Time to Get Serious
Our base design is complete. Our builder is hired. It’s now time to make some hard choices regarding wall and floor finishes, column details, overhangs, and exposed structural connections. In tandem, we also need to firm up the ethereal ideas we have about various systems - lighting, drainage, solar, etc. - that will make the building comfortable. So much to do.
First up - materials. Until now, our 3-D renders of the house have all been in a single color and not terribly realistic. This image is such a shot, depicting the western side of our inner courtyard (to capture the entire courtyard, we had to set the “camera” 15 meters back from our property - making it quite unrealistic because the adjacent buildings would technically be in the way).
Yesterday, we started rendering with colors, depicting materials with a simple palette. We decided on white to represent lime-washed walls, orange for terracotta floors, and dark brown for steel, including the mosquito screen doors and other accents like handrails and building trims.
What a difference. Previously we had always felt this perspective of our house was pretty ugly. With base colors in, the building is transformed. We are starting to see some strong horizontal lines to match the length of our site. With the addition of dark colors, the mosquito screens dissolve allowing the two sides of the courtyard to mesh together more fully. By defining some extra detail, shadows are emerging to provide texture and depth.
Here are a few additional shots of the courtyard from under the covered living area. We definitely think it’s starting to come together!
