Grand Designs Self Build & Development can be used to design anything from a studio flat to a sprawling mansion or estate, from scratch.

The software takes a fairly simple approach, collecting the vast range of available tools into categorised menus, allowing users to add walls, doors, windows, interiors, landscapes and furniture in a variety of shapes, sizes and styles by selecting and placing an appropriate object.

For the most part the package keeps the initial stages of a building simple, with relevant effects applied by dragging and dropping from the menus (which change depending on the tool selected) to an appropriate position on the design.

Dragging and dropping an image, texture or colour scheme onto a wall, for example, will immediately change all parts of a wall to reflect this design. This made the software extremely quick and easy to use but working out exactly what was available and how to access it took a bit more time.

The benefit of this approach is that beginners will find it easy to make a rough, general plan and experiment with different additions. Those requiring very precise measurements and touches have an intricate degree of tweaking at their disposal.

The level of detail here is extremely impressive: it’s possible to adjust the size, shape, colour and texture of objects as well as tidy up finished designs by adding reflections, light sources, landscapes and other fine-tuning.

The interface that collects all this potential together is functional: but we were a little disappointed by the basic way in which it was presented.

While video tutorials and full help files are available, the software would have benefited from a more structured approach to explaining its various nuances. It takes quite a lot of time and patience to take a design from rough layout to finished article, this being the main area in which the package could have been improved.

Self Build & Development has some serious potential in terms of accurately recreating interior and exterior design, but while this extremely detailed package is easy to learn, it’s hard to master, so be prepared to invest time as well as money.