Complex Geometry in SketchUp
A mini-course for creating parametric-style architecture in SketchUp—curved facades, twisted structures, lattice canopies, and fluid pavilions. Adam walks through five techniques using sandbox tools, the Slicer plugin, FredoScale, Joint Push Pull, Soap Skin Bubble, and Curviloft. Each lesson tackles a different member-submitted query, showing how to approach buildings like the Mercury Theatre or sculptural pavilions that would normally require Grasshopper. Not truly parametric, but visually identical results.
- 2+ hours of premium content
- 5 step-by-step video lessons
- Future updates included
About this course
Five standalone lessons, each demonstrating a different technique for complex architectural forms. The first lesson uses only sandbox tools to create wavy slatted facades. Subsequent lessons introduce plugins: Slicer for stepped facades with curved reveals (with settings for spacing, thickness, and rotation angles), FredoScale for twisting geometry around a central axis, and Soap Skin Bubble combined with Curviloft for fluid organic surfaces. The final lesson creates a complete pavilion with saddle-curved roof and extruded shell, ready for Enscape rendering. Created in response to member requests—if you want more techniques, Adam will add lessons.
This comprehensive course provides in-depth training in industry-standard software and workflows used by professional architects and designers worldwide.
Through hands-on project-based learning, you'll develop practical skills that can be immediately applied to real-world architectural challenges.
The curriculum emphasizes both technical proficiency and design thinking, ensuring you not only master the tools but understand how to apply them effectively in professional practice.
Upon completion, you'll possess the knowledge and confidence to tackle complex architectural modeling and visualization projects with professional-level quality and efficiency.
What will you learn?
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This course will turn you into:
A curved facade builder
Someone who creates wavy slatted facades using sandbox tools, then adds stepped reveals with Slicer—controlling spacing, thickness, and rotation angles for solar shading.
A complex structure modeller
An architect who builds twisted towers with FredoScale, arrays branches using rotate-copy, and creates lattice canopies by slicing domes on two axes.
A pavilion designer
A creator who generates saddle-curved surfaces with Soap Skin Bubble and Curviloft, extrudes shells with Vector Push Pull, and renders organic forms in Enscape.
Syllabus
The Mercury Theatre inspires this first technique—a wavy slatted facade using only sandbox tools. Create a grid from scratch at 200mm spacing and use the smoove tool to push and pull the surface into flowing curves. No external plugins needed; this is pure SketchUp showing what's possible before adding extensions.
The Slicer plugin transforms solid geometry into horizontal slats. Adam carves a facade with stepped reveals and a sphere-intersection scoop, then slices it at 500mm spacing with 50mm thickness. Rotation angles tilt the slats for solar control. The flatten option outputs pieces ready for laser cutting.
A member-submitted query about a twisted tower. The core drum shape comes from follow me, then triangular branches get arrayed around it using rotate-copy (360 divided by 20 equals 18 degrees, type "19x" for twenty copies). FredoScale twists the entire structure. Keep your original geometry—complex modeling needs fallback options.
The same reference building, now focusing on the lattice roof canopy. A dome gets sliced on two axes (XY) to create the diamond grid pattern. Joint Push Pull extrudes the lattice members into 3D beams. Box Twist adds the spiraling deformation. Adam's advice: when modeling complex geometry, never delete anything.
The final lesson creates a sculptural pavilion with saddle-curved roof—the kind of form that wins competitions. Soap Skin Bubble and Curviloft are the key plugins: draw opposing arcs with 30 segments, hit "skin," and the plugin generates the organic surface. Vector Push Pull extrudes the shell. A quick Enscape render shows the finished result.
Meet your instructor
Adam Morgan
Architectural Director
ThreeForm Architects
Hi, I'm Adam. I am the founder and director of ThreeForm Architects, a team of architects and artists in Liverpool, UK. The office is experienced in a wide range of building types and procurement routes, successfully winning projects with contract values of up to £20 million. We work for a broad spectrum of public and private sector clients across the country.
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