Smallwood Architects, a London-based architecture firm specializing in bespoke residential projects, blends traditional hand-drawn sketches with AI features like SketchUp Diffusion to streamline workflows and tackle complex projects — all while preserving their personalized, detail-driven approach.
Designed by Smallwood Architects, SketchUp Diffusion generative AI helps create a more life-like visualization of the outdoor space.
Smallwood Architects is a London-based architecture firm specializing in bespoke and heritage private residential work in London and across the UK. The 15-person team is passionate about delivering a relationship-focused experience from beginning to end, ensuring the highest quality projects from conception to completion.
"We're like a tailor designing a bespoke suit. We take our clients' exact measurements and exact desires. We translate that not into clothes but into a house perfectly designed for how they operate with their families, guests, or the people they employ."Julius Geeson, Senior Architect
Julius says this customer-first, detail-oriented approach is critical to the firm's long-standing success. Founded in 1976, the firm draws inspiration from its diverse, energetic, and modern city while maintaining a profound respect for the beauty and history of the buildings they work on.
"We aim to delight our clients with something we create based on their unique, personal requirements," says Julius. " That is a crucial part of the process for us."
Smallwood Architects is a firm that rejects a cookie-cutter design process. The team typically avoids high-end CGI presentation work, particularly in the initial planning stages, instead embracing a loose, atmospheric style of imagery well-suited to the historic nature of the homes they design.
During his architectural training in the '90s, Julius was an early adopter of computer-aided design. He recalls being discouraged from using CAD because the designs looked generic and drawings appeared impersonal. Moreover, there was a fear that CAD would replace the architect's creativity. Today, Julius is mindful of this fear but believes that AI will not replace the architect's creativity and instead be another tool in their belt to be used at an appropriate time. The team at Smallwood Architects is eager to portray a distinctive, hand-crafted aesthetic in every design, so start almost every project with hand-drawn sketches.
Embracing AI as a creative ally
Despite the firm's penchant for traditional presentation tools, it doesn't shy away from appreciating the benefits of current and new technologies. Even as others express fears about AI taking their job, Smallwood Architects embrace the transformational power of emerging tools.
"We see a lot of negative talk around AI in the media," remarked Julius. "But I don't see it as a doom and gloom thing. I see it as an opportunity."
From 2D design and 3D modeling to stunning visuals using Diffusion generative AI, SketchUp offers tools for every step of the design process.
Julius acknowledges that AI will massively impact the architecture industry. However, rather than fearing this change, he believes tools like SketchUp Diffusion can simultaneously enhance his workflow and creative abilities.
"SketchUp allows you to literally push and pull things around to see changes unfold in real-time," Julius said. "So when Diffusion came along, I was incredibly impressed at how easy and quick it was to use."
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Julius has already used Diffusion as a valuable source of inspiration, allowing him to see his designs through an alternative lens. He said architects have traditionally had to put their drawings through many time-consuming stages, be that CGIs or more manual processes such as illustrations and watercolor paintings, to see their designs brought to life. Using AI tools allows them to see their ideas manifested in many ways almost instantaneously.
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"It brings a whole new aspect to my work," Julius said. "It's like someone else's mind's eye has come right into my visual field. And that's incredibly powerful."
For this reason, Smallwood Architects sees Diffusion as not just a presentation tool but a design development tool that greatly expands the realm of possibility.
Delivering complex designs on a tight deadline
Recently, the firm used Diffusion's visualization power to tackle a unique project and produce highly detailed visuals in record time.
Though most Smallwood Architects clients are London-based, the firm occasionally undertakes special projects abroad, ranging from seaside villas in Barbados to castle refurbishments in Ireland.
One such request recently came from an exclusive client outside the UK, which called for numerous CGIs to be created quickly. The project included a multi-building complex with seven or eight structures, intricate local landscaping, coordinating with interior designers, and more.
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Because of the sheer scale of the project and the short turnaround times, Smallwood Architects couldn't outsource CGI work like they might for other designs. Fortunately, Julius had experimented with a beta version of Diffusion in SketchUp Labs, a public beta program that allows SketchUp subscribers to try out new features that are still in development. They quickly realized it was the solution to their quandary.
"Diffusion lets us generate CGIs on the fly rather than tacking it on to the end of the process, which is not always attractive to us, where time constraint is a significant factor," Julius said.
Within 20-30 passes through Diffusion, the team generated a wide selection of draft CGIs. Then, they overlaid the Diffusion images on a V-Ray output and massaged them over the top in Adobe Photoshop, using Adobe's generative AI to add people. The team whittled down the workflow from an average of several months to just a few days.
"There's no way we could've done all that by preparing our designs and sending them off to a CGI specialist to model — it was never going to happen," Julius said. "Diffusion was the only way we could accomplish everything within the requested timeframe."
Unlocking new possibilities with SketchUp Diffusion
Looking forward, Smallwood Architects are excited to leverage Diffusion to revisit a catalog of old designs and breathe new life into them.
"I've always wanted to bring those sketches and CAD drawings to a presentation level," says Julius. "But we've not considered doing this until now as the technology has always been so labor-intensive and time-consuming and costly to use."
With Diffusion, Julius and his team can transform simple two-dimensional views into polished and dynamic imagery in a fraction of the time. Thanks to the low lift involved, Smallwood Architects can easily showcase their most creative work and expand their online portfolio.
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Julius doesn't believe AI will ever completely take over the design process, especially when you're dedicated to creating unique and customized design solutions like Smallwood Architects. Still, he looks forward to seeing where the power of automation takes the industry and sees Diffusion as a valuable tool throughout the design process.
"It (Diffusion) throws things out there that make you think, 'Oh, I never even thought of that; I could incorporate that into my design."Julius Geeson, Senior Architect
If you're ready to harness the power of generative AI to express your unique creative vision better, it's time to try SketchUp Diffusion. Start a free trial or find the right subscription for you today.
About Smallwood Architects
Smallwood Architects was founded by Christopher Smallwood in 1976 to provide a personal service to clients and deliver beautiful, high-quality buildings. Initial commissions came entirely through word of mouth, but in the intervening years, they have grown and achieved a reputation for delivering high-quality traditional and contemporary design throughout the UK, Europe, the US and beyond.
Their philosophy is simple: The architects at Smallwood aim to get to know you and your ambitions and design a beautiful space or building tailored to you as an exact fit. They work creatively and collaboratively with clients, primarily as the lead consultant. The Smallwood team strives to deliver all aspects of the project as seamlessly as possible by drawing upon their extensive network of highly experienced consultants and managing them throughout the entire process.
Drawing upon their extensive creative experience, professional expertise, and cultural awareness, Smallwood Architects aims to ensure that clients enjoy the complex process in their own safe hands. Their motto is "Creating Beautiful Buildings that Enhance our Clients' Lives."
