renderings:
why should you pay extra for these?
Why should you pay extra to have renderings? First off, renderings are really helpful to visualize exactly what the completed space is going to look like. This is a great asset if you are raising capital for the project. These images help to tell the story of what your place could be like to potential investors. To give you a direct example, the above two images show what we can produce (left) vs what a professional rendering consultant can do (right).
Our image is fairly solid and does convey the materials, a sense of stocked shelves and the general vibe of the store. We’re generally happy to make a view or two like this for a project for no extra charge if we already have the space designed as part of your project. Clearly this is not a typical barebones 3d model from the onset however. You’ll notice that extra care was made to place items on the shelves, which the rendering consultant took to an even higher level. The proper rendering from a talented rendering consultant takes the space to a point of realism as well as establishing the desired mood. Spending the money for a proper rendering to sell the concept could be a worthwhile investment.
With adding a rendering consultant, you get an image with a lot more life to it. In addition to very convincing textures, light quality and reflections are at a much more realistic level. We have multiple tiers of rendering available. Generally, you can only request 1-2 revisions on these images so it is best to nail things down with the design team before committing to renderings. A great time to order a rendering is at the end of SD or DD (see design phases article ) so that you have a fairly detailed model and the major elements of the project are worked out.
If you don’t know me - I’m Robert Ledet, a architect based in Nashville, TN. My firm, Elevated Environments focuses on producing hospitality architecture with soul. That means story telling, digging into the weeds, experiential design and everything else that makes a place special. If you’d like to keep up with my other writing and projects, follow our social media and sign up for the occasional email updates.
While the majority of this discussion was about human designers making and producing images, we should also address the LLM elephant in the room. AI image generation has unlocked exciting potential for visualizing spaces for business owners. Using these tools to play with early ideas is a solid option for brainstorming. It is a powerful tool but it must also be used with some caution. An AI does not consider building code, constructability, or physical space when producing images of spaces. There is a wide gap between a career architect’s concept for a space from anything produced by AI.
We’re not here to trash AI. As with many things, a free design comes at a cost. Without an architect, it can be easy to go down a road of impractical and over budget AI driven concepts. Elevated Environments will welcome any inspiration images to the design conversation, but it’s important to distinguish between imaginative concepts and the realities of the built environment.
Robert Ledet
RA, NCARB
Founder/Architect
Elevated Environments