Why the brochure plan is not enough here
On roughly four out of five Mumbai flats we survey, the as-built differs from the sale drawing in a way that changes the joinery. These are the five differences we find most often.
| What the plan shows | What is actually there | The consequence |
|---|---|---|
| A clean rectangular bedroom | A 300 × 450 mm beam drop across the wardrobe wall | Wardrobe height reduced, loft becomes 300 mm shallower |
| A square corner in the living room | A 250 mm duct box floor to ceiling | TV unit width changes; the whole elevation is redrawn |
| Walls at 90 degrees | Out of square by 20–60 mm over 3 m | A full-height run needs a scribe fillet, which has to be designed in |
| A window sill at 750 mm | A sill at 610 mm with a projecting frame | Desk or bed placement under the window changes |
| A flat ceiling at 2,900 mm | 2,845 mm to the slab with a 180 mm beam at the perimeter | The false ceiling design and every loft height changes |
A measured survey takes two to three hours on a 2BHK and removes all five of these from the project.
What a Mumbai measured survey captures
- Every wall at three heights — 300 mm, 1,200 mm and just below the slab — because Mumbai plaster is rarely plumb and the difference decides whether a full-height shutter will close.
- Beam positions and depths, with a note on whether they are structural or a duct enclosure. The two look identical and only one of them can be cut into.
- Slab height at four points per room. A 40 mm variation across a room changes a run of full-height joinery from flush to visibly tapering.
- Window and door reveals, sill heights and frame projections, plus which way every door swings and what it fouls.
- Existing electrical and plumbing positions, photographed, because retaining a point is far cheaper than moving it.
- AC indoor unit positions and the drain route, which in a Mumbai flat is usually the single most awkward constraint on a ceiling design.
Modelling a flat that is nothing like its brochure plan
Views that suit a small flat
- Corner views, not wall-on views. A 10 × 11 foot Mumbai bedroom shot square at a wall shows you a wardrobe and nothing else. A corner camera at 1,600 mm shows the relationship between the bed, the wardrobe and the window, which is the thing you actually need to judge.
- A 35 mm equivalent lens, not an 18 mm. Wide-angle renders of small flats are the standard trick of the trade in this city and they set up a disappointment on handover day.
- One panorama of the living-dining. In an open-plan Mumbai flat this is the single most useful image, because it shows the circulation between four functions in one space.
- Elevations of every joinery run, dimensioned. In a small flat the internals matter more than the finish. These catch the errors.
- A night view of the living room. Most Mumbai families use the living room after 7pm, and a scheme lit only by a bright render sun is not the scheme they will experience.
- Show the fan. A ceiling fan is present in nearly every Mumbai room and is usually deleted from renders. It affects the ceiling design, the light positions and the perceived height.
Renders for a society NOC
Many Mumbai managing committees now ask for drawings before granting an NOC, and what they want is not what you want. A committee submission is a separate, cheaper deliverable and it is worth preparing properly — a clear submission set gets an NOC in days rather than weeks.
| Deliverable | For you | For the society |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Design decisions | Demonstrating that nothing structural is touched |
| Format | Photorealistic views and panoramas | Dimensioned plan, elevations and a services note |
| Must show | Materials, lighting, proportion | Wall positions unchanged, no chasing of beams or columns, wet areas in the same place |
| Must include | Camera positions on plan | Contractor details, work hours, debris plan, structural engineer’s letter if anything is opened |
| Typical cost | ₹4,500 – 15,000 per view | ₹8,000 – 20,000 for the whole submission set |
A client brought us renders from another studio for a Khar flat. Beautiful images, modelled from the sale plan. There was a beam over the entire wardrobe wall and the design was unbuildable as drawn.
Greenbox principal designer
Mumbai rates
| Deliverable | ₹ range, ex-GST | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Measured survey and base model, 2BHK | ₹12,000 – 25,000 | 3 – 5 days |
| Grey-box layout views | ₹2,500 – 4,500 each | 1 – 2 days |
| Photorealistic still view | ₹4,500 – 15,000 each | 3 – 6 days |
| 360° panorama | ₹8,000 – 22,000 | 4 – 7 days |
| Dimensioned joinery elevation render | ₹2,500 – 6,000 each | 2 – 3 days |
| Society NOC submission set | ₹8,000 – 20,000 | 4 – 6 days |
| Walkthrough animation, 45–90 s | ₹35,000 – 1,50,000 | 12 – 22 days |
Ex-GST. Survey and base model are charged once; every view after that is incremental. Included free within our design-and-build projects.
Within a Greenbox turnkey project the survey, the model and the standard view set are part of the design fee rather than a separate line. We offer visualization standalone as well, and we will say honestly when a set of renders is not the thing you need.
Lighting the model for a Mumbai orientation
A render is a lighting simulation, and the light it uses should be the light your flat actually gets. Four settings change the result more than any material choice.
- Set the true orientation and the real date. A north-facing Andheri bedroom and a west-facing one are different rooms, and a render lit by a generic environment tells you nothing about either.
- Model the building opposite. In this city most flats look at another building twelve metres away. A render with an open horizon outside the window is a fantasy, and it is why so many schemes feel darker than expected on handover.
- Render the west-facing rooms at 4pm as well as at noon. Between three and six in the afternoon a west-facing Mumbai living room is a different space, and that is when the family is in it.
- Use real luminaire data where you have it. A profile light at 9W per metre and one at 14W produce visibly different ceilings, and specifying from a render lit with generic emitters leads to a scheme that is under-lit when built.
The general principles
Deliverable types, national rates, revision policy, camera height and lens honesty are set out on 3D interior visualization services. For how the model fits into the delivery sequence, see our process, and for the flats these models are usually of, 2BHK interior designers in Mumbai.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
What does 3D interior design cost in Mumbai?+
₹12,000–₹25,000 for a measured survey and base model of a 2BHK, then ₹4,500–₹15,000 per photorealistic still view, ₹8,000–₹22,000 for a 360° panorama and ₹2,500–₹6,000 for a dimensioned joinery elevation. A society NOC submission set is ₹8,000–₹20,000. All ex-GST.
Why can't you model my flat from the builder's plan?+
Because on about four out of five Mumbai flats the as-built differs from the sale drawing in ways that change the joinery — a beam drop across the wardrobe wall, a duct box in the corner, walls out of square by 20–60 mm over three metres, or a slab 55 mm lower than stated. A render built on those errors looks convincing and is unbuildable.
What does a measured survey involve?+
Two to three hours on a 2BHK. Every wall measured at three heights, beam positions and depths noted with a judgement on whether they are structural, slab height at four points per room, window and door reveals and sill heights, existing electrical and plumbing positions photographed, and the AC indoor unit and drain route recorded.
Do Mumbai societies ask for 3D drawings?+
Many committees now ask for drawings before granting an NOC, but they want a dimensioned plan and elevations showing that no wall moves, no beam or column is chased and the wet areas stay where they are — not photorealistic views. That submission set costs ₹8,000–₹20,000 and a clear one gets an NOC in days rather than weeks.
Which views work best for a small Mumbai flat?+
Corner views at a camera height of about 1,600 mm with a 35 mm equivalent lens, one 360° panorama of the living-dining, dimensioned elevations of every joinery run, and a night view of the living room. Avoid wall-on views and ultra-wide lenses, which show you a wardrobe and a room that is not the size of yours.
Is visualization included in your turnkey projects?+
Yes. The measured survey, the base model and the standard view set are part of the design fee on a Greenbox design-and-build project rather than a separate charge. We also take visualization as a standalone commission, and we will tell you when a smaller set of views, or none at all, answers the question you actually have.