Case Study: Renderings vs Reality at Casper College School of Music

In the course of designing the new School of Music building at Casper College, in 2011, we created several renderings to aid in our design decisions for the major spaces, to make sure they look & feel right.  These were also used to show the owner what they could expect as a final product, and also distributed to them to use as promotional materials to drum up support.

The program we used (the then-cutting edge Autodesk Revit 2011&2012,) allowed us (and our consultants) to model the entire building in the computer before anything was built, allowing us to more accurately visualize how the finished product will generally look.  There are several schools of thought in terms of renderings, but we generally strive towards accuracy, minimizing the amount of embellishment.   There are, of course, levels of detail that are not always present.  For example, often we don't need to spend time modeling the light switches and exit signs to get a good sense of the space, but in general, with a more accurate rendering, the client is made aware of the final appearance of the space, and if any problems are found early on, they can be addressed before they become expensive change orders during construction.

When the project was completed, HMS hired a photographer to document the same spaces.  See below for the comparison, to show how closely the renderings (created entirely in the computer while the site was a grass field) compared to the real world building, more than a year later.

Concert hall from back rear.  Rendering is on top, final picture below.  This rendering is from relatively early in the process, and there has been some subtle tweaking of the design during the final CD stage and construction, notably in the upper ceiling and wall panels, and the lower railings.

Concert hall from center.  This rendering has been updated, showing the revised railings, wall panels, and ceiling panels, changed during value engineering.

Instrumental Rehearsal hall.  Rendering is on top, final picture below.   Both views are from the back of the room towards the front, but are from opposite corners - the whiteboard is the same.  For reference, the room is more or less symmetrical, except for the window.  The curtain is adjustable, and can be opened or closed to suit the acoustics of the room.

Choir Room.  Rendering on top, final picture below.  Rendering is fairly accurate, other than missing furniture and curtains, and some slight material inaccuracies with the wooden slats at the top, the ceiling tile material, and the wall diffuser material.

Percussion Suite.  Rough rendering on top, final photo on bottom.   Views are from opposite corners of the same room, facing the same windows.  All the acoustic panels and casework is modeled correctly, although the same ceiling and wall diffuser material issues are present, and the carpet tile was laid in a slightly different pattern.  Notably, the curved acoustic hanging panels needed to be shifted slightly during construction.

Front Lobby.  Rendering at top, final image below.  All the elements are in place, minus the owner-supplied furniture.  The color balance differs slightly, with reality feeling brighter and fresher than the warm and dark rendering.

Main Stair.  Rendering at top, final photo below.  Note how the stair, railing, lights, and benches are all built more or less as drawn, except for a few finishes, selected later.

Upstairs Lobby  Rendering is on the top, with final photo on the bottom.  Geometry is essentially identical, along with colors.   There are only a few  special system and owner-supplied elements missing from the renderings, and the room in general "feels" darker than reality.

For reference, this building was modeled in then-cutting edge Autodesk Revit 2011 and 2012, and rendered in the same program, on our local computers.  Since then, we have continually improved our rendering technology and skills to create better and more-accurate renderings.