THE LODGE: ARCHITECTURAL VISUALISATION CASE STUDY

Architectural visualisation of Sheringham House at The Lodge in Norfolk. Image shows a new build house made of brick and timber cladding.

In a market where typical three‑beds sell for around £344,000, homes at The Lodge were priced at £750,000, reflecting their architecture, specification, and construction quality. Photorealistic CGI and animation made these attributes clear before construction, helping buyers assess the value. This architectural visualisation case study explains the approach.”

Key outcomes

  • Challenge: Sell premium homes off‑plan in a lower‑priced local market
  • Approach: Connected CGI workflow from BIM model to decision‑ready outputs
  • Results: Faster iterations, clearer decisions, premium positioning achieved
  • Pricing context: ~£344k market vs £750k positioning, supported by credible visuals

INTRODUCTION

The Lodge is a residential scheme in Drayton, Norfolk. It combines the conversion of a Grade II listed hall into apartments with 25 new‑build houses. MADE BY WOODSMOKE worked with Ensemble to produce CGI images and animations. Developers Hidden Talents Homes and agents Sowerbys used these visuals to sell during design and build.

Aerial CGI site plan of the development at the Lodge, Drayton. The image shows the Grade II listed hall, the new build houses and the surrounding context.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Homes needed to sell before construction. The visuals had to show what living there would feel like. They also needed to give buyers confidence even without a show home.

I created a full set of assets:

  • Exterior and site views for context and appeal
  • Interior views for each plot to show layout and finish
  • 3D building floor plans to bridge 2D plans
  • Aerial site maps so buyers could orient quickly
  • Walkthrough animations to convey flow and mood

Each asset came in formats for web, print, and social. Horizontal for sites and brochures. Vertical for social feeds.

THE IMPORTANT PART – CONNECTED UP THINKING

A MADE BY WOODSMOKE project is more than a few images. Instead, the approach is joined up so the team can move fast and keep quality high.

I considered:

  1. Using the architect’s 3D model and, importantly, absorbing future changes with ease
  2. Creating visuals that are accurate yet evocative
  3. Packaging a complete set of marketing assets for developer and estate agent
  4. Building a workflow that can generate new images on demand
  5. Optimising each output for its platform and context
  6. Adding simple website features that set the development apart
  7. Planning for photography and video once the homes are built

SOLVING TECHNICAL CHALLENGES

Two big challenges shaped the work:

  1. Frequent design updates
  2. A complex site with many properties, woodland, existing structures, and heavy landscaping

To address these, I used Unreal for texturing, lighting, and modelling. It renders in real time, so I could explore, adjust, and output quickly.

Paired with an Nvidia RTX 4070, it handled the scale well. In addition, it connected smoothly to the architect’s model from Graphisoft ArchiCAD.

Furthermore, this setup let me:

  • Swap in design changes with minimal disruption
  • Produce new images quickly for sales meetings
  • Keep quality consistent through iterations
Interior architectural visualisation of a living room, showing how the space will feel when it's finished.

MODELLING AND TEXTURING

Joe at Ensemble built the base model in ArchiCAD. That removed the need for a separate CGI model and reduced cost.

To lift realism, Joe modelled every timber cladding board whilst I focused on look‑development and material accuracy. For materials, I used Poliigon and its generators to match the actual finishes specified for The Lodge. As a result, the look aligned closely with the design intent.

Left ImageRight Image

TESTING DESIGN DECISIONS IN REAL-TIME

As the work progressed, an important benefit emerged: we could improve the design before construction began. Unreal enabled an iterative loop — propose a change, see it immediately, compare options, and decide. I generated side‑by‑side variants for materials, colours, lighting, and layout details, then reviewed them live with the team. Because the results were photoreal and context‑accurate, the architect and client could agree changes with confidence.

This cycle:

  • Brought issues to the surface early rather than on site
  • Reduced rework and RFIs by settling details before drawings were frozen
  • Helped value‑engineering choices land without losing the intended look and feel
  • Shortened approval time by replacing guesses with clear visual evidence

In short, the iterative tests improved the scheme while it was still inexpensive to change.

The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with painted wall finish.
The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with natural timber cladding.
The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with brown brick wall finish.
The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with grey brick wall finish.
The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with vertical white tile finish.
The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with slate tile wall finish.
The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with neutral tile wall finish.
The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with grey brick wall finish.
The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with beige tile wall finish.
The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with natural timber cladding.
The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with mirror wall, dark frame.
The Lodge, Drayton kitchen in real‑time visualisation with mirror wall, light frame.

INTERACTIVE WEBSITE SITE MAP

The development needed a quick way for people to understand the site at a glance. I built an interactive aerial map that let buyers click plots, see availability, and open a short description with key details. It was implemented with SQSP Themes’ ‘Lightbox Anything’ and a small layer of custom code.

What this achieved was simple: it gave clear orientation across the whole site without forcing a brochure download, put plot‑level details in one place, and reduced repeat enquiries like “which one is this?” or “what’s still available?”. Because the interface felt familiar to leading property search websites, people could use it without instructions.

EXTERIOR VISUALISATION

Hero images were timed for sunrise and sunset to add warmth and keep the elevations easy to read. I added sky and light fog so materials and planting felt natural. The RTX 4070 enabled path‑traced lighting and clean reflections, while Ultra Dynamic Sky and Easyfog helped create a believable atmosphere. I also produced autumn versions of the exterior imagery to bring a warm, cosy feel for seasonal campaigns.

Architectural visualisation of Holkham House at The Lodge, Drayton. Image shows a brick built, new-build house.

INTERIOR VISUALISATION

I furnished interiors with quality assets from Evermotion to match the specified finish. An HDRI‑led lighting setup with simple window fills kept shadows soft and even, so the spaces read with the clean, bright feel of the final homes.

Kitchen visualisation of a new kitchen at The Lodge, Drayton. Image shows an island unit with a marble worktop, a dining table and chairs, bifold doors and a garden beyond.
Interior CGI of a principal bedroom at The Lodge, Drayton. Image shows a large bed and a rug, with grey timber panelling, a window and trees outside.
Interior visualisation of a lounge at The Lodge, Drayton. Image shows a media unit furnished with a TV, decorative objects and books.
Internal architectural visualisation of a modern kitchen, showing materials, furniture and what it will be like to live in the space.
Interior visualisation of one of the bedrooms at The Lodge, Drayton. Image shows a king sized bed with grey timber panelling, a window and the view beyond.

3D BUILDING PLANS

Traditional 2D plans can be hard to read for many buyers because they flatten space, hide finishes, and make scale and flow harder to grasp. Therefore, 3D furnished floor plans, made from ArchiCAD cutaways, showed room relationships clearly and helped buyers imagine themselves living there.

Ground floor 3D plan of a new-build house at The Lodge, Drayton. Plan shows the room layout, finishes and furniture.
First floor 3D plan of a new-build house at The Lodge, Drayton. Plan shows the room layout, finishes and furniture.

VEGETATION AND LANDSCAPING

The site has distinctive, mature trees that set the character of the streets and gardens. Using the arboricultural survey, I rebuilt key specimens in SpeedTree to match species, canopy spread, and trunk form, so scale reads correctly against the houses.

For soft landscape, I followed the landscape architect’s plan — selecting like‑for‑like species from Globe Plants.

Screenshot of the Speedtree interface showing a black pine tree being created for The Lodge, Drayton project.
Landscaping visualisation of the garden at Sheringham House. Showing lush foliage and garden furniture.

ANIMATION PRODUCTION

Motion helps people feel how spaces connect and what it will feel like to move through them. With real‑time rendering, I refined pacing, camera paths, and height in seconds. I licensed music from Musicbed to set a calm, atmospheric mood, kept mixes clear, and layered natural sound so ambience and room tone felt believable. Titles were minimal and legible and deliverables included widescreen masters for the website and vertical cuts for social media.

POST-PRODUCTION APPROACH

I set the look in‑engine rather than fixing later in post. This kept updates simple when designs changed and maintained consistency across stills and motion.

THE RESULTS

The team gained a coherent visual library for the website, social, and sales. In turn, this supported clearer communication and faster decisions.

This approach helped to:

  • Sell earlier in the programme with confidence
  • Update visuals quickly as designs evolved
  • Keep quality consistent across images, plans, and animation
  • Give buyers a clearer feel for spaces that did not yet exist
  • Support premium positioning with careful, craft‑led visuals
  • Reduce render time drastically with real‑time tools
  • Facilitate collaboration between architect, developer, and agent
  • Use the architect’s model to save time and cost
  • Respond fast during sales meetings with new views on demand
  • Create seasonal content for year‑round marketing
  • Avoid post‑production bottlenecks by getting it right at render

Together, the work supported a premium position. More importantly, the visuals invited buyers to imagine living there — enabling informed, earlier commitments.

NEXT STEPS

If you want to explore architectural visualisation for a current or upcoming scheme, message me. I’ll review the details and advise on the best route.

Send a message
  • Computer‑generated image of the Sheringham House model for The Lodge, Drayton — showing the difference after the texturing, lighting and rendering stages have been completed.
  • Internal architectural visualisation of a modern kitchen, showing materials, furniture and what it will be like to live in the space.