Rendering vs. Reality: The Grilled Oyster Company

Renderings have changed significantly over the last 5 years. The widespread use of BIM (building information modeling) software has made renderings more accessible, and accurate to the vision of building owners. These changes are improvements in every sense.

Anyone with a Revit license now has the ability to create renderings, and walkthroughs, without killing time working on two software platforms or double modelling building elements. Additionally, the level of detail in renderings has grown exponentially. Modeling real fixtures, and finishes with coordinated MEP disciplines grounds vision and opens communication for technical and non-technical team members. The rendering can also act as a benchmark for project teams for coordination and commissioning.

Just completed a month ago,  project in NW Washington serves as a great testament to this accountability. Take a look below at how the rendering compares to the finished product for this 4,000 sq. ft. restaurant. The rendering was developed by Architecture, Incorporated during the project.

You can read more about The Grilled Oyster Company project here. Restaurants don't create multiple locations in the same city for no reason. The food at the Grilled Oyster Company is amazing and certainly worth a visit.

Trump International Hotel DC: Cortile Restaurant

In collaboration with Architecture Incorporated,  DesignTech Inc. has been designing one of the restaurants in the cortile of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. The restaurant sits inside the 10 floor, 196ft inner court of the Old Post Office Pavilion building on Pennsylvania Avenue. The entire building and annex are being renovated by the Trump organization under a 60 year lease with GSA and are scheduled to complete work in 2016. 

Doug Kirby, Tom Igo, Hugh Gilbreath, and Evan Bjorndal are the design team members from DesignTech. The plans are currently under GSA review while final coordination takes place. The photo below depicts the empty 1st level and mezzanine of the restaurant as well as the exposed structural steel members which will now serve exclusively for decorative purposes. 

Stay tuned as we continue to give updates about the progress of this project and enjoy the view from the top of the 2nd tallest building in DC.