How Origin Design Studio Cut Rendering Time by 75% and Accelerated Planning Approvals

About Origin Design Studio

Origin Design Studio is an RIBA Chartered practice based in the East Midlands, serving Lincolnshire and Boston for over a decade. Specialising in residential architecture, the studio delivers bespoke homes and developments of up to 30 dwellings.

With expertise spanning planning law, agricultural redevelopment and detailed technical resolution, the team works confidently across all RIBA stages.

Before Gendo

Visualisation had historically relied on white-box models, with a single team member responsible for producing photo-realistic renders. Each model and rendering was budgeted at 10–12 hours.

As project volume increased, this created a clear bottleneck. When multiple schemes required visuals simultaneously, planning submissions and client decisions were delayed.

The issue extended beyond internal workflow. Many clients and planning stakeholders struggle to interpret orthographic drawings or understand stepped massing from 2D plans. While architects naturally interpret these representations, the communication gap often slowed decision-making.

A notable example involved a sloping site requiring stepped-back forms at each storey. Despite six months of pre-application discussions and iterative revisions, the spatial intent remained unclear to stakeholders. Progress towards a formal planning submission stalled.

Discovering a Better Way

As part of a wider initiative to integrate AI into its design process, Origin Design Studio evaluated several visualisation tools. Gendo emerged as the preferred solution due to its intuitive interface and ability to generate high-quality renders from early sketches and massing models.

Rendering time reduced from a budgeted 10–12 hours to under 3 hours per model, representing a 75% saving.

This shift decentralised visual production, removing dependency on a single team member and allowing visuals to be created earlier and more consistently. It also complemented the studio’s renewed emphasis on hand sketching, enabling rapid iteration during concept design without extending programme timelines.

Before

After

The benefits became immediately evident during the previously stalled sloping site project.

A single Gendo-generated image, produced from a sketch in under three hours, clarified the stepped design intent. The visual reframed the conversation, transforming uncertainty into support and enabling the project to move forward towards formal planning submission.

Impact on Workflow

The client praised the clarity of the image and its influence in progressing discussions. As Dan Thompson, Architect explains:

What six months of drawings and dialogue had not fully achieved was resolved through a single, well-communicated visual.

Gendo has since become embedded within the studio’s workflow, ensuring that clear, persuasive imagery supports planning conversations from the outset.

✅ 75% reduction in rendering time

✅ Rendering reduced from 10–12 hours to under 3 hours per model

✅ Removal of single-person visualisation bottleneck

✅ Improved clarity in pre-application discussions

✅ Faster progression from concept to planning submission

Client and Planning Response

Origin Design Studio had already observed that planning applications accompanied by visuals tend to receive fewer design-related concerns and progress more smoothly.

With Gendo, high-quality imagery is no longer a resource constraint. The ability to produce compelling visuals quickly ensures that clarity is embedded within submissions rather than added as an afterthought.

By strengthening communication at the earliest stages, the practice is positioning itself for more efficient planning processes and stronger stakeholder alignment.

A New Standard for Communication

Dan Thompson, Architect shares:

Gendo has transformed how we communicate our designs. What previously took 10 to 12 hours can now be achieved in under three, allowing us to respond faster and present our ideas with clarity and confidence. It has become a key part of how we move projects forward. Dan Thomspon

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