Here is the long version of our press release:
Few in New Hampshire may know that Concord is home to the 4th best intellectual property (IP) law school in America according to US News & World Report, besting Harvard, Columbia, BU, Fordham, Duke and U Penn just to name a few.
A new building to house UNH School of Law – Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property is slated to open its doors in Late August for the fall, 2011 semester. The specialty taught here will deal primarily with patent and trademark law. New England has one of the highest concentrations of high tech business in the country. Technology based firms must be diligent in protecting their intellectual property rights and UNH will help to produce a highly educated work force of attorneys to fill this need.
When the builders and subcontractors for the new UNH building saw DC Designs Architects’ 3D renderings produced by PiXate Creative, building to exact detail became a lot easier for them. While the building size and scope is modest by comparison to other graduate schools, its locally inspired architecture and artistic interior spaces required more than a set of architect’s drawings and floor plans. Making an architect’s vision a reality in “bricks and mortar” is difficult if the builders can’t envision it as the architect intends it to be finished.
DC Designs Architects of Concord teamed up with Milestone Engineering & Construction, Inc. also of Concord to design and build this unique structure. Duene Cowan, principal architect, designed The UNH – Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property to have the stature and comfortable elegance of a top graduate school while being mindful of fiscal and budgetary considerations. What he was able to design and make crystal clear through PiXate’s exterior and interior 3D renderings has become a reality and fine addition to Concord’s cityscape.
Mr. Cowan recalls, “Our in-house software can take the drawings to a certain point but nowhere near the quality that PiXate can provide.” Most architects have CAD software and some 3D rendering capability but the final resolution output is lacking in detail and life-like image resolution. Most architects don’t have the time to become digital 3D artists. Their clients are better served when they keep their focus on the structural and aesthetic designs of buildings and site landscapes. That’s why a specialist in photographic quality 3D renderings is of tremendous value to both architects and builders.
The new UNH Franklin Pierce Center for IP Law is designed to reflect what will happen there. It’s a high-tech style building featuring curved glass exterior walls, a 2 ½ story open lobby and a modern metal-glass stairway with overhead cascading lights leading to an open mezzanine that overlooks the green roof of the vestibule. Under the stairway sits a Japanese stone garden with a running fountain flowing over New Hampshire granite set in a bed of rice stone. Ancient style art is juxtaposed within the modern New England high tech building style which combines brick, wood, steel and glass as its hallmark.
Duene Cowan’s vision needed to be communicated to builders beyond what drawings could convey. He clearly remembers how contractors responded to the 3D renderings. “Builders and subcontractors crowded around the renderings so they would know what to build. They exclaimed ‘Oh, that’s what you want. Now I can build what you want!’ and ‘Wow, that’s going to look great when we’re done.’ These guys got really excited about the job when they saw the detail in the renderings.”
It’s difficult to tell the difference between PiXate’s 3D renderings and a photograph. UNH has been able to utilize these renderings in some of their marketing and public relations efforts as an added benefit. A few examples may be seen below.
