Markets
3D renderings and walkthroughs in Barcelona and Catalonia
In short: In Barcelona and Catalonia, renderings and walkthroughs sell three very different products off-plan: small infill new-builds, fully refurbished old buildings and second homes on the coast. In all three, the buyer can't yet visit what they're buying, or visits it in a state that scares more than it convinces.
In Barcelona and Catalonia, 3D renderings and walkthroughs help sell off-plan in three very different situations: new-builds on small infill plots, full refurbishments of old buildings, and second homes on the coast. Each one has a different buyer with different questions, but the problem is the same. What's being sold can't be visited yet, or it can be visited in a state that scares people more than it convinces them.
Why is Barcelona a special case?
Barcelona is a dense city with little free land. Large greenfield developments with dozens of identical blocks are rare inside the city. Instead, new housing tends to come from two sources: small plots between existing buildings, and old buildings gutted and rebuilt inside. Around the city and along the coast, the picture changes again, with second homes and holiday apartments.
That means the visual material can't be a one-size-fits-all package. A refurbished building in the Eixample, a six-unit infill block in Gràcia and a set of apartments in Sitges each need to be shown differently.
Infill new-builds: few homes, each one different
When a building goes up between two party walls, on a narrow and deep plot, the homes rarely repeat. The ground floor has a patio, the middle floors are long and narrow, the top floor has a terrace with a setback, and the penthouse is a world of its own. Sometimes every floor is a different home type.
For the buyer, that's attractive, because they're getting something with character. For the developer, it's a challenge: a single generic interior rendering doesn't represent anyone's home. Each buyer wants to see their own.
This is where a walkthrough per home type pays off, even if there are almost as many types as homes. The buyer of the penthouse needs to see the terrace and the view over the rooftops. The buyer of the first floor needs to see that the inner patio brings in light. More on organizing that in walkthroughs by unit type.
Building refurbishments: selling the after, not the before
A full refurbishment of an old finca (the local word for an older apartment building) is one of the hardest things to sell before it's finished. If the buyer visits the site, they see bare brick, missing floors and scaffolding. Even an experienced buyer struggles to picture the result.
Renderings and walkthroughs here show the after: the restored facade, the original features that are kept (ceilings, tiled floors, balconies) next to the new kitchens and bathrooms, the light from the high windows. That's what the buyer is paying for, and it's exactly what the site doesn't show. There's more in renovation renderings.
It also protects the developer. When everything that's preserved and everything that's new is clearly shown, there are fewer surprises at handover about what the buyer thought they were getting.
Second homes on the Catalan coast
Along the coast, from the Costa Brava to the Maresme and the Garraf, the buyer changes. Many are families from Barcelona or from other countries looking for a summer home or a place to retire. They often decide from somewhere else, and what weighs most is the view, the terrace and the light.
For them, a walkthrough that shows the terrace with the sea behind it, at midday and at sunset, does more than any list of square meters. And because they're far away, the link is what lets them come back to it, show it to the family and decide without an extra trip. For the coast further south, see the Costa del Sol article.
An international, multilingual buyer
Barcelona attracts buyers from across Europe and beyond, and many people who move here for work buy after a few years. A development may get inquiries in Spanish, Catalan, English and French in the same week.
A walkthrough has an advantage here: it barely needs words. A buyer from Amsterdam and one from Lyon walk through the same living room and understand it the same way. Labels and the surrounding text can go in whichever languages the developer uses. More on reaching buyers abroad in selling to foreign buyers.
What material works for a development in Barcelona
Depending on the project, a sensible set looks like this:
- A facade rendering in its real street, between the real neighboring buildings, because in a dense city context is everything. See exterior renderings.
- Interior renderings of the homes that matter most for sales, often the penthouse and the homes with terraces.
- A walkthrough per home type, with day and evening light, especially when the types are very different from one another.
- An availability view so the buyer can see which homes are free on each floor.
- For refurbishments, images that clearly separate what's original from what's new.
How working remotely with me works
I work from Buenos Aires, Argentina, for developers in other countries. You send the plans, the specification of finishes and references. We agree on what to show over a video call. You review progress through links and approve each step. You receive the renderings and walkthroughs as links you can put on your website, send to buyers or show in the sales office.
Buenos Aires is four or five hours behind Barcelona, depending on the season, which leaves your afternoon and my morning to work together. I work in Spanish and English. If you have a project coming up, message me on WhatsApp at +54 9 11 6193-3176 or email facundocampo100@gmail.com.
Frequently asked questions
Does a 3D walkthrough work for a full building refurbishment?
Yes, and it's one of the cases where it helps most. The buyer can't picture the result from the site, so a walkthrough of the finished home, with the original features and the new finishes, shows them what they're actually buying.
What if every home in the building is different?
Then each home type gets its own walkthrough. In small infill buildings that can mean almost one per home, but it's also where buyers care most about seeing their exact home.
Can you show how light reaches an interior flat?
Yes. The walkthrough can show the home at different times of day, so the buyer sees how much light comes in from the patio or the street side.
Can the material be in Catalan or English?
The walkthrough itself barely uses words, so it works in any language. Labels and the surrounding text can be in Catalan, Spanish, English or whichever languages you sell in.
