Renders

I've been spending a lot of time on photoshop lately, although it's nice to finally have some results.  Below are a couple of renders that i've just finished.  Base renders were done in sketchup, but pretty much everything was re-done in photoshop.

This is the Hero shot - it shows the whole building form in the site with some rough landscaping around it.  It also looks less bulky from this angle, and much greener which is a relief - I was beginning to think that i'd made a concrete monster.  The people in the render also really show the scale I think - it's a really  big building.  This is something that has actually been on my mind alot lately.  The scale of howard smith wharves, and all its surroundings - are big.  The story bridge, cliffs, site, river are all really large elements in the city that meet at one point, so I think that a small building, or one that isnt clearly visible would be very easily lost in the site.  So this got me thinking about the buildings relationship with the urban environment, and i've come to the conclusion that this institute for biomimcry would be both a landmark and a node.  It's big, new and visible from New Farm, Kangaroo Point, the CBD and the story bridge.  It's different building functions also attract a wide variety of users, and provides meeting places such as a cafe, and I think that this is enough to create a node, therefore activating the dead site - which has been my main goal from the start.

This image shows the internal passageway which is something that I don't think i've described well enough.  It's intent is to be an inside/outside space.  Above it, the green roof twists around half closing it in, and at each end the green curtains drape down, filtering the light.  It will be a space with interesting and frequently changing lighting, walls around it but not above it, and large openings at the end of each path.  As well as this, the large supports for the green roof above are to be overgrown with bromeliads and plants, creating an almost tropical - jungle feel.  Above the glass doorway a projection will be cast onto the concrete wall, adding to the changing lighting and activity, with large images shining above you walk into the main public building.

This shot just shows the building cascading upwards to the top of the cliff, and the entrance into the main public building.

Just a quick render to show some of the city context behind the building, and also the minimal impact on Bowen terrace.  My intent here was to have the building just poking up over the top, so that anyone on Bowen terrace would just catch a glimpse of it, and be intrigued and drawn towards it, to then look over the edge of the cliff to a great undulating green roof inviting them down to the waterfront, into the Howard Smith Wharves.