As Google expands the use of its 3D Warehouse Web site for its SketchUp design tool, Whirlpool Corp. helps make the design process even easier for architects and designers by offering 3-D models of its Whirlpool and Gladiator brand products on the site. Google offers a free and a professional version of the Google SketchUp 3-D design and visualization tool to the architectural community.

Developed for conceptual stages of design, Google SketchUp is a powerful yet easy-to-learn software used for quick and easy 3-D form creation. The Google 3D Warehouse is a repository of 3-D building objects that expedites the design process. These initial Whirlpool models offer designers and their clients the ability to visualize their designs in 3-D. The SketchUp models can then be converted into all major CAD products without having to draw designs twice.

More than 120 top U.S. design firms currently use Google SketchUp for 3-D design and visualization. As the Google 3D Warehouse expands the number of 3-D objects available for designers, Whirlpool Corporation plans to expand its 3-D appliance model offerings to include Jenn-Air, KitchenAid, Maytag and Amana brands.

“Through our dedicated program for the building and design community, The Inside Advantage, it is our strategy to offer our trade partner customers the best possible products, services and tools to grow their businesses. Partnering with Google SketchUp allows us to further deliver on our promise to support trade professionals in every facet of their work,” said Tom Halford, general manager of contract sales and marketing at Whirlpool Corp.

As an FAIA architect and senior manager of architecture and design contract marketing at Whirlpool Corporation, Mark Johnson is always searching for the most innovative ways to support architects and design professionals. “Google SketchUp is a powerful resource for the architectural community to easily design in 3-D. We’re extremely proud to be contributing to the Google 3D Warehouse, providing appliances models to make the design process even easier and more robust.”

SketchUp is compatible with CAD products such as Graphisoft Archicad 10, MicroStation V8, Autodesk AutoCAD Revit Series Systems Plus, VectorWorks Architect, DataCAD, Nemetschek, Rhinoceros and Softech.

To view 3-D models of Whirlpool and Gladiator brand products, please visit http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/bpm.html.