Building models

This page contains a list of the projects I am actively working on, alongside a description and images of each building.

At long last, progress is back underway on the OSO project! A resurgence of interest in Blender in the last eight months has led me on a meandering but creative trail through bingo hall equipment (an animated bingo blower machine with real physics), detailed railway cab equipment, various buildings of my own design (such as 60s hospitals) to experiment with architectural features that the OS complex does not feature with. Not only the structure but also some general equipment, furniture and a lot of mechanical equipment such as the excellent Blend Swap centrifugal chillers, that are very similar to those at OS.

Pipes – a new Blender Market plugin as this is one of the weaker aspects of my OSO model in places such as the Subway. As the current ones use lines (curves) then it will just be a case of applying the new material and it should change the pipes to the correct width and assign one of several stock materials such as shiny metal, rust etc or a separate plastic pipe for drains etc.

I then needed pumps and calorifiers and spent over a week on constructing separate pumps for chilled water and the cooling tower pumps ready to install in my OSO model. I updated the calorifiers I made for the OSO model complete with full pipes and pumps. I made an air handling unit with heat exchanger and humidifier that may work for my OS model and some centrifugal fans but I was less successful with axial/propeller fans.

Next was a new fictional hospital building containing labs and a canteen/restaurant and this led me to making a lot of 60s catering equipment, with extensive research into the size and number of items along with old photos of the newly completed OS Restaurant kitchens – general purpose ovens, boiling tops (hobs), boiling pans. Next up would have been a fitted cold room and kitchen extractor units, and dishwashing machines. These were just as much at home in my fictional 60s canteen as they are at Maybush.

The new building had a suspended ceiling with vent grilles that again, I hoped would be of use for OS and also recessed light panels and even some sinks and fume cupboard extracts. I was planning to create electrical infrastructure as well such as control panels but did not spend much time there before getting distracted. Cooling towers and rooftop water tanks are also major items of plant that will be needed for OS and lifts, water treatment systems.

And a lot of PBR. The Materialiq materials have some of the components of PBR materials but for things like the restaurant’s white wall tiles where , PBR brings the previous flat PNGs to a new level with the impression of height and selective shiny surfaces. Ever better is the availability of the yellow wood flooring for the print floor.

10 Aug 2023

Objects/props

Various smaller objects that are not buildings such as furniture and plant equipment.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year graphics

Happy New Pier...I mean Year 2023
Happy New Pier…I mean Year 2023

Every year since 2012, I have produced a render for my Facebook page, mainly using existing scenes I have made with festive props and 3D text – you can see them here. Some scenes were built specifically for the seasonal renders and most were done in Blender.

Ordnance Survey Office

This massive 1960s industrial and office complex was used for making maps, from drawing them to printing and storage. It was used until early 2011 but was demolished in 2012 apart from North Block (a four-storey office building )

There’s a special page dedicated to the construction of this building model. Click here.

OSO third floor corridor
Inside the Map Works
Services Block 1967-2011
Services Block 1967-2011
Services Block Feb 2012
Services Block
Services Block
Services Block

OSO Crabwood

A complex of temporary buildings at the NW end of the Romsey Road site that was built in the 1940s/50s. Following completion of the Maybush building, these temporary buildings were demolished apart from Crabwood House itself.

I’m not really actively working on a model of this but have created some of the huts for use in experimental techniques/materials for the main OSO Maybush model. It also gives me the chance to construct features that were not part of the Maybush model such as Critall windows.

Hospitals

A large hospital complex former of several blocks, my own designs from scratch

Seaside Pier

My first project for Trainz

TV Studios

A fictional TV studio complex.

Debenhams

Southampton’s 1950s Debenhams (originally Edwin Jones) store

Clarence Pier

Whizz bang pop art architecture at its best! This seaside funfair pavilion in Southsea, Hampshire contains an amusement arcade, cafe and kid’s indoor play area. Its landmark tower and striking blue and yellow scheme make this hard to miss and it also has a Googie style folded plate roof and even an groovier hypar shell roof.

Pubs

I have produced many pub buildings, ranging from Victorian to Mock Tudor and 1950s/60s. Some are my own design while others are based on real pubs.

Older projects

A list of some of the buildings that I have started but am not actively working on.

Brynmawr Rubber Factory

A large industrial complex featuring nine large hyperbolic paraboloid shell roofs plus barrel vaulted side blocks.

UK High Street no 2

Based on Marlands House in Southampton and the adjacent shop units of the same design, this is a 1960s retail/office development. The retail units are three storeys high and have full-height glazing to the front elevation. Some of the shops have retail space on the upper floors but others have blanked out the windows and used it for storage/ancillary purposes.

This prestigious development will attract some big-name retailers and is due to open soon.

The office tower, of nine storeys, is inspired by the Lever Building in New York. The offices are currently used by Southampton City Council.

UK High Street 2
UK High Street 2 – Jan 2012

UK High Street 3

This 1950s retail block contains several shops and a bar. It’s four storeys high, with the upper floors being used as offices. The rear of the building is Park House, an office block that is the main entrance to the offices on the upper floors.

No images of this one yet I’m afraid.

UK High Street 13

What happened to UK High Street 4-12? They’re in the early stages of planning but UK High Street 13 is a new addition to my retail portfolio that is under construction.

It contains two large shops, or two small department stores and some smaller shop units as well. It used to be occupied by Marks and Spencer and BHS but M&S moved to new premises in the West Quay shopping centre in 2000. The former M&S was converted into a Primark clothing shop.

The block was built in the late 1950s following extensive damage to the city centre’s main shops in World War II and is typical of the ‘austere’ shops in the lower section of Above Bar Street. It has a main facade of Portland Stone and metal windows that almost evoke Art Deco features.

The real-world shops are on a slight hill, with the rear facade being a storey lower than the front elevation. Primark occupies the entire lower ground floor retail space, below the main store on the ground floor. BHS has a sales floor on the ground floor and first floor, with the latter also containing a popular cafe.

The rear facade of both shops is austere brickwork and the internal courtyard for unloading goods is even less attractive.

UK High Street 13
UK High Street 13 – Jan 2012

UK High Street – ASDA

A typical late 1980s/early 90s Postmodern city centre supermarket. Considerably smaller than its retail park cousins, this is also on a slope, with the service bays and so on being below the sales floor. This is difficult to model so my version has to have warehouse and delivery services on the same level as the sales floor.

ASDA Jan 2012
ASDA’s structural metal framework nearing completion.
ASDA
ASDA’s main shop shop floor following completion of building works.

 

 

Eastleigh Bus Station/Sainsbury’s superstore

A place I’ve spent many hours that will soon be demolished. Originally built for Safeway and opened in the early 1980s, this large town centre supermarket also contains a small multi-storey car park and a bingo hall.

Eastleigh Bus Station Feb 2012
Eastleigh Bus Station 19 Feb 2012

Last updated on Friday 22 December 2023 by GaryReggae

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