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Designing in 3D with SketchUp

Dreaming of your perfect floor plan and sketching in a notebook is a fine tradition that I fully support. But, if you're tech savvy enough, I suggest taking it to the next level, downloading SketchUp, and having fun with your ideas. Take your dreams and use them as inspiration in communicating with your architect.

Jeff Pelletier is the Managing Principal and Founder of Board & Vellum, an architecture, interior design, and landscape architecture firm in Seattle, Washington.
Jeff Pelletier
October 12, 2011

When I tell people I'm an architect (by the way, we make excellent cocktail party guests - every cocktail party needs one or two architects to really be fantastic), I usually hear a few lines about how they have always wanted to be an architect (I've already written about this before) and how they still love to draft up their ideas.

Well, guess what? That's actually pretty freaking cool! EVERYONE should be inspired enough to dream and imagine what kind of great spaces they want to live in. Architecture is FUN! Telling someone that they shouldn't be inspired enough to dream about what kind of house they want to live or work in is just silly. Now, everyone doesn't have the skill or knowledge that a licensed architect has, of course, but that doesn't mean they can't dream! Coming to your architect with some rough sketched out plans or drawings goes a long way to helping them figure out what kind of priority you put on spaces and how you think. As long as you realize that a good architect will take your sketches as just inspiration images and not gospel then you're good to go.

You hire an architect to make your dreams become more fantastic than you ever imagined. You hire a draftsperson to make your plans become reality.

Trust me, you'll be much happier with the former when it comes time to design your house. (Side Note: No drafts-people were harmed in the writing of this blog. They're good people who do a necessary and valued job.)

All that said, one of the most fun and most accessible (AND FREE!) programs out there to spend hours of your time with is SketchUp. It is an incredibly simple and effective 3D drafting program that practically anyone can pick up in an hour or two with a bunch of online tutorials. It was bought by Google a bunch of years ago and they've done a great job of fostering the growth of this company.

I don't think I've worked on a single project in the past 8 years or so that didn't use SketchUp. Imagining stuff in 3D just makes things so much easier to understand. And the way the program is built is wonderfully intuitive to use and consists of pushing and pulling forms. It will never replace complicated rendering programs but will get you 90% of the way with 10% of the effort. From skyscrapers to bathroom remodels, this is always my first stop in understanding the massing of a building or the finer details of an interior remodel.

And unlike the crazy, complicated programs architects can use that truly mystify people, SketchUp is something that really crosses all boundaries. We all can use it.

Feel free to download the free version and explore away. It is fun!

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