When the land is part of the story
At The Amble in Steamboat Springs, the slope around the buildings is central to understanding the development, so the terrain had to be as legible as the architecture. The Powder Mountain brief called for ski runs, roads, parking, homes, lodges and lot lines across a mountainside. When buyers, boards or planning teams need to understand how a project sits on its land, a topographic model is often the clearest way to show it.
Topography model or site model?
A site model shows how a building fits into its surroundings, with the building usually leading. A topography model puts the land first. Most projects land somewhere in between: terrain, roads and buildings in one view. We’ll talk through which should lead and how much of each to include.
Choosing the area and the scale
The same idea looks very different at different scales. The Daybreak model covers an upcoming phase of a development at 1 inch to 167 feet, so lots, roads and paths are all visible. The Amble is 1 inch to 36 feet, which lets slopes and buildings be read up close. For Exercise Northern Strike, the Michigan National Guard commissioned two 8 by 8 foot models: a regional view and a closer look at Camp Grayling, so the training team had both the wider setting and a local one.
Making hills readable
Over a large area, real hills can look flat at model scale. Some models exaggerate the vertical scale so landforms are easier to read. The Petit Jean State Park model increases vertical relief by 1.5 times, and the St. Charles Heritage Museum model exaggerates it three times. We’ll talk through whether exaggeration suits your subject and how much.
What helps us begin
A survey, elevation data or site drawings help us understand the landscape. For the City Park golf course, we worked from drone-collected elevation data, satellite imagery and course information. For Mount St. Helens, we began with elevation data, made a 3D file and cut the terrain on a CNC machine. If you’re not sure what source material exists for your site, tell us about the place and we’ll talk it through.
Finish, display and travel
The finish decides what people notice. A grayscale surface keeps attention on landforms and changes in elevation. A spring and early summer scene gives a development a sense of place, as with Marcella Club. Small trees following the slopes did the same for the Salida model. Large models can be built in sections, as Powder Mountain was for transport and on-site assembly, and a display table can be planned with the model, as at Big Sky and Daybreak. Golf course models, such as City Park and Cornerstone, follow the same idea, showing the course layout together with the terrain.
For an example, see our Powder Mountain Terrain Model project. We also have topography & site models in the portfolio.