To see all the entries submitted in this miniCHALLENGE visit the NGA House with Maxwell Render miniCHALLENGE finalists announcement post.

First Place, Samuel Conlogue @ Infusion Studios.

It was real hard for me to make the final call on who is the winner. In the end, Samuel earned this place with his ‘Scale Model’ style entry (with Roberto so near him in 2nd place, I’ll add more about this in the feedback for Roberto).

Samuel approached the part of showcasing the NGA house design as most architects in the world do at some point of the design stage – using a real scale model! any architecture student remembers this task during studio sessions for better or worse.

this is at the heart of the architecture profession and going along with this in a rendering for this challenge was a brave and successful move. It was very easy to get this wrong, but Samuel did a great job and achieved a Maxwell Render photo real result that showcases the house very good. The added items on the desk and the real studio like environment went a long way in adding the true feel of an architects studio.

Samuel wins

Maxwell Render 2.X + PureLIGHT HDRi Pack.

Here is his main image.

And an extra detail shot.

Second Place, Roberto Valls @ rendertaxi

Let me start by saying I love Roberto’s image very much, right off the bat! It made the best first impression on me and I was sure it will be the one… but having to consider all possible aspects of the image I had to take more time and compare the best ones against each other.

I think that the final reason that made this image 2nd is that it showcases the house less than most other entries to a point it could really be an image of many other houses too in a similar scenario.

But once you pass that fact, you see an amazing sunset image with a great story of a house on the lake at ‘Magic Hour’ with a glimpse to the life that is inside the living room. I love the coloring, lighting, materials but would have preferred a panoramic composition – one that might have shown more of the house as well as more of the lake.

Roberto wins

PureLIGHT HDRi Pack.

Third Place, Andrea Spadoni.

Andrea managed to create a great looking rocky lakeside location for the NGA house! The rocks are well done and the house is nestled very nicely on the sand and among some of the rocks.

The overall coloring of the image has a dominant brown tone and is consistent and fitting with the lake feel. The chosen materials for the house is also very fitting and blends it nicely with the environment.

I love the added pier with the fish nets but I would love to see a small boat too.

One thing this image could do without are the flying leaves to far away from any near tree (and I’ll not mention that all trees in the scene or conifers… oopss, I did).

Andrea wins

A selection of 3 PureLIGHT HDRi’s.

Here is his main image.

And an additional one submitted for this challenge.

Congratulations to all three winners and all other participants and visitors of this challenge. See you all in the upcoming Architectural Visualization Challenge III – CITY LIFE and other miniCHALLENGES along the way.

You are welcome to comment on this article and ask questions using the comment box below!