Bringing the Lines to Life - Why Architects Do Renderings

Let's be honest - the line drawings we get for plot plans, floor plans and other real estate related documents can be very flat. There is no sense of life or scale that can help somebody visualize the actual space or result. Reading line drawings takes years of experience and practice - even then it can be difficult to visualize the life sized result.

Last night I was showing a condo to a perspective buyer. There were some floor plans for a different unit in the same association in the marketing materials. I handed them over for the client to take a peak. Mr. client turns to Mrs. client and says "The bedroom is labeled 12 feet by 12 feet." She turned to her husband and said, "You know that means nothing to me, right?" She was much more interested in whether the queen size bed would fit with their dresser.

In my practice of architecture I have learned how much more of a story you can tell with a little bit of color and context. Although a line drawing has all the technical information, it doesn't help somebody with the humanistic traits of feel and touch. It can be the difference between somebody seeing a house, buying a spec house or approving a renovation design for their existing home.

This past week, I signed on with a client who is interested in adding a third floor to their existing home. We have some challenges in staying within the existing height and roof lines so I put together some conceptual drawings to help. I took the extra time and added some color and texture to my line drawings to help tell the story. Check it out below.

On your next project, remember the extra time and effort pays off big time in the end.