Pedro Martins: A Canvas-First Workflow for a Solo Practice
How a Porto-based solo architect replaced a tangled ComfyUI pipeline with Gendo's canvas—freeing his hardware, opening collaboration to clients, and producing presentation-quality visuals from real photos and 3D views.
Unlimited
Image generation
Freed-up
Local hardware
Clients in
The canvas
Pedro Martins Architect
Team Size
Solo practice people
Location
Porto, Portugal
Principal
Pedro Martins
Focus
Apartment buildings, Public projects
Pedro Martins is a solo architect based in Porto, Portugal. After twelve years co-running a multi-generational family practice—where he covered every stage from concept to site execution, including the studio's 3D visualisation work—Pedro now runs his own practice independently.
His work focuses on apartment buildings designed from the ground up, alongside collaborations on public buildings. He is also one of a growing number of practitioners using AI as a core production tool, not a novelty.
"I had to cover the rendering side because I was the youngest in the studio. That experience prepared me to be solo."
— Pedro Martins
Explore Pedro's project canvas
A live look inside the Gendo canvas Pedro shared from his own practice.
A messy AI pipeline and a slow traditional one
Pedro's challenge was twofold. Relying on traditional 3D modelling and V-Ray for early-stage testing was too slow—it delayed internal decisions and risked clients losing confidence in the direction.
On the AI side, ComfyUI's node-based interface obscured the design process. With so many images being generated per project, it became hard to see how decisions had evolved. Generation also ran on his local hardware, blocking the same machine he needed for 3D modelling and BIM documentation.
The underlying problem: producing high-quality, fast visuals as a solo architect, without losing track of the design process or tying up the hardware he needed elsewhere.
A canvas that shows the process, not just the output
Gendo's canvas immediately answered the part of ComfyUI that had been failing Pedro: a clear, image-led overview of the entire decision process, with everything else tucked into the background. Combined with fine-tuned style models, intuitive annotation, and server-side image generation, it slotted directly into his solo workflow.
"Gendo seemed much easier to oversee the process of the content generated—essential for project development when you have so many images to generate."
Server-side generation also freed Pedro's local hardware for 3D modelling and BIM documentation.
From photographs and SketchUp to a single canvas
Pedro's typical workflow starts with two very different inputs. For renovation projects he photographs existing built apartments and manipulates them directly inside Gendo. For new-build apartment buildings he exports views from his 3D software, takes a screenshot, and pastes them straight onto the canvas.
From there, everything happens in one place—iteration, annotation with the pencil tool, fine-tuned models for specific styles, and presentation of the results to the client. There is no shuttling between Photoshop, render queues, and a separate presentation deck.
"I just print-screen and paste. It's so perfect for the way I work."
Two years on ComfyUI, and the limits of traditional rendering
Pedro had been running ComfyUI for two years before adopting Gendo. While powerful, the interface became unmanageable for project work—too many nodes, too much going on, and the history of decisions lost in the noise.
On the traditional side, the speed at which you can see a design concept depends entirely on getting a 3D render. Until then, everything has to be modelled and textured, and you wait a long time before any visualisation of the idea exists. For a solo practice that has to constantly check direction with the client, that delay is expensive.
The Impact: Faster iteration, freed hardware, and clients inside the process
Gendo gave Pedro two distinct gains: efficiency from offloading image generation to the server, and a more transparent way to develop projects with clients. Instead of producing a PDF and presenting at fixed milestones, the canvas itself becomes the live workspace.
Key Outcomes
Image generation runs on Gendo's servers, leaving the local machine for 3D and BIM
Clients can enter the canvas and explore images directly, with no PDF assembly in between
Replaces slower V-Ray workflows that no longer hit the time/quality bar
Unexpected results from generation occasionally spark new directions in the design itself
Transparent design development, shared responsibility
Pedro deliberately invites clients into the development of the design, the delivery timeline, and proposed changes—rather than only presenting a polished end render. The canvas makes that openness practical.
Clients are finding it intuitive to enter and browse on their own, removing the need for Pedro to assemble a PDF for every development milestone. Image quality has been consistently strong, and bringing the client into the workspace shifts decision-making into a more shared mode.
"Having a canvas where the client can participate in the process and build on what I've proposed is amazing."
"I'd recommend stopping all standard rendering tasks. Dedicate your time fully to 3D modelling and BIM documentation, and use Gendo to generate and manage all project visualisations."
Pedro Martins
Architect, Porto
