Rendered Elevation of Moulsham High School Library
What are Visualisations
Most architects can produce their design proposals in a form which represents the final building in a three dimensional, realistic form which is more easily understood by users than the more technical drawings, such as plans and elevations, described in earlier articles.
There are a variety of techniques which can be used with varying levels of reality and cost. The use of computer-aided design has made many of these techniques easier to produce but they are still time consuming, and therefore expensive. For this reason clients should consider carefully whether their use helps the project significantly, or is simply an indulgence or motivated by mere curiosity.
Rendered Drawings
Rendered elevation drawings are created by adding colours to a set of the architect’s elevation drawings, and then adding shadows, vegetation, people, etc. to make them more realistic. This will give some idea of the colour and texture of the materials to be used but can be misleading, as the drawings are only two
dimensional and the accuracy of the rendering of the various materials used on the outside of the building is restricted to the inks and pigments available.
This article is the fifth part of a series of articles about understanding architects’ drawings and needs to be read in conjunction with others in the series to get the complete story