Cypress trees.”

“We wanted bring a more contemporary design language to the site through a playful use of materiality, form, pattern, and colour,” Masten told CLAD.

The design stage began in 2014. No information has currently been revealed about the cost, timeframe or operator of the project.

Excitement is growing within architecture about the possibilities being presented by 3D technology and virtual reality. Speaking at CyArk’s annual summit last month, Adrian Ferrier from California-based mapping company Trimble Navigation predicted that when applied to the world of architecture, engineering and construction, Microsoft’s HoloLens device will create new ways for designers to consume, interact and communicate with spatial data.

He said: "It can transform how architects, engineers, contractors and owners work, he said. “In five years we’ll all be interactive in the world with this technology.”