Lincoln Brown Illustration recently completed a visualization package for the Stratos Condominiums project in downtown Burlington Vermont. Visualization played a critical role in developing the building design and getting it permitted. The promotional website (www.stratosvt.com) is packed full of LBi renderings, providing prospective buyers with plenty of visuals to help make a decision. Read on to learn how it all came together!

LBi became involved on the Stratos Condominiums project while it was struggling through the Design Review process, early in 2007. Burlington is notoriously difficult to get construction projects approved due to extensive review processes and a sensitivity to over-development. The process was compounded by the difficult location of the project, on a site straddling the edge of downtown and a low density residential neighborhood.

LBi produced several photo-overlay illustrations to show the city´s design advisory board and design review board, thus promoting realistic discussion of the project and its influence on the streetscape. Floor plans and elevations simply don't provide enough information for public discourse.

Careful thought went into selecting an appropriate view. The most crucial element was to convey scale in relation to its surroundings. Since the Stratos site is on the edge of a dense downtown area with plenty of comparably sized buildings, the photo was positioned to show as much of the downtown as posssible, thus allowing a good comparison in height. If the view were taken from the opposite side, it would show the building as if it were only surrounded by 3 story gable roofed homes. Of course the relationship to the smaller buildings was also important, so the view was pulled out to show the neighboring house.

Over the next two years, illustrations were updated as the design went through many alterations and the client made attempts to reconcile their needs with the demands of the city. The same photograph was used every time, allowing a direct comparison to be made between design schemes. Ultimately a consensus was reached and the process yielded a strong design that reflects the values of the owner and respects the scale and texture of the neighborhood. Approval was granted by the city in the spring of 2009.

Traditionally, 3d illustrations were done by hand using media such as watercolors or colored pencils. On this project, dozens of versions of the same view were produced to represent design options and alterations. The cost and time to re-do a hand illustration so many times would have been stratospheric! Using digital techniques, each new version would take LBi only a few hours, even minutes depending on the change. The client was able to walk into a design review board hearing with 3-4 different options all rendered with identical photo-realistic sophistication. If a new idea was suggested, the revision could be completed by the next day.

The benefits of Visualization didn´t end there. LBi created several more illustrations to bump up the Stratos marketing presentation, giving the client something tangible to show off during pre-construction sales. Illustrations are featured throughout the www.stratosvt.com website.

LBi was asked to create several interior illustrations, including two of a model unit, and another illustration of the lobby. The unit views were positioned to emphasize the sweeping views of Lake Champlain that some of the units will have, while showing off some of the high level finishes that the developer is offering. The architect provided a floor plan and specified finishes, leaving Lbi to fill in the rest with appropriate furniture and accessories.

The lobby was designed entirely through the use of 3d views. Given a floor plan and some ideas from the client, LBi created a look for the space and used illustrations to review with the client.

LBi also provided the client with a series of three-dimensional floor plans, rendered with materials and furnishing similar to the model unit views. These 3d plans show the unit layouts in a more inviting and, to the lay-person, comprehensible way than traditional black and white architectural floor plans. While this level of sophistication might seem overkill (at least to the wallet!), much of the first 3d plan was already created for the interior illustrations. The elements could be copied and reconfigured to make each successive plan with relative ease and little cost to the client!

Now that approval was granted, LBi could take a little more artistic license and illustrate the building in an exciting, and not simply "informative" way. This final illustration presented the primary building facade at dusk, giving the opportunity to show it lit up and inject some classy nighttime energy. Context wasn't as important anymore, so the image was cropped and a wider camera angle used to emphasize the architecture. This illustration features on the website, marketing literature, and the project sign board.

Lincoln Brown Illustration has been providing high quality visualization services for the architectural industry since 2002. Please visit www.lincolnbrownillustration.com to see samples of illustrations and animations. Call me or drop by the office at 22 Church Street in Burlington VT anytime to discuss what I can do to help your project succeed!