Visualization by 100CGI Studio for Savills of a listed facade on Grosvenor Place in Belgravia, London. 5 exterior views were delivered in 30 days, across 2 revision rounds.
The starting point was survey rather than drawings. The existing fabric was captured with laser scanning and Matterport, and the model was checked against it cornice by cornice, so every moulding matches the building people walk past.
A new building only has to be plausible; a listed one has to be recognisable. That roughly doubles the time of a new-build set, and the hours go into weathering, reflections and the particular afternoon light of the street rather than into geometry. The street was also staged lived-in, with a black cab, a bus and a car at the kerb, because an empty plate reads as CGI however good the facade is.
Rendered in 3ds Max and V-Ray, with grading in Photoshop. More on this kind of work: architectural visualization for heritage buildings. Full case study: Grosvenor Place facade visualization.
