What to Send for a Multifamily 3D Rendering
Quick answer: For a multifamily rendering, send the site plan and survey, typical and ground floor plans, elevations and sections, unit plans and finish tiers, amenity plans, landscape and public improvements, context information and the purpose and dates of each image set.
What is different about multifamily projects
A multifamily building repeats. Repetition helps the studio, since typical floors and unit types are modeled once, but it raises the stakes on accuracy: one error in a facade module is repeated across the whole building. Multifamily images also serve several audiences: the planning board, the lender, the equity partners and the leasing team. The package therefore has to cover the exterior massing and context, the typical unit interiors, the shared amenity spaces and the site.
This guide is for developers, architects and owners of apartment buildings, townhomes, condominiums and mixed-use projects with residential units.
The exterior package
- Site plan with property lines, setbacks, easements, access and parking.
- Ground-floor plan showing lobby, retail, entries and courtyards.
- Typical floor plan and any transfer or podium levels.
- Roof plan with mechanical screens, terraces and amenities.
- All elevations, with the facade grid, materials and heights.
- Building sections showing floor-to-floor heights and setbacks.
- Wall sections or details for balconies, canopies and the base of the building.
- The architect's model if available.
Facade modules, balconies and window patterns should be dimensioned. If the design uses several cladding types, mark where each starts and ends.
Unit plans and finish tiers
Send plans of every unit type, with areas and furniture layouts if available. Identify the finish packages: for example a standard and a premium package, with the flooring, cabinets, counters, backsplash, fixtures and appliances of each. The studio produces a typical living and kitchen view, a bedroom and a bath. Say which tier is the default in the images and mark any premium features. This is important for legal and marketing accuracy.
Amenity spaces
Amenities differentiate a project, and each usually needs its own view: lobby, mail and package room, fitness, co-working, resident lounge, roof deck, pool and courtyard. Send the interior designer's plans and mood boards, the furniture selections and the lighting concept. If amenities are still in design, tell the studio which views are conceptual. See what to send for a commercial interior.
Context and streetscape
A multifamily building often changes the skyline of a street. Send the heights and footprints of neighboring buildings, photographs of the street, sidewalk widths, street trees, curb cuts and transit stops. For projects near single-family neighborhoods, the transition of height and the treatment of the rear and side facades are what boards look at. See sending a site plan.
Approval views versus leasing views
Approval views are accurate, at street level and in neutral light, and they show the project honestly against its neighbors. Leasing views are aspirational, with people, light and activity. Decide which set you need and when. Producing both from one model is efficient. Make sure the leasing images do not remove features that appear in the approved drawings or add ones that do not.
Phasing and site work
If the project is built in phases, or if the site includes public improvements, send the phasing plan and the landscape and civil sheets. Decide whether the image shows the full build-out or only the first phase. Public improvements, such as a widened sidewalk or a plaza, should be drawn in the image, since they are often the reason for approvals.
Balconies, screening and mechanical
The details that make a multifamily facade believable are often the ones that are omitted from schematic drawings: balcony railings, privacy screens, louvers, PTAC units, roof mechanical screening, trash and loading areas. Ask the architect for those items, or tell the studio to assume standard conditions and label them. Renderings that hide mechanical equipment can be accused of being misleading by neighbors and boards.
Signage, lighting and night views
Send the signage plan, the lighting design of the facade and the landscape lighting. Night views are popular for leasing, but they require accurate light fixtures and building lighting. If the lighting design is not done, tell the studio it will be conceptual. Also confirm any dark-sky or light-trespass rules that apply to the site.
Views from the units and the sense of place
Buyers and renters ask what they will see from the balcony. If views are a selling point, send the height of the floors, the orientation and photographs or a context model of what lies in each direction. A rendering of a view from a particular floor should be built from real sightlines, not invented scenery. If a future building may block the view, tell the studio how to handle it, and do not promise a view that the zoning allows a neighbor to remove.
Also send the facts of place: a nearby park, a transit station, a main street. Context images that show these in the right direction and distance help leasing without exaggeration.
Sustainability, rooftop and energy features
Solar panels, green roofs, EV charging, bike rooms and stormwater features increasingly appear in approvals and marketing. Send their locations and sizes so they can be drawn accurately. Panels shown too large or a green roof shown too lush can invite scrutiny. Give the studio the technical plan or a reference product, and confirm which features are committed and which are only optional.
Townhomes, garden apartments and mid-rise: how the package changes
A townhome community is a repeated unit along a street, and the rendering is about rhythm, color variation and the streetscape. Send the unit plans, the elevation options, the site plan with unit numbers and the color scheme assignments. A garden apartment complex is about buildings in a landscape, so the site plan, parking, courtyards and paths matter most. A mid-rise or high-rise is about the facade grid, the podium and the skyline, so the model, the wall sections and the context are the priority. Tell the studio which type you have and where the emphasis should fall.
Parking, access and the street level
Parking structures, garage entries, loading docks and drop-off zones affect the street. Send the ground-level plan, the vehicle entries, the bike storage and the sidewalk treatment. Boards and neighbors often care as much about the garage door as the tower. If the garage is wrapped with units or screened, send the details, and tell the studio how much of it should be visible in the main views.
Affordable and mixed-income requirements
Some projects include affordable units or are subject to design standards that require equivalent exterior quality. If so, the studio should not show a difference in facade quality between market and affordable portions unless the drawings do. Send the unit allocation, the design standards and any agency requirements for images, since some funding programs review the marketing material.
Coordinating structure, MEP and facade for accuracy
In multifamily buildings the structural grid sets the window and balcony rhythm, and mechanical requirements set louver and vent positions. Rendering from architectural drawings alone can miss these. If the structural or mechanical consultants have made changes that affect the facade, tell the studio and send the updated sheets. Otherwise, the image may show a facade that the engineers have already changed.
Timeline for a multifamily image set
Multifamily rendering sets are larger than a single house, and the schedule depends on the number of views. Plan for a modeling phase, a preview, a comment round and the final. Approval hearings are fixed dates, so work backward. Tell the studio the hearing date, and freeze the facade design at least two to three weeks before it. If leasing views are needed right after, request them in the same scope so the same model is reused.
Marketing extras: units for sale or lease
Condominium developers may need floor-plate diagrams, a view from a specific unit, or an image of a penthouse terrace. Rental developers may want a set of amenity views and lifestyle images for the website and brochure. Tell the studio which views are essential to the pre-sale or lease-up and give them priority, since these images are often needed before the design is entirely finished.
Common multifamily mistakes
- Rendering before the facade is stable. One change is repeated across the building.
- Unmarked finish tiers. Premium features appear as standard.
- Missing mechanical and trash areas. The image is later challenged.
- No context. The building floats.
- Different files from different consultants. Conflicts in dimensions.
- Overlooking the rear and side elevations. Neighbors see them.
A worked example: a five-story podium building
A developer sends the architect's Revit model of a five-story wood-frame building on a concrete podium with ground-floor retail, together with the landscape plan, a finish package for two unit tiers and photographs of the surrounding blocks. The brief calls for three street views and an aerial for the planning board, and later four interior views for leasing.
The studio builds the facade grid once, applies the cladding from the schedule and places the building in a context model of the surrounding blocks. Approval images are made in overcast light, and leasing views are made after approval using the same model at golden hour. Because the finish tiers were labeled, the leasing interiors show the standard package with a premium alternative as a separate image.
A checklist for multifamily
- Site plan, survey and context information.
- Typical floor plan, ground floor, roof and podium plans.
- Elevations, sections and facade details.
- Unit plans and finish tiers.
- Amenity plans, furniture and lighting concept.
- Landscape and public improvements.
- Phasing plan and which phase to show.
- Purpose and date of each image set.
Questions to ask a studio
- How do you model repeated facade modules and check for errors?
- Can you produce both approval and leasing sets from one model?
- How do you show finish tiers accurately?
- How do you handle phasing?
- Can you deliver a night view with accurate lighting?
Frequently asked questions
What do I send for an apartment building?
Site plan, typical floors, elevations, unit plans, finish tiers, amenity plans and the architect's model if available.
Do you render every unit type?
We render the unit types that carry the marketing: usually a typical living and kitchen, a bedroom and a bath, per tier.
Can you show phases?
Yes. Later phases can be shown as neutral massing.
Should mechanical and trash areas be shown?
Yes, or at least stated in the notes. Hiding them invites complaints.
Can one model produce approval and leasing images?
Yes, and it is more consistent and cheaper.
How do you handle finish tiers?
We label standard and premium packages and never show premium items as standard.
Do you need the neighbor buildings?
Yes, at least footprints and heights, and street photographs.
When should I start the images?
When the massing and facade are stable, well before the hearing or launch.
Related guides
This guide is part of our series on what to send a 3D rendering studio. Start with the overview, what to send a 3D rendering studio. Related: what to send for a commercial interior, what to send for a hospitality project, what to send for an outdoor living project. When you are ready, send what you have through our quote request.