W Washington Hotel, part 3 - sky terrace

(About a year ago, we were contracted to do the illustrations for W Hotel's new Washington D.C. hotel.)
CASE STUDY edition

sky terrace rendering, detail

This time I'm showing some of the progress that lead to the finished rendering. Maybe this post will be a little more interesting, or maybe it'll just be long-winded.

existing sky terrace circa March 2007

Here's a photograph of the old terrace prior to redesign.

lamp rendering test

This lamp is the first thing I modeled for the sky terrace, but it was omitted from the final design.

progress: wall, floor, background

First I created the walls and the background image.

site photo

The background was created by altering this daytime photo.

progress: canopy, railing, ivy

progress: rough furniture & more details

The furniture placeholders are for the benefit of the designers, so they can get an idea of final composition. Here, the designers asked for new lighting (chandeliers). The decision to lighten the background photo was mine.

progress: some design changes & furniture

About half of the furniture is modeled. Each piece of furniture usually takes between 2 to 8 hours, depending on its complexity. The designer requested that the large plant and the canopy texture be removed. I decided to move the camera back to reveal more of the room.

final rendering (click to enlarge)

... And here's the final image. What a journey....
The rest of the furniture has been modeled. The designer asked for the removal of the sofa seat tufting, and that it be rotated away from the wall slightly.