Niels van Roij Design shows renderings and clay model Breadvan Hommage

London-based design house Niels van Roij Design shares new renderings, photos and information about the coachbuilt ‘Breadvan Hommage’ sports car.

Ideation sketches and design renderings
Ideation sketches are very important in every automotive design project and one of many iterative stages of the design process. “Automotive design is about the search and experiment” according to Niels van Roij “Which is only truly achievable in a handmade sketch. Eventually this process will produce a so called key sketch: the one sketch chosen to be developed into more elaborated, rendered ideas.”

Car designers look at cars on three different levels: proportions (10 m distance), surfacing (1 m distance), and jewellery (10 cm distance). The search for unique character in each of these stages is clearly visible in the ideation sketch boards. Differences between the designs can not only be spotted in proportions and surfacing, but also in the application of graphics, trim and other details such as bespoke exhausts.

In search for an automobile that truly will reflect the owner, a unique and distinctive design is needed, so the elaborated design process is a paramount part of the Niels van Roij Design personalisation services.

Niels van Roij: “Designing a coachbuilt car is all about questioning the question the patron asks: understanding the wish behind the wish.”

For modelling a full size clay mock-up of the design, the team needs detailed visual information, which is not present in the ideation sketches. The next step is fitting the design precisely over the packaging of the base car and presenting it in a more refined way. All the surfacing and volumes are developed into a large variety of high resolution renderings: the shapes are now easier to read.

Clay model development
The ‘Breadvan Hommage’ is being prepared for clay modelling by constructing a custom frame work of steel compound curves, which measurements are smaller than the actual design dictates. The frame has been made by coachbuilder Bas van Roomen. The task of coachbuilding the newly designed, aluminium body – whilst being in close contact the Niels van Roij Design studio to fine tune the design and iron out any possible technical challenges – will also be on his shoulders.

Design work is ongoing during clay modelling, which is a highly labour intensive process.
Niels van Roij: “A car is a complex and three dimensional object which has to look right from all angles and under different light circumstances. Like the sketching, the modelling process is iterative and the ‘Breadvan Hommage’ will be reshaped many times over to get the proportions and surfacing exactly spot on.”

“Making this hand-finished unique sports car is not just a collaboration between different craftspeople, but also a truly personal collaboration between the design team and the patron. From subtle customisations all the way to bold statements, individual details can only be designed by input from the owner of the vehicle.”

Now the proportions have been established in clay, the second step – surfacing – has to be explored. This search for sophistication in the skin of the car, finding the right subtleties, also includes the finalisation of the exterior graphics, such as air vents, tailor made headlights and bonnet scoops.

Coming months the social media of the design firm will reveal more about the ‘Breadvan Hommage’ during the Breadvan_updates every Friday. This offers a unique view into the world of coachbuilding: from idea to #BreadvanHommage. Followers will see the car developing from a design on paper, through a full-size clay model, to the final car.

This process can be followed via the Niels van Roij Design Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages:
facebook.com/nielsvanroijdesign/
instagram.com/nielsvanroijdesign/
twitter.com/NielsvanRoij

For more information about this project, please contact Johan Overtoom:
johan@nielsvanroij.com