Over the past few years Raleigh residents have enjoyed the excitement of a new building rendering on several occasions. The dreams and hopes of our next generation of buildings is typically energizing and builds expectations of a better tomorrow. As Raleigh’s tallest building takes form, we can now look back at a couple of artist renderings and see how close they were.

For best results, open each photo in a new tab, then switch back and forth to compare.

The popular skyline rendering can be compared to the picture on the right, taken on February 29, 2008. The nearly topped-off RBC Plaza stands in the center while the convention center and Marriott have completed their massing. It appears that the RBC Plaza’s rendering was the most accurate. While the building is actually farther to the right and is wider than portrayed, the size is fairly close. The building’s 22nd floor (marked by the yellow horizontal band) steps back at almost the same point relative to Two Hannover Square, but the residential floors will not be quite as tall as the rendering shows (the buidling’s highest inhabitable floor has been poured). I added a black triangle to the photo to show where the spire will top out (based on proportional measurements of lower floors compared to the cutaway diagram). Because the spire itself reaches the same height but the residential section is indeed shorter, the spire will proportionally be slightly larger than shown in the rendering. The error is minor, however. The rendering’s portrayal of the building’s blue glass is somewhat overly saturated in color. On the other hand, the shadows in the glass are full of errors. Overall, though, the RBC Plaza rendering is an accurate portrayal of what is being built.

The second project, the convention center, is also well portrayed. The rendering’s structural details are impressive, especially the NW corner’s glass protrusion and the roof’s support features. The building did not end up being as tall as hoped, though. The resulting roofline is about 40 feet lower (as compared to the Sheraton’s windows) and is much flatter than portrayed. Overall this is a good rendering, though.

…And then there is the Marriott. When the rendering was published, it was met with a chorus of boos. The insipid design in a prominent location was criticized as a missed opportunity. Critics at least were optimistic about the building’s massing and future contribution to the skyline’s density. In reality the building is an enormous disappointment and shows the rendering’s wild inaccuracies. The Marriott is vastly shorter and farther to the right than anticipated. Its windows are proportionally much smaller, making the building more similar to the high-rise jail than a second rate hotel design. Finally, is it me or does the photo show the hotel leaning to the left, somewhat, compared to One Hannover Square (Bank of America)? While the actual placement of the Marriott’s tower is much farther east than anticipated, the Progress One building is still visible and gives the appearance of more density. Perhaps we are lucky that more buildings appear in the “money shot”. Overall, though, the Marriott rendering turned out to be a poor one.

Another anticipated area this decade has been North Hills. Shown here is the Alexan rendering and a photo taken on February 20, 2008. Like the convention center, is it impressive how many details were included from the streetlight design and Storehouse awnings, to the black oval Alexan sign straight ahead. The artist did not anticipate the site’s terrain, though. In actuality The Alexan sits much farther back from and higher than Lassiter Mill Road. The error is most evident in the stairway that had to be built in front of the Alexan’s first storefront. The rendering shows a quite walkable, seamless site whereas reality offers pedestrians a busy street plus a flight of stairs to continue their experience. This is not a bad rendering, but the terrain issues prevent this from being a great one.

One of Raleigh’s most anticipated projects was the Entertainment and Sports Arena (RBC Center). The 1990s rendering and final product turned out to be extremely similar. There are several fairly minor differences, though. The rendering shows the building’s ovoid shape continuing, unbroken, at the main entrance. Some design changes by The Carolina Hurricanes included a bumped out entrance which allowed space for a ticketing lobby, retail store, club restaurant, Hurricanes offices, and the VIP entrance. The roof ring level is also bumped out, and houses the CanesVision video production studios. Another difference is the green glass and the absence of red in the actual structure. This is the exterior’s big failure . The original plan called for a rose-based smoked glass. Unfortunately the wrong color, green, was ordered and the result is ugly. Finally, high resolution versions of this renderings show multicolored uplighting on the roof’s ring. In actuality this aluminum crown is uplit with disappointing white light. Festive colored lighting (as shown in the rendering) would improve the building’s nighttime appearance. Overall, though, the artist did an excellent job with proportion, scale, and terrain and produced and excellent rendering.