You’re invited! Join Architizer for an engaging live webinar presented by Steven Burns, FAIA, Chief Creative Officer at BQE Software as he explores 10 project performance KPIs that, when tracked properly, will transform the way your business operates, and subsequently how profitable each project is.

Architects can receive 1 AIA Continuing Education Credit for this event, courtesy of BQE! Hit the button below to sign up for the talk, which will take place at 1pm EST on Thursday, March 10th:

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Projects are the core of your architecture firm. Not only do they generate profits, but they are also at the center of your firm’s business operations. As such, doing everything you can to ensure their success should be one of your top priorities.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) track project success by measuring how your projects (or team, clients, and so on) are performing. Because each architecture firm has different goals and ways of working, your vital KPIs will vary from project to project.

Effective KPIs, regardless of project type, are:

• Well-defined and quantifiable
• Communicated thoroughly to every employee
• Crucial measurements for tracking the progress of your goals
• Applicable to your firm and industry

Within the world of project performance and finance, certain KPIs should always be used to monitor and improve your success.

Learning Objectives

After attending this webinar, you’ll be able to:

• Describe why managing your project and firm health is as crucial as managing your own health
• List the 10 KPIs that every firm must understand and what they really mean for your firm’s health
• Define and quantify KPIs that are meaningful to achieve your business and personal goals
• Recognize how technology plays into managing a healthy firm, just as it does with managing your own health

About Steve

Steven Burns is a member of the College of Fellows of the AIA and Chief Creative Officer of BQE Software. After receiving his Master of Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Steve spent 7 years at SOM – working in Chicago, London, and Berlin before founding his own firm, BBA Architects in 1993. In 2007, Steve sold BBA to pursue his passion for business management software — starting with his creation of ArchiOffice. Steve is now focused on the product development of BQE CORE ARCHITECT, a fully-integrated, cloud-based firm management platform that includes time billing, invoicing, accounting, and project management for firms of all sizes. Steven is a global speaker and thought leader on topics related to firm management and emerging technologies.

About Paul

Paul Keskeys is Editor in Chief and Content Director at Architizer. Paul graduated from UCL and the University of Edinburgh, gaining an MArch in Architectural Design with distinction. Paul has spoken about the art of architecture and storytelling at many national industry events, including AIANY, NeoCon, KBIS, the Future NOW Symposium, the Young Architect Conference and NYCxDesign. As well as hundreds of editorial publications on Architizer, Paul has also had features published in Architectural Digest, PIN—UP Magazine, Archinect, Aesthetica Magazine and PUBLIC Journal.

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Send Us a Rendering. Tell Us a Story. Win $2,500! Architizer’s 3rd Annual One Rendering Challenge is open for entries, with a Regular Entry Deadline of March 11th, 2022. Submit a rendering.

Creating architectural rendering involves more than modeling a building 3D and then polishing it. In the early days of digital architectural visualization, buildings were simply populated with human cutouts corresponding to different activities and scales. Now, with the advancement in image editing software, artists are exploring creative avenues to tell elaborate stories in a single frame.

May it be the tale of a neighborhood forgotten overtime or the experience of a person waiting for the last train on a cold night, our past One Rendering Challenge entries have shown is that anything we imagine can be portrayed in a variety of ways. With the deadline of this year’s challenge fast approaching, we have broken down the five essential characteristics of winning renderings. Using past finalists as a point of reference, this article breaks down the different techniques and components that made them stand apart from the rest.

“Electric Rain” by Vittorio Bonapace

1. Create a Story

Emotional impact goes a long way from creating an impactful architectural representation. Images that tell us not only about the design details but also about the experience of walking through the architecture are often ones you would take a few more minutes to gaze at. Additionally, creating a narrative arc helps establish the context around the building and also highlights its significance in daily life. This story can be told by establishing a scene with the addition of characters, dynamic elements, picking the right time of the day or adding markers that give an indication of the weather. A story can also make the architecture the hero without having it take center stage.

In Electric Rain, creator Vittorio Bonapace takes us on a walk through a rainy city street. His image captures the loneliness and the urgency of an individual walking alone on a cold night, trying to find a warm place. This is done by animating the character and using static objects that are movable in the background. On the other hand, it also gives an idea of how chaotic and energetic this street could be at another time in the day.

“The Vent” by dennis allain

2. Find the Perfect Color Balance

The tone of the colors used is very effective in communicating the time and place in an image. Oftentimes, images with predominantly warm tones can intuitively read as more historic or nostalgic, while more futuristic images tend to use cooler, icier tones. A successful render can lean in one direction but must also include contrasting hues to add more depth and dimension to the composition. This can be done by using a combination of cool and warm shades, dark and light tones, or muted and bright hues in varying degrees of opacity.

Dennis Allen does this very well in The Vent. The image uses a variety of reds to depict the older construction and juxtaposes this with the bluish water, newer construction elements and a bright white building that remains in focus despite not taking up a large part of the canvas. The image is a lot warmer in tone, like a sepia photograph, the color palette evokes nostalgic associations with the past. Yet, at the same time, masterful layers of grey tones, white highlights and subtle bursts of blue and purple bring the scene to life. The ivory structure in the middle also balances the darker elements in the composition.

“Time Traveling” by Tigran Hakobyan

3. Play With Materials and Textures

The nature of materials in a render often depends on the project but choosing the right texture map to represent it is key. Having multiple textures in an image makes it feel a lot more tactile, making the experience of the image is richer. Even flat surfaces should have textures that show varying degrees of the same color to make them appear realistic. Furthermore, the addition of transparent or reflective surfaces can also amplify the effect of the other textures used.

This technique is evident in Tigran Hakobyan’s Time Traveling. There is an amalgamation of the past and the present with the imposing glass structure perched on a historic building. The rendering of the metal frames holding the glass triangles, the concrete support, arched fenestrations and even the cobbled sidewalk each add to the overall image. And even though the chimneys and ships in the background are covered in a layer of mist, we can see that there are not just flat color blocks; their textural quality peeks through the fog and makes the image more believable.

“Orchard Jenga – Start of the night shift” by Duy Phan

4. Get the Lighting Right

Lighting is key not only in architecture but also in its representation. In architectural visualization, lighting can be added in the form of environmental light, out-of-frame spotlights, incandescent fixtures, fires, reflections or a combination of all. These are especially helpful in creating a specific mood or even adding pops of color in visualizations. That said, it is important to be careful of how these different light sources react with each other as well as the materials and geometry of the elements in an image.

Orchard Jenga – Start of the night shift by Duy Phan is a excellent example of effective lighting in a render. The creator has established the time of dusk by using soft pink clouds and a slowly deepening blue. The partially lit building also does a good job of conveying the hour. We can see this not only through the reflection on the main building but also subtly in the shorter building on the left. The artist has used the lights within the main building not only to illuminate the elements inside the structure but also those in the lower half of the composition. The dark objects below are also highlighted using different vehicles with distinct headlights and taillights. Each of these light sources has a unique tone and path to keep them from overwhelming the image.

“Zoom to the future” by Carlotta Cominetti

5. Focus On Details

Most of us have heard the phrase “God is in the details.” This is also true for renderings. Even if not visible immediately, paying keen attention to the finer details can make a huge impact on how the overall render is perceived. This includes fenestration details, material reflections, smaller fixtures, vegetation, imperfections in surfaces or even the actions and attire of humans used in these images. Every item used in a render must be intentional, have a purpose and contribute to a better understanding of the image.

There is no shortage of intricate details in Carlotta Cominetti’s Zoom to the Future. Starting with the backdrop, we can see that the artist rendered the main structure to perfection and added nuances that make it more realistic and dynamic. This includes peeling wall paint, abandoned flower pots, trash cans and detailed doors and windows. Each of these additions tells us about the lives of the people inhabiting this structure. Going a step further, they have also added details like photo frames, chandeliers, books and humans within these homes in the background. When we look at the main glass tube, they have taken great care in understanding how the backdrop will warp when seen through a curved glass and have rendered these parts accordingly. They have also aligned the central statue in the building with a key segment of the tube to highlight it further.

Send Us a Rendering. Tell Us a Story. Win $2,500! Architizer’s 3rd Annual One Rendering Challenge is open for entries, with a Regular Entry Deadline of March 11th, 2022. Submit a rendering.

Browse the Architizer Jobs Board and apply for architecture and design positions at some of the world’s best firms. Click here to sign up for our Jobs Newsletter.

Windmills, historically used to grind grain using wind power, are an archetypal image of Poland. Widely used up to the time of the industrial revolution, today windmill structures can be found abandoned because they no longer keep up with the industrialization of agricultural practices. As they decay, these remains await a new lease on life. In Lublin, Poland, an old and disused windmill has been reimagined as a modern dwelling for rural escapes.

Architects Michał Kucharski and Mateusz Piwowarski of o4architekci have really worked their magic, transforming a figuratively fascinating building — an old windmill structure with a rigid, spatially limiting vertical layout — into an intimate, welcoming home in which historical features coexist with a contemporary, attractive design language.

Photo by Rafał Chojnacki Fotografia Architektury

Photo by Rafał Chojnacki Fotografia Architektury

The project involved conservation of the existing volumes, reinvigorated with an innovative interior layout organized along a vertical development. The building, with a floor plan measuring 21 x 21 feet (6.5 x 6.5 m), has four above-ground levels — three floors and a mezzanine — and a newly created basement level that extends the living space.

The basement level includes a garage, a technical room, services and a large lounge for guests, with direct access to the garden. The first level houses the reading room and the kitchen with a terrace that expands the dining area outside, while the two upper levels contain  bedrooms with bathrooms; the mezzanine level contains a multifunctional workspace with a large window that projects the view of the surrounding landscape.  

Diagrams by Michał Kucharski/o4architekci Mateusz Piwowarski

Three main materials coexist in the project: reinforced concrete, wood and glass. Each one is used differently, as either new or reused elements, making it possible to meet the requirements of the new residential use while preserving the recoverable original construction elements.

The historic load-bearing structure has been completely replaced by a new structure of reinforced concrete pillars and slabs. The outer walls are made partly of reclaimed wood planks and partly of new planks subjected to a carbonization process, which accentuates the material’s durability and creates a tone that harmonizes with the vegetation.

Photo by Rafał Chojnacki Fotografia Architektury

The roof pitches, supported by wooden trusses, are covered with wooden shingles. Some of the historic wooden beams have been recovered in the outer walls, creating the effect of half-timbered walls inside. The contemporary imprint is given by the glass openings: the vertical ones in the upper parts of the building establish a dialogue with the tight rhythm of the planks on the façade, while the horizontal ones on the ground floor, basement and mezzanine allow constant visual interaction with the garden and farmland.

Photo by Rafał Chojnacki Fotografia Architektury

Some original construction elements, such as a historic mill wheel and a trestle, dismantled and placed on the ground floor, have been recovered to keep alive the rustic and authentic aura of the place. Again in line with the intention of enhancing the value of reused elements with their own history and experience, the garden fence was built using recycled railway sleepers as fence spans, thanks to a happy idea of the client.

Photo by Rafał Chojnacki Fotografia Architektury

A place to rediscover the charm of the past without giving up comfort and domestic warmth and where the words of the late nineteenth-century French writer Alphonse Daudet seem to resound out loud among the wheat fields:

“I feel so good in my mill! It’s just the corner I was looking for, a small, fragrant, warm corner, a thousand leagues away from the newspapers, the carriages, the fog” (Alphonse Daudet, “Letters from my mill”, 1870).

And so we like to imagine a stop in this truly enchanting, secluded and authentic corner of Poland.

Browse the Architizer Jobs Board and apply for architecture and design positions at some of the world’s best firms. Click here to sign up for our Jobs Newsletter.

Erasing boundaries between inside and out has long been a preoccupation of architects around the globe, as countless clients seek open layouts and a sleek, modern aesthetic with minimal visual interruptions. However, truly seamless transitions are not easily achieved: The use of conventional glass walls with sub-par frames often result in uncomfortable interiors, energy inefficiency, and excessive hardware that contradicts that feeling of openness.

Now, this once-elusive goal can be achieved simply and easily thanks to Vitrocsa’s new single-track, insulated invisible frame. Able to accommodate extra-large glass panes with a fully concealed frame, the single-track insulated Vitrocsa invisible frame is a significant innovation in glass wall systems. New to the market in 2021, it picked up an array of honors in Architizer’s A+Product Awards categories for Residential, Doors & Hardware, and Commercial as well as finalist honors in 5 additional categories.

Operable glass walls have been around for a while, but Vitrocsa’s single-track invisible frame is a leap forward due to the level of insulation it can provide. With the option of double or triple glazing on a single track, designers can confidently specify the system knowing it will provide a comfortable environment in even the most extreme climates. Using Vitrocsa’s insulated frame allows for design of an operable glass wall in the mountains, beach, or city, all while ensuring that interiors are never too cold, too hot, or too loud.

Superior insulation also means superior energy efficiency. While glass walls can often be associated with excessive heating or cooling to make up for temperature differentials between inside and out, the level of insulation provided by Vitrocsa’s invisible frame ensures minimal heat loss or gain. This translates into lower levels of energy use needed to heat or cool an interior than typical glass wall systems require.

The key to this framing system’s top notch performance lies in its construction. The Vitrocsa system was developed by Eric Joray, an orchid-growing enthusiast who built numerous conservatoires after working in both watchmaking and the creation of prefabricated homes. This unusual combination of pursuits, each requiring an extraordinary attention to detail, eventually led him to become a windowmaker.

Joray’s unique mix of talents are evident in the refinement of each new iteration of Vitrocsa frames, culminating in the elegance and simplicity of the new single-track frame. With no need for an internal or external architectural enclosure, and featuring jambs less than three quarters of an inch thick, Vitrocsa’s roots in fine-tuned engineering are clearly apparent in this system.

The single-track innovation in Vitrocsa’s insulated, invisible frame greatly reduces the amount of hardware needed when specifying multiple panels to run on adjacent tracks, which allows the panels to be stacked together when the wall is open. This configuration maximizes both the view to the outside when the wall is closed, and the area of the wall that can be opened, greatly enhancing the sensation of an open-air building when it’s desired.

Achieving that sense of openness without compromising thermal and mechanical performance is where the Vitrocsa single-track frame excels the most. Able to accommodate glazed surfaces of almost 200 square feet, the new Vitrocsa frame allows architects to incorporate dramatic glass walls into their designs, offering wide, unimpeded views of the surrounding landscape. Thanks to the concealed frame, when an operable system is closed, the glass wall still appears virtually invisible.

Arguably the greatest effect of the new frame can be witnessed when Vitrocsa’s operable system is fully opened. Completely folding away one or more entire walls of a building to reveal the outside, without any noticeable transition, provides an uplifting experience that many architects desire to achieve with every project.

For many years, architects have sought to design buildings that eliminate the distinction between indoors and outdoors, constantly running up against the restrictions of temperature differences and obtrusive frames. With the innovative design of Vitrocsa’s single-track, insulated invisible frame, architects now have the possibility of fully realizing this creative goal.

To learn more about Vitrocsa’s cutting-edge architectural products, visit their Architizer Profile and their website.

The A+Product Awards honors the world’s best building products, furniture, lighting and materials, as chosen by architects! Pre-register your brand for the upcoming season, and download our free eBook to discover the winning products of 2021!