Key Takeaways:

• D5 Render enabled every architect at ANarquitectura to create high-quality visuals, removing reliance on a single rendering expert.
• Real-time lighting, material, and vegetation tools helped the team make faster, climate-responsive design decisions for tropical environments.
• High-impact renders and animations created in D5 played a crucial role in client communication, marketing, and securing project expansion.

Studio Overview:

• ‍Location: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• ‍Team Size: 30
• ‍Studio Type: Design-Build
• ‍Project Types: Modern tropical residential, commercial
• ‍Modeling Tools: SketchUp

Designing Coastal Architecture: Craft, Context, and Caribbean Character

More than just a design-build firm, ANarquitectura is a creative laboratory for exploring what tropical modernism can become. Their design philosophy emphasizes emotional richness, environmental responsiveness, and hands-on integration between design and construction. This culture of cohesion and experimentation makes them uniquely positioned to respond to complex project demands—both creatively and logistically.

From curving forms that channel ocean breezes to carefully calibrated material palettes, their work resonates with a commitment to craft and place. It’s this vision—warm, grounded, and innovative—that D5 Render now helps translate into compelling visual narratives.

The Project: Coastal Architecture Meets Contemporary Living in Cabarete

Set against the golden coastline of Cabarete—an international hub for kite surfing—the Mareal project was envisioned as a redefinition of beachfront living: contemporary, serene, and unapologetically elegant. Spanning approximately 12,000 square meters, the development aimed to harmonize with its natural surroundings while offering a refined, resort-inspired experience. The client's brief sought a balance between natural harmony and modern sophistication, all housed within low-rise, organic structures that respected the surrounding landscape. The vision pushed beyond typical resort typologies, integrating curved façades, open-plan layouts, and tropical textures to create something entirely new for the region.

With over 200 residential units to visualize, a compressed timeline, and the expectation for marketing-ready visuals that captured the project’s architectural ambition, the stakes were high. ANarquitectura met the moment using D5 Render—producing the final design with photorealistic images and a full cinematic animation in under eight weeks. These visuals became instrumental to Mareal’s branding and presales success, transforming design intent into immersive, high-impact storytelling.

From carefully composed exterior angles that captured the project's sweeping forms to interior vignettes bathed in soft Caribbean light, D5 enabled a new level of visual realism—making the unbuilt feel tangible. These visuals not only brought clarity to stakeholders but also reinforced Mareal’s identity as a benchmark for contemporary tropical living.

Adopting D5: From Static Workflows to Studio-Wide Visualization

Why ANarquitectura Switched from V-Ray

Previously reliant on V-Ray, rendering was a bottleneck owned by a single team member. Complex scenes took weeks, especially when integrating vegetation or preparing videos. "We were looking for something fast and easy—something that would allow more people in the team to get involved," said principal Ronny Nuñez.

Empowering Every Architect to Render

D5 changed the game. "Now everyone can render. Every architect here has D5 on their computer," noted architect Leah Hoepleman. Its intuitive interface allowed even new hires to learn quickly, ensuring design visualization became a studio-wide skill. Standardized presets and shared material libraries maintained visual consistency, regardless of who was behind the mouse.

A Design-Build Studio’s Ideal Tool

(the project construction update)

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Unlike firms that use rendering purely for client presentations, ANarquitectura uses D5 as an internal design tool. As Ronny shared, "We are architects who interfere deeply in the construction phase—we produce highly detailed documentation. We never add a single light in a render that wouldn't exist in real life. Everything you see in our visuals is supported by technical documentation. It's accurate, it's buildable, and it reflects exactly what we intend to construct." From lighting tests to material decisions, D5 integrates seamlessly into their feedback loops—enhancing collaboration between design and construction teams.

A Platform That Keeps Evolving

Another major reason ANarquitectura continues to invest in D5 is the frequency of feature updates. "The sheer amount of new features that consistently come out—you'd never think you needed them, and suddenly they become an integral part of your workflow," said Ronny. "It's just a gift that keeps on giving. The regular updates and constant improvements are truly a game changer."

Workflow: From SketchUp to Render in Real Time

Quick Model-to-Render Pipeline

The studio relies on SketchUp for modeling, then transitions smoothly into D5. "It’s plug and play," Ronny emphasized. With D5’s LiveSync feature, models transition effortlessly from SketchUp into D5—allowing the team to visualize changes in real time and render scenes within hours instead of days.

Lighting and Material Testing in Real-Time

Materiality is central to ANarquitectura's identity, and D5 allows immediate experimentation with light and surfaces, ensuring warmth and atmosphere align with the project’s tropical DNA. Ronny highlighted how easy it is to set up materials in D5—especially when it comes to fine-tuning contrast, brightness, or displacement without external tools. "Previously, we had to edit textures manually in Photoshop, but now we can make those changes directly inside D5," he noted. Combined with accurate sky simulations and the ability to visualize sun exposure throughout the day, these features enabled the team to make informed design decisions that improved comfort, performance, and aesthetic cohesion in a tropical climate.

Also read: 4 Best Tips of Realistic Environmental Lighting for Architecture

Vegetation Tools: Plug-and-Play Realism

D5's vegetation tool stood out as a major breakthrough for the team at ANarquitectura. The vast built-in library of vegetation models, combined with its lightweight performance, allowed the team to create rich, immersive tropical environments without overwhelming their hardware. Previously, they had to buy external vegetation packs—often in unsupported formats—and spend weeks converting them into usable V-Ray proxies.

Also read: Professional Landscape Architecture Rendering Software

Animations for Client and Stakeholder Buy-In

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Beyond stills, the team created fluid animations to help clients visualize spatial relationships and mood. These visual stories became the centerpiece of marketing efforts and investor presentations.

The Results

Final Design and 30+ Visuals in Under Two Months

With D5, the team completed an extensive set of visuals—from aerial shots to interior scenes—plus animations, all within the developer’s tight window. "What used to take us a week now takes us a day," said Ronny. "It could even take as little as a weekend. Of a lot of coffee," Ronny laughed.

Improved Client Understanding and Confidence

The visuals didn’t just look good; they worked. Clients grasped the mood and spatial logic of the design without flipping through plans. This clarity led to faster approvals and inspired the greenlight of a second phase.

Elevated Internal Collaboration

Visualization became a collaborative effort, bridging architecture and construction. "We render what we build," Ronny emphasized. Every element in D5 has a counterpart in the built world.

Final Thoughts: Designing Tropical Modernism, Rendered in Real Time

For ANarquitectura, D5 Render isn’t just software—it’s a design partner. It brings their Caribbean-rooted design philosophy to life with agility and artistry. Whether illuminating a shaded interior or choreographing a cinematic walkthrough under moonlight, D5 enables them to build atmospheres as vividly as they build spaces.

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