Pursuing contemporary and practical design at Archivia, an Architectural Design Office in Gyeryong City. Doalltech of South Korea sat down with Architect Sunmi Hur.

Archivia, located across from the Gyeryong City Hall, is a new, one-person architectural firm. Established just 6 months ago, Archivia has already been using Twinmotion for three months.

The namesake of this unique and modern atelier comes from ‘via,’ a preposition that means ‘by way of’ (a certain place, people, or system), combined with the word ‘architect,’ to derive the meaning that architecture is introduced by way of architect Sunmi Hur.

When I entered the office, I was surprised by the unique interior, different from so many other architectural design offices I have visited. White paint with grey and light blue paint colors, this simple yet elegant interior gave off the feeling of a polished, suburban café. Everything from the chair, table, even the coffee mug reflected the architect’s careful consideration to detail and I was honored to hear her story in this space that very clearly reflected her personality and immaculate taste.

Since graduating from Hongik University, Sunmi preferred to work in small to mid-sized architectural offices to gain practical experience learning the full design process. After three years of learning the basics in window schedules and bathroom layouts in a family-like office atmosphere, Sunmi changed jobs to take on bigger tasks on larger projects.

Even after marriage and giving birth, Sunmi continued to work, but as is the problem with most working moms, Sunmi eventually quit to devote more time to her family. She was happy with her family life but she could not ignore her passion and dreams for architectural design. So, after much preparation, she passed the architectural licensing exam with her family’s full support. Even after obtaining the architectural license, she continued to broaden her knowledge and skills.

“I opened an office, and at first I was just keeping vigil inside. I thought, ‘this is how it is done, since I am a one-person office I need to be in the office just in case a client comes to visit.’ Then, I realized I couldn’t start working by just sitting calmly in one spot. That’s when I started attending events, meetings, training programs, and seminars. I met a lot of people of the same or similar occupation and shared various information, and it became a chance for me to be more active and open-minded to overcome the shortcoming of being a one-person architecture office. And after that, I gradually began to think more deeply about how I can set myself apart and have a competitive edge over the others.”

Twinmotion – a designer’s duty.

The first time I met with Architect Sunmi Hur was a late evening before the 2017 New Year holidays. Having fought the heavy traffic to our office in Seoul for technical support, it was apparent that Sunmi had a passion for learning.

Sunmi was first introduced to Twinmotion in 2016 during the KIRA (Korea Institute of Registered Architects) Promotion in Chungnam. Since then, she has frequently met with Twinmotion representatives at various events and training functions.

“When I first met Jin, he gave off a very professional and experienced vibe. Afterward, in our email correspondence, I felt that his signature ‘a designer’s duty’ really called out to me.”

Cost-Efficient

In a recent BIM Training course, Sunmi was the only person to complete the final project using Twinmotion.

“Compared with students who used other rendering tools around me at the time of the training, I felt that Twinmotion was a far better tool that is easier to use. This is when I felt that I had made the right choice in purchasing Twinmotion.”

Sunmi describes that her experience with using Twinmotion so far can be summarized as ‘cost-efficient.’

“I felt that the intuitive interface was very easy to use and the result could be produced extremely fast, which made communication with clients during the design phase much quicker and clients could better understand the designed spaces. I could also invest the time I saved into producing even better designs.”

It seems that lately ‘cost-efficient’ is a term that is loosely thrown around without much weight to it. However, I believe that this term best describes Twinmotion. Especially in the case of new architecture offices, it is difficult to try out different types of software in search of a ‘best fit’ for the office.

“If you have employees, you ask them to test the various software. But for a single person office or a small architectural firm there is a much bigger financial burden. In a single-family home or small scale residential properties, the client want to first understand the overall feel of the design or the shape rather than see the entire detailed version first. Instead of pursuing realistic details it is more important to convey the design process and spend more time on finalizing the end-product.  Architectural design, being very sensitive to accurate dimensioning, I think it is wiser to know when to prioritize the important areas to be as efficient as possible, and to be able to spend the most time on realizing the final product.”

What Twinmotion customers value the most is speed. Anyone who has rendered before will have experienced the long hours of rendering with the computer left on. With Twinmotion, it takes a mere 10 seconds to render a single image, gifting time saved on rendering back to the architect.

Client’s Response and Success Rate

At the time of my request to interview Ms. Huh, her office was still brand new and she had only just purchased Twinmotion, so she did not have any project cases to share with me. So, I was very surprised to find out on the day of the interview that Sunmi had won her first three projects during the short interim period.

“I am very grateful to have won three projects in such a short period of time. One client had previously visited several architectural design offices with disappointing results and had made the visit to Archivia as a last resort. Upon seeing my designs however, the client almost immediately contracted the project. I did not think that he would go through with the contract because of his background as a tax agent and my bias toward him that he would be fastidious. However, he was immediately attracted to the simple, industrial design of the house and I was astonished when he asked to sign the contract at our very first meeting.”

Sunmi says that she had not made extensive plans because many projects had fallen through during client meetings in the past, but had rather focused on learning how to use the software and on improving her portfolio and presentation.

Twinmotion’s cost-efficiency can be clearly felt through the client’s response and the success rate of the project contracts. Just seeing the actual materials and the realistic feel of Twinmotion makes a big difference for the clients.

“Showing the virtual model of what the client had only imagined before, opens up dialogue and the exchange of ideas between the client and myself. Of course, sometimes it becomes more annoying and tiring to have an increased volume of communication, but it makes a lot of sense to pinpoint and discuss all potential issues that may negatively affect the final product and adjust. I use Twinmotion for this purpose.”

As the client better understands how the building will look in real life, the communication becomes more fluid allowing for more effective consultation.

“First time clients are often very sensitive about the unit price of construction. In this situation, it is meaningless to suggest a design that will increase the cost of construction. However, when they are presented with a realistic model of the design, clients are more open to ideas and accepting of new suggestions.”

The Mobile Architect

The term “mobile architect” is used to describe architects who are constantly on the move. Being able to work anywhere, anytime, in a café or at home, with a laptop that weighs less than 1kg, but still be able to produce quality 3D models and renderings, shows how drastically the working environment will change in the future.

If you have communicated with your client using a physical model or 2D printed drawings in the past, you can now communicate with your client on a laptop, tablet, or mobile phone. For those with limited knowledge of architecture, Twinmotion’s iVisit360 mobile application uses VR technology to virtually walk clients through the building to better understand the spatial relationship of the design. Furthermore, if an iVisit360 proposal is put on the Client’s smartphone or tablet, the Client can ask friends or family members for further design input.

Archivia Architecture Office

“No one knows 100% what he or she wants. However, I believe it is an architect’s most import job to show clients, who come asking for a building but do not truly know what they want, the best solution in the form of a rendered BIM model.”

In addition to architectural design, Sunmi believes that it is also an architect’s role to suggest reasonable alternatives and direction to help clients realize what they really want. Having experience providing customized services to a wide range of clients, from those who have little to no knowledge of architecture to those clients who conduct a lot of preliminary research, is the key to producing high-quality building designs.

“I received a lot of help from people around me and from the community to open my office, and now I want to give back to the community that helped me so much. This could be in the form of actively serving my community, but also through my design to consider the building as not only private property, but also as a part of a space that creates harmony with its surroundings. I think this is the greatest gift I can give to positively influence society while also doing my job.”

Lastly, how would you introduce Twinmotion, which was the subject of this interview, to architects who have not yet discovered Twinmotion?

“I would like to recommend it to those, like me, who are not familiar with a lot of software. I think those who like to hand-draw would also like it. I would especially recommend it to those running a one-person architecture firm, without any staff, to save on time and outsourcing costs. The final rendering is meaningful, but I think it is most useful during the design development stages to communicate with the client.”