With an entrepreneurial mindset, a cheeky request, and a near death experience, Patrick Wood successfully started 3DAV in April, 2016. The business has grown rapidly, with client requests from all over New Zealand.

In the Soda co-working space, we have an exciting variety of companies and Patrick – founder of 3DAV Ltd has been part of our community for over two years.

3DAV has grown so fast in that time, Patrick is now off to Christchurch to pursue bigger and better contracts! Our Student Intern, Xanthe Garahy, gives us an insight into the company and how it all began.‍

3DAV is a 3D Visualisation company – they create images of potential buildings to show what they will look like upon building completion.

“It’s basically 3D digital marketing,” Patrick said.

Having these images makes it easy for clients to connect to their project and ensure all features look the way they expect. It avoids costly changes down the line.

Of course, this isn’t where Patrick started his journey, and if it wasn’t for a near death experience, he may not have.

Working as a landscaper on a working visa from England, Patrick was living above the old Domaine restaurant in town with his partner – they were in bed when it caught on fire – leaving them with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a passport Patrick had just managed to grab on the way out. This changed his perspective on life and work immediately.

“I almost died, so I thought I’ll give it a go, starting this business. I think you need something like that in your life to open your eyes and say f*** it, I’m gonna do my own thing. You need to have a go at these things.”

Patrick started out after seeing poor quality building model images and thinking, “I can do better than that”.

He saw two job openings in Auckland and applied right away – but not for the reasons you may think. Instead of interviewing for the position, he asked them how to make the images himself so he could start his own business.

“They were really good about it, showed me around, gave me their pricing models, and told me not to undercut the market.

“I started right away – working out of the kitchen of the backpackers we were living in.”

Working from the backpackers wasn’t Patrick’s style for long, especially given that one image can take up to 12 hours to produce. He was looking around for office space when he came across Soda Inc.

“It’s 10 minutes from my house, cheap as chips, convenient, clean, and I can get my work completed undisturbed.”

Patrick now works with architects, designers, builders, virtual reality experts, and residential and commercial real estate agents. His most recent project was in New Plymouth, where he created the visual imagery for a block of 5 apartments; ensuring the building gets the right sunlight, doesn’t block neighbours’ views, and has the perfect kitchen. The project took him approximately 6 weeks.

Patrick has huge projects in the pipeline; developing images and following through on the build for multiple aged care facilities, apartments, and 20 million dollar hotels. He is hoping to find a co-working space in Christchurch, though he said he would miss his space and the community at Soda.