Villa Meridian
A hillside residence rendered across three lighting scenarios to help the client choose a facade material before ordering stone.
The brief
The client had approved a floor plan but couldn't decide between a limestone and a dark timber facade before ordering material samples — a six-week lead time either way. We were asked to render both options under identical lighting so the choice would come down to the material, not the picture quality.
Building the scene
We modeled the hillside topography from a drone survey rather than a flat site plan, which mattered once shadows started falling across the terraced garden in the late-afternoon pass. The pool deck, retaining walls and surrounding olive trees were all placed to match the surveyed coordinates within a few centimetres.
Choosing the light
Three passes were rendered: a flat midday reference for accurate material comparison, a golden-hour version for the marketing gallery, and a blue-hour exterior with interior lights on, which ended up being the frame the client used on the cover of their planning submission.
“We didn't just get a nice picture — we got the information we needed to actually order the stone.”
Outcome
The limestone option was approved within a week of delivery. The blue-hour render was later adapted into a short flythrough for the client's own portfolio, produced as a follow-on project the following month.