Documentation / Image Studio

Facade & Material

Try the skin before you choose it — the same module, different materials, twenty-five years on.

A facade is decided at the scale of a bay: the brick bond, the depth of the reveal, how the timber greys. Facade & Material shows one to three bays close up, lets you set materials side by side, and imagines how they weather.

One bay, several skins, and how they might age. Imagined materials and weathering, not a specification or a durability forecast.

Styles

StyleWhat it looks likeStarts from
Bay studyA straight-on view of one to three facade bays showing rhythm and depth.Your description, or a reference
Corner and junctionA close three-quarter view of where materials turn a corner or meet the roof.Your description, or a reference
Options side by sideThe same bay in three or four materials, as a comparison strip.Your description, or a reference
Time triptychThe same facade new, after five years and after twenty-five years.Your description, or a reference
Sample boardA top-down flat-lay of physical material samples on a neutral board.Your description, or a reference
Old-new junctionWhere new fabric meets an existing or historic building.Your description, or a reference
Mock-up panel on siteA full-size sample panel standing on site, as built for approval.Your description, or a reference

Choices

ChoiceOptions
Primary materialAs described · Brick and masonry · Timber · Metal · Ceramic and terracotta · Concrete and stone · Glass and curtain wall
AgeAs completed · After 5 years · After 25 years
LightOvercast · Raking sun · After rain
Emphasise jointsOn · Off
Human scaleOn · Off

For Options side by side and Sample board, list three or four materials in your description, separated by semicolons.

Starting from your model

A Rhino capture of the facade in parallel projection (an elevation) or a close perspective of the corner, shaded, showing the opening pattern.

Try these

  • Bay study · Brick and masonry · As completed · Raking sun: "buff brick in Flemish bond with recessed soldier courses at each floor, bronze window frames"
  • Time triptych · Timber: "vertical larch cladding with open joints over a dark rainscreen"
  • Options side by side: "red handmade brick; glazed green terracotta; pale fibre-cement boards; perforated bronze"

Keep in mind

  • Not a specification or a product: screen colour is not material colour.
  • Weathering is imagined, not a durability forecast.
  • Says nothing about fire, thermal or acoustic performance, and is not an approved mock-up.