Quick, Realistic Renderings using the Allura SketchUp Extension

Pride Commercial Interiors is based in Cumbernauld, close to Glasgow in Scotland, and has been in business for 14 years. They have grown steadily from a shopfitting business to a full-service commercial interiors design-build operation employing 16 people. In addition to design-build (client brief, design and design presentation, pricing, buying, contracting, install project management), Pride also custom designs and manufactures display units and signage for many of their clients.

We interviewed Iwona Ciuchta, a designer at Pride and user of our Allura GPU renderer for SketchUp.

What is your background in design?

I studied interior design at Glasgow Caledonian University. It was there that I started using SketchUp and rendering software. I joined Pride as an interior designer in 2015 after I graduated from GCU.

You sent me some nice renderings. Tell me about the project behind them.

The project for which I produced these renderings (see below) are for a café in a department store in Crawley, England. This is the second project we have done for this client. For this project they asked us to produce a homely, welcoming space; something with a soft, feminine feel.

Renderings of the Department Store Café - Courtesy Pride Commercial Interiors / Iwona Ciuchta

Was there anything you found especially challenging about designing this space?

All projects have their challenges, including the selection of finishes, textures, materials, foliage and lighting, and of course making them all work together to produce a design that wows the client. I do have to keep in mind how elements I’m including in my design impact a model’s size and complexity. As examples, plants and lighting can quickly exponentially increase a model’s size.

What do you like about our Allura renderer?

The renderer I used at university was complicated which made it difficult for a student like me just starting out in the world of design to learn and use. Fast forward to more recently, I was looking for a renderer that I could start using quickly, that gave me the options and flexibility I needed to apply characteristics to my designs, that produced photo quality output, and that would enable me to work fast. I signed up online for a 30-day trial of Allura, found that it ticked all the boxes for me, and decided to buy. That was about 3 months ago.

I particularly like being able to change a texture, light setting, or something similar and very quickly review the impact. If I need to make further changes I can do so and re-render within minutes, which helps me be more productive. Once I’m happy with the look I can render the image for a longer time to produce the high-quality realism that’s going to impress the client.

How do your clients react to the renderings you produce with Allura?

Clients really like being able to see a photorealistic view of their project early in the design process and Allura allows me to do that. This helps them quickly develop trust and confidence in us, showing that we’ve listened and are on the same wavelength. And if any changes need to be made I can do that quickly and easily as opposed to having to make changes later in the process which can cost a lot of time and money.

Thanks Iwona, and keep up the good work!

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