Illuminated Models (Various Scales)

Incorporating special lighting effects can give a model an extra dimension. There are various ways we can do this – general illumination within the building, up-lighting round the building with fibre optics, or adding ‘street lights’ to the roads, car parking areas and communal garden areas. We can even add keypad controlled illumination of individual rooms or apartments or specific sections of buildings. The options are wide and varied so we are happy to come up with tailor-made recommendations for individual projects.


Interactive Model of Cardiff This 6.5m x 5.5m interactive model was designed for use in a permanent marketing suite to promote the city of Cardiff to national and international investors. It is a fully interactive model controlled via a large touchscreen which activates over 30 different lighting zones on the model and at the same time displays relevant information pages on the screen. The screen images are also projected onto a large screen so that the information is visible to all. The model was designed to be mobile and so far has been to three different venues including London and Cannes (these pics were taken in Cannes in 2014).

House model for US client This was very technically demanding model with lots of complex curves, highly articulated elevations and multiple level changes as the building responded to the contours of the site. The architect wanted the model to reflect the different external materials so we used our top of the range laser-engravers to pick out the stonework elements, fine brick detailing and traditional shingle cladding for roof and elevations. The project was further complicated by the requirement for internal illumination – our solution was to incorporate commercial grade RGBW LEDs with remote control which allows full adjustment of colour and brightness.


Canal Side Apartments The lighting effects on this model were a late addition to the spec when the client decided they wanted to add some extra visual impact to this, one of their main marketing tools for these apartments. Even though model was more or less finished we were able to retro-fit strategically placed LED up-lighters along the main elevations and to illuminate the undercroft parking. You can see the full model on the “1:100 Scale” pages.


Cardiff Bay Marketing Model - Scale 1:500 Built to illustrate the proposed scale of several major development areas in a prime waterside location, this model used illumination to highlight the key sites in the project. Each of 11 different plots can be illuminated individually at the touch of a button.


Saint Petersburg Marina – Scale 1:750 Incorporating battery powered white LEDs, all the buildings on this white styled masterplan model could be illuminated at the touch of a button. Another significant feature about this model is the high level of detail that can be achieved at this very small scale (all buildings are under 35mm tall). The model was built on a very tight schedule and shipped off to Russia (in a purpose-built flight box) to be used as the centrepiece of a major presentation.

Waterside Housing Model – Scale 1:250 Commissioned for a Thames-side housing development in East London, at 2m x 1.4m this is a larger than usual model but the client had allowed plenty of space for it as a centrepiece of their marketing suite. The lighting effects include the option to light up four separate phases individually, controlled by the buttons visible on the front edge of the model.





CryoBattery Power Station – 1:150 scale Although this is very much a stylised representation of a CryoBattery power station the main purpose of the model was to illustrate the operating processes of the system which uses renewable sources to compress air in tanks which can later be used to generate power. In effect, it acts as large battery to store energy for when it is most needed. To demonstrate this we’ve used interactive LED lighting effects combined with strong colours to indicate the different stages of the process. The LED illumination rises slowly upwards to the top of the vessels and then gradually drops down again to represent the “filling up” and “emptying” phases of the CryoBattery system. Visit the “Interactive Models” page to see a “lights on” view of this model.