Graphic Reproduction

Rendering the Future for Builders, Architects, Designers and Engineers

By Tonya Poole

How many hours have you spent at the planning table with a client and a set of two-dimensional drawings, waving your hands and pointing into the air in an attempt to explain, and help your client envision, abstract details about their home? How often have you been challenged to find ways to convey how a home will look, feel, and how it lays on and interacts with the terrain?

Few industries have been as quickly and directly impacted by technology as building and architecture have, and the arrival of three-dimensional tools onto the scene in recent years has delivered exciting new options in plan visualization. Among the latest of these is the 3-D model printer, designed to set the standard for fast, affordable three-dimensional model production for use in design reviews and true-to-life mock-ups.

These machines are also expensive, however, and few small-to-mid-sized firms can justify the cash outlay required to purchase a unit for themselves.

But Graphic Reproduction of Concord, CA - recognizing an opportunity to further their commitment to cutting-edge reprographics - now offers high quality 3-D printing and model production throughout Northern California.

Founder and owner Walter Walker has enjoyed a long history in the blueprint and reproduction industry and says that of his many fascinations with his field over the years, it has been the rapidly developing technologies that intrigued him most.

"I started in this business in 1959, right out of school," says Walker. "I remember being in love with the work I was doing. But I was particularly interested in the process - always looking for ways to speed up production, how to incorporate technology for better efficiency."

Today, Walker and his staff of more than 50 skilled consultants and technicians have taken his drive for excellence and turned it into a thriving reproduction service with the most advanced technology and equipment available. Excited about their new 3-D capabilities, the team is now focusing on educating professionals in construction and other industries on the rewards of automated model production.

Long-time Graphic Reproduction customer and architect Ahmad Mohazab of TECTA Associates of San Francisco says that in the 25 years he and Walker have been working together, he's been continually impressed with the company's commitment to incorporating the best tools available for their clients.

"I'd seen an article that mentioned 3-D modeling machines, and how they'd be the wave of the future in architecture," says Mohazab. "I clipped the article and faxed it over to Walt, suggesting he consider one. The next day, Walt stopped by my office with a handful of working models of gears, houses and other things. He'd already gotten the machine; he's one of the first - if not the first - to have it in this area. It's just more evidence that these folks are thinking one step ahead of everyone else."

Mohazab says the service is a boon to local trade professionals because it not only enables them to show clients a 'real-world view' of their home and its details, but it also frees them up to focus on what they do best, rather than spend hours, even days, developing models themselves.

"One of the best things about it is that designers are no longer looking at a flat site plan that says 'elevation of 295 to 325 feet,'" says Mohazab. "Now they're seeing a sculpted model of a piece of property that shows the valleys, ridges, streams and trees surrounding the home site. It's an invaluable aid to the creative process."

Sales Manager Bret Foster says that models can be created in different phases of a project to show progress, and to get the whole team - including subcontractors, supervisors, even design boards - on the same page. "That enables the team to identify conflicts early on in the game, makes inconsistencies more visible and avoids costly back-tracking down the road," he says. "It also makes it easier to build several alternative designs to study and compare."

Massoud Ardalan, general manager at Graphic Reproduction, says the company receives and converts two-or three-dimensional files into print-ready data, then scales and prepares the file and, once printed, puts the model together and de- livers it to the client.

"Turnaround time is fast," says Ardalan. "We can do in a matter of hours what it can take many days for architects to do themselves."

In addition to 3-D printing, the team at Graphic Reproduction offers a wide variety of other reprographic services, including document scanning, CAD plotting and wide-format copying in black and white and color. They offer seminars throughout the Bay Area on new printing technologies that are changing the way we do business and, as always, take the work of staying ahead of the curve very seriously.

"That's our most important job here," says Ardalan. "Reducing headaches and complications for our clients."

To learn more about time and money-saving services and technologies General Manager Massoud Ardalan quality control-checks a print from a wide-format inkjet plotter to ensure complete customer satisfaction. offered by Graphic Reproduction, visit the shop located at 1381 Franquette Ave., Bldg C-4, Concord, CA 94520, or call (925) 674-0900. You can also visit them online at graphic4u.com

January 2006 Builder Architect Edition Issue

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