Best CGIs of 2021: Revere

The CGI of the week, in terms of property news in Manchester, has been that of St Michael’s. The highly anticipated and long awaited development is starting work in January, but as news sites rushed to cover the announcement there was a visual that nearly everyone used.

It was created by Manchester-based Revere, a design studio that aims to bring architectural projects to life.

Revere is a team of four, capable of crafting visual assets that can run throughout a marketing campaign, from the design of brochures to CGI to animation. It is able to do that because Revere has a network of collaborators throughout the world, enabling the core Revere squad to pick the perfect talent for each project.

“Property and architecture are things we really love,” said Josh Locke, commercial director and co-founder of Revere.

For Locke, he finds visualisation exciting in how it helps propel big developments forward, aiding them in making their case before planning committees and investors.

Revere uses Unreal Engine on its projects, a software usually used for gaming. This has several advantages. It allows the Revere team to build immersive VR experiences that they can grab animations from. It also happens to be more cost effective and efficient than other animation software, according to Locke.

Because Unreal Engine renders the projects in a different way, it enables the Revere team to make quick changes – which unlocks the animation as a design tool in and of itself. It can be changed up to see how different elements work and adjusted to fit the planning stage or the more bells and whistles marketing one.

Revere clients have also used the team’s skillset to update animations to include a future client’s branding in a way to help pitch the building to potential occupiers.

“It’s been really effective,” Locke said.

Place North West asked Locke to share some of the studio’s favourite CGIs from the past year that were based in the North West. Locke delivered five projects, sharing that he wished he could extend the brief to London where the Revere team has a second office and has been busy with projects like the mixed-use Tribeca development from Reef Group.

Here are Locke’s picks for the best North West CGIs from Revere this year.

‘Jumanji’-themed interior at Meadowside. Credit: Revere

Meadowside

• Developer: FEC
• Location: Manchester

“FEC wanted to do an image of an interior of an apartment which was inspired by Jumanji,” Locke said.

“We got to go a bit mad with that,” he said, describing how the team filled with greenery, ornaments and even some incense.

“It was cool to get such an interesting brief as well as one we could interpret and run with.”

Visualisation of Investar’s redevelopment of Paragon House. Credit: Revere

Paragon House redevelopment

• Developer: Investar
• Architect: Headoffice3
• Location: Trafford

This is Locke’s favourite image from the project, which will see former offices converted into apartments. Revere helped pull together branding, brochures and CGIs for.

“Autumn is a great time of year for CGIs; it allows the artist to get creative and to really play around with colour and how the trees and landscaping of a development can accentuate the architecture,” Locke explained.

Visualisation of St Michael’s. Credit: Revere

St Michael’s

• Developer: Relentless and KKR
• Architect: Hodder + Partners
• Location: Manchester

“I think the architectural design is really cool as well,” Locke said.

He also pointed out the time the image was set – what he calls blue hour, just after the sun has set.

“Blue hour makes for an emotive image, conjuring up ideas of finishing work for the day and going out to meet friends,” Locke said. “We’ve populated it as a super busy scene, but paid attention to what every person is doing so there’s a level of detail there that makes for a really compelling scene, which hopefully conveys the thriving development that the team behind it are planning.”

Dollhouse visualisation of New Cross Central. Credit: Revere

New Cross Central

• Developer: FEC
• Architect: Hawkins\Brown
• Location: Manchester

Revere created both a still image and an animated one of a dollhouse of the Ancoats development. While the image was created in 2020, it is making its Place North West debut this year.

“I think it’s a really cool shot with lots going on,  gatherings on the roof terrace and in the apartments,” Locke said.

“We loved Hawkins\Brown’s architecture and suggested a 3D section on the project to convey the design of the whole building in one shot, in a way that simply wouldn’t be possible with a normal exterior view.”

CGI of a container from Staycations UK. Credit: Revere

Container CGI

• Developer: Staycations UK

“We’ve started a new venture in 2021, taking our creations in the property space from the virtual, to the real…” Locke said.

Locke and Revere co-founder Oli Jay have created Staycations UK, which aims to put cabins on spare land.

“This is a CGI of our first shipping container Airbnb, which we have designed to be a cosy place to reconnect with nature, hence the inviting lighting, the log burner and the rural backdrop,” Locke said of the image.

Learn more about Revere at revere.design.

Revere founders Oli Jay and Josh Locke. Credit: Revere

Want to see more CGIs of North West projects? See the best visualisations of 2021 from North Made Studio and the best visualisations of 2021 from Our Studio.