SketchUp is a 3D based program which is used in various drawing applications like architectural, interior design, civil and mechanical, and landscape architecture. SketchUp is very easy to learn and use. Users are able to create decks, house by using this software.
Architects can show their models to the clients before it is built. SketchUp has two main features like flexibility and agility. So by using this software users can deliver architectural and interior design on time.
Studio nine first accepted the SketchUp software in Australia in 2014. In the past the firm used only CAD and hand drawing design but when one employee named Emma Wight joined in the office and used her SketchUp skill and experience in the workflow. That time Studio nine had only nine employees. Now this firm has a total approx. 40 employees in architectural and interior design. Now all the employees used the SketchUp software as an important part of their workflow.
Advantages
- Users can easily draw the designs the software is designed as an extension of the user’s hand.
- Users are also able to adjust the lifelike drawings very fast.
- Users are also able to render surfaces in an array of styles. Users can take any architecture from the huge store of SketchUp.
- Users can use the plug-in while using SketchUp. Because SketchUp allows users to use those plug-ins.
- Users can place their models within the actual site Google Earth.
- Users can share their unique ideas with their clients without any interruption and very fast.
Step by Step Process
According to Emma they can create a 3D based design for the client so that they can understand about the concept of the design. The clients can understand better the concept of the project when the project is right in front of them and they can walk through with architects to understand the whole project.
By using SketchUp communication with clients becomes really easy and fast. Users are also able to modify the design more easily and rapidly by using SketchUp. According to her, hand drawn plans and various documentation through Revit and CAD have played a large role but SketchUp is way more fixed plan. To meet the clients’ needs users are able to change the plans very quickly.
According to Nigel Howden SketchUp proves its value in the approval process through the office for design and ODASA (Architecture South Australia) and the government architect. They used SketchUp the 3D based program very early as part of their approval process so that they can show the stakeholders the unique idea of the designs in diagrammatic form.
They found this workflow through SketchUp. Emma SketchUp gives a professional look to the entire project. Architects can build up plans for their potential clients and give detail regarding the project. So they gain interest and hope from the clients. They share the details as much as they need.
Opinion of Architects
What the architects create by using SketchUp, SketchUp also helps the clients to understand the creativity of the project. The project of Studio Nine is a multi residential project which is a perfect example of using SketchUp. As part of the approval process the architecture firm gives the designs to the stakeholders, ODASA, and the government architect. Another project required plans not only for immediate future but also for long term possibilities.
According to him SketchUp also allowed them to communicate with the clients. They could show and explain it all from Adelaide. The other advantages are usage of plug-in, enscape, virtual reality and real time rendering plug in.
They outsourced all the photo realistic rendering and Enscape allowed them to undertake the project renders in house.
It was very affordable software for the clients and the margin for error of design update was reduced. According to her, virtual reality is also an important part of SketchUp. Client expectations always change and VR is an important part of that.
