Work · Case study · Architectural visualisation

A residential annex, placed into photographs of its real site

A homeowner in Kent is planning a timber-clad, oak-framed annex beside the existing house. Instead of an image on a blank background, the brief was to show the building exactly where it will stand, in photographs of the real site, so neighbours, planners and the family can judge it in context.

Type: Residential planning visuals
Input: Architect's drawings and site photographs
Delivered: Photo-matched stills of the annex in its setting
Tools: Maya, V-Ray, Chaos Cosmos, Nuke

From the drawings

Elevations, plans and section

The architect's CAD was brought into the scene as clean linework and the model built over it, so every opening, frame and roof line sits exactly where it is drawn.

Front elevation linework: garage doors, oak frame and glazed gable — Front elevation

Rear elevation linework with the two roof windows — Rear elevation

Side elevation linework with the entrance doors — Side elevation

Opposite side elevation linework — Side elevation

Ground floor plan linework: living space, kitchen, stairs and garage — Ground floor

First floor plan linework: bedroom, bathroom and gallery — First floor

Roof plan linework with the two roof windows — Roof plan

Section through the annex showing the stairs, gallery and roof build-up — Section A-A

The setting

Site plan and context elevations

The site plan and the four context elevations show the annex alongside the buildings and trees around it, the same context the photo-matched views are judged in. Names and labels have been removed to keep the property private.

Site plan showing the proposed annex beside the drive, among the surrounding buildings and trees — Site plan

Context elevation: the annex in line with the neighbouring buildings — North-east context elevation

Context elevation from the opposite side — South-east context elevation

Context elevation looking along the drive — North-west context elevation

Context elevation across the bridleway — South-west context elevation

Clay to final

Every board checked in clay first

The whole model is reviewed as a plain clay render before any materials go on, so proportions, roof pitches, frame sizes and window divisions can be checked against the drawings while changes are still quick. Drag the slider to compare.

The same view with materials and lighting

Clay render of the annex: the whole model in plain grey, three-quarter view

ClayFinal

How it was made

From the architect's drawings to the site photo

Built to the drawings
The annex was modelled to the millimetre from the architect's plans, sections and elevations, down to the boarding, oak frame, garage doors and roof tiles.
Real materials
Weathered oak boarding, green oak framing and clay plain tiles, using scanned Chaos Cosmos materials at true real-world scale.
Camera matched to the photo
Each camera was solved from features on the site plan visible in the photo, using the camera's own lens and sensor data, so the building sits exactly where it will be built.
Light read from the photo
The render's sky light is matched to the light in each photograph, with exposure calibrated against real materials already in the picture.
Rendered in passes
One multi-layer render per view, with separate lighting, shadow, reflection and depth passes, so every part can be balanced to the photo.
Blended into the plate
Contact shadows on the real ground, interior lights balanced through the glazing, and grain and softness matched to the camera.

The whole building

The annex in full

The untouched site photograph from across the lawn, next to the full CG render of the same view, camera-matched to the photo, with the annex, drive, trees and lawn all rebuilt in 3D, plus the entrance side of the building.

The original site photograph across the lawn, before the annex was added — Original backplate

Full CG view of the timber-clad annex across the lawn, with its tiled roof, glazed gable and chevron garage doors — Full CG view

Side of the annex with the glazed entrance door, ledged door and first-floor window — Side view

Before and after

The same photograph, with the building in it

Every view starts from a real photograph of the site. The annex is rendered with a camera matched to that exact photo, then blended in so the light, shadows and grain belong to the picture. Drag the slider to compare.