The Point
The Point is one of the most significant urban development projects in Utah's history: a new city district conceived around walkability, transit, and green infrastructure.
The Point
Masterplan
Utah, USA, 2022
Client
Arcadis
Architecture, Planning and Design
Arcadis, SOM, Gensler, Kellenberg Studio, TYLin, Designworkshop
Deliverables
CGI Stills, Film
The Point is one of the most significant urban development projects in Utah's history: a new city district conceived around walkability, transit, and green infrastructure. Currently under construction, the development advances a 21st-century model for sustainable urban design while remaining rooted in the region's history and character.
The Panoptikon worked alongside Arcadis across multiple years of the project, developing visualisations that tracked the development from its earliest phases through to completion.
Located in Draper, The Point spans 600 acres of former state prison land. The development is delivered across multiple phases, with Phase 1 now under construction at the heart of the site. A mix of uses is planned throughout: a pedestrian-priority street network, a Central Green, regional trail connections, transit-oriented development, and a balanced mix of housing, workspace, retail, and entertainment : the full infrastructure of a city, built from scratch.
The work began with a series of aerial views, developed alongside Arcadis to establish the perspectives that best communicated the scale of the emerging city. As the project evolved, the imagery kept pace: massing, streets, and site conditions updated with each iteration. Vegetation was introduced across the green areas, materials applied from the brief, and where buildings had yet to be designed, we developed them from scratch to sit coherently within the wider context. The Wasatch Mountains were integrated directly into the scenes, the surrounding landscape blended with the rendered development to place The Point convincingly within its Utah setting.
The building steps back from the street to create plazas, landscaping, and shaded outdoor areas: a generous gesture in a neighbourhood where open space is scarce. Its façade reinterprets the classic brick schoolhouse through contemporary means: custom green-glazed masonry units forming vertically stacked pyramids that give the exterior depth and texture.
In all the visualisations, we paid close attention to the accurate representation of materials and colour, strictly in line with the project brief.
Once the material palette was approved, each image was taken a step further: populated with students and activity specific to each space, bringing the school to life as a place in use rather than a building in waiting.
The interior images capture a building designed to do more than teach. Across all images, we paid close attention to daylight quality and correctly representing the natural finishes. These elements together convey a clear message about the value placed on the learning environment.
Besides the classrooms, the school offers a wide range of specialised spaces: a ceramics studio, production studio, auditorium, football court, and gymnasium. Each space was visualised in full, with precision to the project brief, and every space populated with the activities specific to it, from performance and ceramics to sport and production, bringing the building to life as a place already in use.
One of the most distinctive aspects of the project was the approach taken to adding the people to the images. Every teacher and student had to be shown in the correct uniform across all age groups, without using real individuals from the school.
To achieve this, custom 3D character models were built with accurate clothing and integrated directly into the scenes. Each figure was then refined in post-production, detail by detail, until the result was indistinguishable from photography.
One of the most distinctive aspects of the project was the approach taken to adding the people to the images. Every teacher and student had to be shown in the correct uniform across all age groups, without using real individuals from the school.
To achieve this, custom 3D character models were built with accurate clothing and integrated directly into the scenes. Each figure was then refined in post-production, detail by detail, until the result was indistinguishable from photography.