15 Feb 2021 – consolidation of parts

OSHQ model - main overview on 15 Feb 2021

This month, I have started chipping away at the main OSHQ model (not literally), with consolidating textures and building components. Much of that has already been done for the Restaurant (a separate model) but adoption of Blender 2.9 and the Materialiq materials has brought about opportunities to tidy up a few things.

Previous Blender versions had a rigid and inflexible system of layers where you could only have 20 in total and could not rename them etc but with 2.8 onwards, the layer system has been replaced with new Collections. These can be named and nested within each other; for example, I have a Collection named ‘Structural’ and within that are separate collections containing columns and floor slabs. This makes it easy to hide elements I am not working on so I can focus on other parts – for example, hiding the superstructure so I can work on the LG floor.

I am also replacing the materials/textures system with Materialiq materials. Being a collection of architectural textures then that is perfect – for example, over 30 types of concrete to start, with hundreds of various materials in the whole set, that can be customised to change their colour etc. So something like a painted wall goes from the previous flat colour to having a texture of paint in the colour required on the wall without having to do any UV/texture mapping, which I find rather tedious!

Most of the materials I need for OSHQ are probably possible to achieve with that system – for example, several types of glass, painted wood, painted metal, aluminium window frames, brushed steel, plaster, rough as well as painted, floor screeds, soil etc.

The first materials I have now introduced:

  • Plant room walls (white painted plaster) MQID 5E
  • Polished concrete (1J) for subway floors/stairs
  • Rough concrete for columns
  • Poured concrete (1A) floor slabs
  • Concrete dirty (1G) for roof slabs
  • Replaced some of the metal textures. Pipes are big headache on that front!

Replaced HDRi environment texture to improve the external lighting and background image.

Emailed Materialiq team suggesting new materials – ceramic tiles, mosaics tiles, brick painted white, glass block walls such as in the refurbished Restaurant, Formica, wood parquet floor and Granwood, the latter is unlikely but worth asking!

The resultant render is below:

OSHQ model - main overview on 15 Feb 2021
OSHQ model – main overview on 15 Feb 2021

The main external work that needs doing is finishing several structural elements of the building that are currently missing:

  • Print Floor and former Helio area vaulted roofing
  • Penthouses
  • West Block 5th floor and roof
  • 3rd floor glazed corridor

Non-structural work is necessary on the LG floor in B core, with a couple of walls missing.

The columns need correct materials as they are currently colour-coded (a temporary measure to help identify the different types when I first created them a few years ago).

The subway is very prominent and a ground slab needs creating to cover the area between Central and North (not even started) Block.

With regard to North Block, I didn’t touch it at all because it was in active use by HMRC but now it has been vacated and probably stripped out and converted to flats then I can start at some point. It’s relatively simple compared to the rest of the complex.

Installation of the concrete cills (walls below the office windows), 1st floor external walls and West Block external brick walls should be able to commence before too long. The mosaic cladding on the other hand is likely to be a pain.

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