Since architects handle both 3D rendering and architectural visualization with great skill, expertise, and knowledge, they have quickly become increasingly crucial for exterior design. Working with architects on an exterior design project offers a range of benefits for the designer.

Working with architects can also help your clients. Architecture and exterior design are now closely tied together, and architects can land the necessary expertise to designers to create incredibly realistic design ideas.

While there are many ways an architect can help with exterior designs, one of the most significant benefits is the possibility to visualize a design before it is built. This is useful for both the architect and the designer as they can see potential mistakes and errors, make quick changes, and fix any issues before they escalate beyond repair.

Besides, architects have their know-hows regarding various 3D rendering and architectural visualization software tools that allow them to develop the best ways to sell a design to shareholders and investors.

In other words, architects help exterior designers communicate their ideas and ensure that the final result is ready for entering the final stage of construction. With all this in mind, let’s see how exactly an architect can help a designer handle an exterior design project.

They Can Help Fit Your Project Perfectly

One of the most significant advantages a designer gets from working with architects is that they help them see how their project would fit in with its surrounding neighborhood and environment. They can create a 3D exterior render to help visualize how a design fits in the surrounding area.

Designing a building is one thing, but how it fits in the surrounding area is something entirely else, and this is where architects can help. They just need a few photos of the surroundings to provide photorealistic visuals to implement a project in realistic settings.

Architects know how to use the most powerful 3D rendering software tools to position buildings and objects in virtual and augmented settings to help designers and clients see how a building fits in a real-life environment.

Thanks to the latest, most advanced rendering solutions, architects can help place any design in life-size virtual surroundings to provide vital and unique insight into how a building will look like when it’s finally built.

This is incredibly useful, time-saving, and cost-effective, not to mention that it allows for building much better, more livable, and sustainable objects. Thanks to current rendering and visualization technologies on board, it is now easy to see how specific project ideas behave in real-life surroundings, their impact on the environment, and so much more.

The ability to see a building before it is built is a feature that pretty much changed how 3D artists approach design, construction, engineering, and architecture projects.

Cost-Saving Solutions That Don’t Reduce Quality

Architects can present many different solutions that don’t reduce quality but provide a way to realize some design ideas more cost-effectively. 3D rendering has never been more affordable and cost-efficient than it is today.

Architects use fantastic rendering and visualization software tools that help designers provide investors with realistic design ideas for their exterior design projects. If an investor wants to change something, they can do so without sacrificing the quality that is already there.

Because of that, architects and designers can develop design ideas that make the entire process much cheaper and faster than ever before. Through the power of architectural 3D rendering and visualization, investors can visualize a building down to the tiniest detail without spending thousands of dollars.

The cost of hiring an architect to do a detailed 3D render of a building exterior is nothing compared to making upgrades to an existing building in real life.

Instead of redesigning the building, which would take a tremendous amount of time, effort, and money, architects can help designers, contractors, engineers, and investors improve their designs on the go, without any hassle or disturbances to the ongoing project at hand. They can allow investors to make as many changes as necessary until they are finally satisfied with the final result.

They Let You See What You Are Building

Architects are fully aware of how important the power of visualization is today, even more so when it comes to construction, architecture, and engineering. They use 3D renders as the most effective and informative visualization tools to help designers see what they are building, how it should look like, the details it needs to have, and so on.

Investors can also benefit from visualizing how their investments will look like in real life. It’s much easier to present projects through 3D renders and visualizations than to use sketches, drawings, and 2D models.

Most of the time, problems arise from the lack of proper communication. The majority of contractors and investors are people with little to no knowledge regarding exterior design or architecture practices.

Architects are there to serve as the bridge of communication and visualization with the primary goal to help everyone involved in a project get on the same page and know what they are talking about.

By using the most advanced rendering and visualization programs, architects provide invaluable insights into a myriad of design projects, clearly explaining every detail and its role in the bigger picture.

Since modern 3D renders look like real photos, architects help clients and designers visualize design ideas with all their imperfections and details to increase the chances of actually getting a project sold or accepted.

3D Renders Help Make Quick Changes

In most cases, buildings and objects turn out differently from what was originally designed and planned. Fortunately, working with an architect can do wonders for any exterior design. Since architects have a wide range of the most powerful 3D rendering software tools, they can use them to spot issues early in the design phase before it is too late to fix them.

More importantly, 3D rendering can help prevent all kinds of problems and detect all sorts of issues so that clients can make quick changes if need be. The ability to make changes before the construction takes place is an excellent, time-saving, and cost-efficient way to remove any design flaws and ensure the final design is the best possible version of the initial idea.

Aside from saving time and money, this practice can also make communication much easier for everyone involved as those quick changes don’t have to be painful or interfering. Working with an architect isn’t only about making rapid changes on the go, it’s about ensuring that the entire project is on par with the requirements and latest industry standards too.

They Know How to Use Materials

One of the biggest benefits you can get from working with an architect on exterior design projects is a reliable library of materials and textures. Architects know how to use these libraries and provide designers with various options for the most photorealistic artwork.

Not all materials or textures are the same, and applying different materials to your design can make a huge difference in how the final result will look. However, finding the suitable material can be pretty challenging, as there are so many to choose from.

This is where architects kick in. They can help with finding the suitable materials and textures that will make your exterior design ideas unique. They have access to outstanding online resources that give them a myriad of top-quality materials, both free and paid options.

They can provide not just one but several online resources for free visualization and 3D rendering materials where you can find pretty much any material you need to make your design exceed your client’s expectations.

Architects Help Communicate With Contractors

Designers and architects aren’t the only ones involved in a project; many people are involved in external building designs. The process usually involves investors, clients, shareholders, software professionals, designers, contractors, engineers, and architects.

All these individuals need to speak the same language to understand each other. If they aren’t on the same page, errors happen, mistakes escalate, and people can get hurt, not to mention that the entire building can turn out all wrong.

Since this is a risk no one is willing to take, communicating with contractors in a comprehensible and understandable way is the key to working together, exchanging visions and ideas seamlessly and easily. Architects can help make things clearer for everyone involved in the project to understand design ideas better.

The moment a designer comes up with an initial exterior design idea, an architect can create 3D renders that they can distribute further down the funnel line so that everyone can start improving it simultaneously.

Alternative Solutions and Suggestions

Architects usually present their ideas in different, alternative options, suggestions, concepts, and solutions. They view things differently and in their way, which can be extremely helpful for finding the best solutions that work with your exterior design ideas in the best possible way.

It’s always great to have an additional pair of eyes to see things you can’t. The moment you choose your final design, an architect creates a photorealistic render to help you visualize your final idea.

If there are any issues or changes that need to be done, they can present you with valuable alternative solutions and provide suggestions on how to proceed. More importantly, constructors and investors can also tap into their suggestions, see things from a different perspective, and maybe even provide their own opinions on improving the design even further.

On the other hand, even if you still don’t have the final design, architects can help you come up with one as they help visualize details and features that never crossed your mind previously. Architects can help turn your ideas into reality through the most photorealistic 3D renders and visualizations of what you have in mind.

Energy Efficiency Matters

Buildings, both modern and traditional, consume energy in different ways and at various levels as they make their way across every life-cycle stage. Raw materials, energy, and water are all necessary for construction, but the problem is that these are nonrenewable resources.

Since the world depends on buildings, construction, engineering, and architecture, modern construction has a major impact on the world and the environment in its consumption of energy. The best example is the energy consumption associated with building materials.

Since construction involves large bulks of materials, these bulks consume quite a lot of energy for transport. With the ever-growing concern about energy consumption in buildings, it’s paramount to tap into the best and most energy-efficient methods for ensuring sustainability and preserving energy. Architects can bring recommendations of solutions that procure the much-needed energy efficiency for all buildings.

They Make Your Life Easier

No construction or exterior design project can be successful without proper management. The success of your exterior design project greatly depends on the way you manage things. To manage every stage of your design project, you need a way to make things flow smoother and easier from the earliest phase to the final construction stage.

Architects can help with that. They can provide a means for easier communication and visualization of your ideas to ensure everyone involved knows their part of the job. This type of organization significantly speeds things up, allowing everyone involved to expect the project from multiple angles and keep track of things during the final phase of construction.

Thanks to VR and AR-powered software tools, architects can create virtual tours around the construction site to see everything that needs to be done.

Conclusion

With all this in consideration, it’s safe to conclude that working with an architect on exterior design projects has many benefits on offer. From most effective communication and design assistance to visualization and construction, architects are a bridge between you and everyone else involved in a project.

3D rendering and architectural visualization are essential parts of exterior design, and there is no better way to harness the power of both techniques than to hire an architect to tap into new technologies and present your clients with mind-bending exterior design achievements.