Areas we service

Architectural rendering · United States

Renders from your model, for projects in the United States.

There is no national building code here and no national planning statute, and both absences change how a render gets commissioned. The International Code Council publishes the International Building Code and its companions as model codes, which carry legal force only where a state or a local jurisdiction adopts them, so the technical baseline for any project is whatever that jurisdiction adopted and then amended. Land use sits with the municipality. What is federal, and what most reliably reads a picture as evidence, is heritage consultation and design review in the National Capital. That inverts the usual assumption. A project team often needs one set of images for a local board with its own submission habits, and a second, far more disciplined set for a federal process that will be read against a published regulation.

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Where renders get used here

Two federal processes take a rendered image as evidence rather than as illustration. Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act an agency assesses effects on historic properties, and the regulation names the introduction of visual, atmospheric or audible elements that diminish the integrity of a property's significant historic features as an adverse effect. A simulation exists to test exactly that wording. Separately, concept review of government projects by the Commission of Fine Arts calls for rendered perspectives or three dimensional massing model drawings as appropriate, alongside photographs of the existing site and surrounding area. Private property in parts of Washington reaches the same table through the Shipstead-Luce Act and the Old Georgetown Act. Kallo produces the imagery. Your agency, consultant or preservation architect runs the consultation.

Who decides

U.S. Commission of Fine Arts

Reviews design proposals in the National Capital and asks concept submissions for rendered perspectives or massing model drawings as appropriate.

Advisory Council on Historic Preservation

Sets the regulations under which introducing a visual element into a historic setting counts as an adverse effect, which is the finding a simulation is built to test.

National Park Service

Reviews the Historic Preservation Certification Application with the state office, on drawings and photographs of real condition rather than on marketing views.

National Institute of Building Sciences

Publishes the National BIM Standard-United States, the nearest thing to a shared information convention in a market with no single code.

Preparing your brief

For United States commissions, tell us which decision the presentation must support and who will receive it. A local review board, an investment committee and a prospective purchaser may need different views of the same proposal. Share the current approved drawings, any written submission requirements and the date your team needs the final material. Where several consultants contribute information, nominate one person to resolve conflicting comments. Confirm the intended page sizes and uses at the outset so the delivered images fit your presentation and the approval schedule you have agreed.

What gets built here

The processes here that ask for an image tend to say in writing what they want from it. Federal undertakings that trigger Section 106 consultation, certified rehabilitations pursued through the Historic Preservation Certification Application against the Secretary of the Interior's Standards, and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit developments competing through a state qualified allocation plan each put an image in front of a reader working from a checklist. Government projects and Shipstead-Luce Act submissions in the National Capital belong in the same group. Everything else is permitted against whichever edition of the International Building Code that jurisdiction has adopted.

Working with Kallo

Kallo works with your team wherever your project is based. Share the approved design, the audience and the date you need the work. Your proposal confirms the images or film, review stages and delivery schedule.

  • Your presentation or launch date helps shape an agreed delivery schedule.
  • The proposal sets out the review stages and the changes included in your project.
  • Bring feedback together so your team can approve a clear direction.
  • Larger sets and complex projects get a confirmed schedule before work begins.
  • Project files and images are private unless publication is approved in writing.

Units and sheets

Units

Imperial, with metric accepted

Sheets

ANSI and ARCH series

Models authored in feet and inches are read as supplied. Output is sized for ARCH D and ANSI D sheets rather than A1, so a set drops straight into a submittal without rescaling.

Questions

Can you produce a photo simulation for a Section 106 consultation?

We can discuss imagery to support the brief prepared by your preservation consultant. Share the required views, supporting site information and presentation requirements so we can confirm suitability and scope. The assessment and its conclusions remain your consultant's responsibility.

What does the Commission of Fine Arts actually want to see at concept?

Its published requirements ask for rendered perspectives or three dimensional massing model drawings as appropriate, with site photographs, plans, elevations and a vicinity map, assembled as a booklet. Read the requirement for your review type before briefing us, because massing drawings and a finished perspective are different products and a submission may want both.

Can we start with the plans we already have?

Start with your current plans and the project brief. We review what you can provide and confirm any additional information needed before agreeing the work. There is no need to prepare unfamiliar files before an initial conversation.

Our jurisdiction amended the adopted code. Does that reach your work?

Tell us about any amendment that changes the approved design. Your architect should confirm the updated drawings and identify the visible changes before the imagery is approved. Compliance decisions belong with your appointed project professionals.

What we checked, September 2026

This page names the bodies and the checks rather than quoting rules, because rules change. It is background for planning a set of images, not planning advice. Your project team stays responsible for what is lodged.

Other areas

Tell us about your project.

Tell us what you are planning, who the images are for and when you need them. We will discuss the right views and film for the project, then prepare a tailored proposal.

Discuss your project

Already know what you need? Send a project brief.

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