The client needed a quick study model prepared for a presentation for an addition including demolition of existing construction and a new entry vestibule, canopy and ramp. However, no elevations of the existing building were available. Existing plans from multiple sources were overlaid with roof images to produce a rough massing model with extruded heights which well exceeded those of the actual building. This model was then used to create elevations in which the building’s corners were shown correctly, even if the roofs were not. Over this the existing photographs from the client’s site visit, augmented with those from other sources, were used to fill-in the details and provide the accurate heights for the various portions of the building.
Once the existing building was established, it was placed on a flat site overlaid with photographic imagery. This was later largely replaced with “cleaned-up” grass and sidewalk, reverting to the original images only at a distance from the actual model. Using photos as a guide, the topography of the site was estimated and translated into the model, at least to the point that it impacted the model. (No civil or topographical information was available at the time the presentation was to be given.) Concept sketches were received from the architect and applied directly to simple massing models. For both the sketched addition and photographic existing building model, the existing textures were then replaced with simplified rendered textures. This eliminates the foreground items like trees and brings the whole model into a unified, simplified style.
While not overly-detailed, this level of rendering allows the model to be completed much, much more quickly than traditional methods by focusing resources where needed to communicate the most important aspects of the design intent. This also allows for the model to be edited extremely easily as well as the surface objects, such as doors and windows, are not modeled objects but surface-applied textures that can be edited as part of the 2D rendering and applied to the surface as a single update.
In addition to the actual model, the final presentation consisted of three animations depicting the existing conditions, demolition, and options for new additions. Below are two animations that are shortened and reduced-resolution versions of those animations (for easy download).
