“D5 makes the process smoother. As designers, we love working with beautiful, real-time visuals. It keeps the inspiration flowing.”

Key Takeaways

• D5 Render empowers tropical modernism with real-time, climate-responsive design tools.
• Wellness Hotel G exemplifies how fluid forms and context-driven design thrive with D5.
• Rendering time cut by 60–70%, enabling faster iterations and more design options.
• Real-time walkthroughs enhance client understanding and accelerate approvals.
• D5’s intuitive interface fuels creativity, making it ideal for modern tropical architecture.

Studio Overview

• ‍Location: Bangkok, Thailand
• ‍Team Size: 30
• ‍Studio Type: Architecture and Interior Design
• ‍Project Types: Housing, Residential Development, Hospitality, Commercial
• ‍Modeling Tools: SketchUp, 3ds Max, Revit

Tucked into the lush coastline of Phuket, the Wellness Hotel G is more than a hospitality project—it’s a manifesto of makeAscene’s design philosophy and a vivid example of tropical modernism in action. The resort, with its 20,000 square meters of fluid architecture and immersive landscape, demanded something beyond conventional design tools. For makeAscene, it became the proving ground for a radical shift in workflow and creative vision, ushered in by D5 Render.

At the heart of the project was a poetic concept: water flowing from its origin on mountains to the open ocean, shaping the land as it goes. Buildings resemble smooth, eroded rocks. Garden paths mimic streambeds. And everything—from structures to terrain—blends seamlessly. Yet this seamlessness brought complexity. Representing it accurately, quickly, and convincingly was impossible with traditional rendering tools. That's where D5 came in.

Climate-Responsive Design Meets Real-Time Rendering

From V-Ray to Real-Time Visualization

Before D5, makeAscene relied heavily on 3ds Max with V-Ray and occasionally Lumion. The workflow was slow, fragmented, and required heavy manual setup. For a project like Wellness Hotel G—with intricate curves and layers of greenery—the lag became a creative bottleneck.

Switching to D5 wasn’t an upgrade. It was a leap. "Like going from a regular phone to a smartphone," says Pitchaya Ratpiyasoontorn, co-founder of makeAscene. Within days, the team was working inside real-time environments, manipulating materials and light, and making faster, more confident decisions.

Also read: D5 Render + 3ds Max: Animation Made Easy

Fast Approvals, Better Design

Wellness Hotel G’s conceptual approval came in just two design iterations. With D5, designers merged architectural and landscape models into one live file. They walked through the site virtually, composed camera views, adjusted environmental conditions, and fine-tuned materiality—all while the client watched. It wasn’t just convincing—it was captivating.

Visualizing Tropical Modernism with Smart Rendering Tools

“The rendering quality has become so realistic that we can accurately test lighting effects and confidently expect the built result to look just like the rendering.”

Lighting Grounded in Place

Bangkok's sunlight is intense and direct. For makeAscene, simulating local lighting conditions was crucial—especially for transitions between indoor and outdoor areas. D5’s geo sky tool that simulates reallife time of day allowed them to test designs under harsh tropical sun, not just picture-perfect HDRI lighting. The result? More honest visuals and smarter shading strategies—critical for tropical modernism where climate-responsive design is key.

Also read: Natural sunlighting for realistic architectural visualization with Geo&Sky in D5 Render

Material Realism Made Simple

Previously, designers would spend hours in Photoshop tweaking textures to avoid repetition. Now, with D5’s UV randomizer and displacement controls, natural materials like wood, stone, and foliage appear convincingly diverse with minimal effort. This authenticity became a defining visual trait of Wellness Hotel G’s modern tropical aesthetic.

Free-Form Geometry Without the Wait

The hotel’s signature curves pushed the limits of Revit and SketchUp. In D5, those same forms rendered instantly. Designers could position flower-shaped columns, adjust terrain, and test sightlines—all without freezing their machines or breaking momentum.

Why D5 Became Integral

Speed = More possibilities

With rendering time slashed by 60–70%, the team could explore more ideas. Alternate phasing, different planting strategies, even speculative spatial compositions—what used to be "maybe later" became "let’s try it now."

Designed for Designers

Unlike legacy rendering software that feels engineered for technicians, D5’s interface is fluid and visual. It invites experimentation. “It’s so intuitive that it feels like sculpting rather than rendering,” says Pitchaya.

A Game-Changer for Clients

Clients don’t just see images—they experience spaces. Whether through guided flythroughs or real-time scene walkthroughs, they understand design intent quickly and ask better questions. "Some of them said it felt like playing a video game," Pitchaya laughs.

Designing for Nature: makeAscene’s Tropical Modernist Ethos

“Good architecture shouldn’t feel like an alien spaceship that just landed—it should feel grounded, harmonious, and in dialogue with its environment.”

Spaces as Scenes

At makeAscene, architecture is viewed as spatial storytelling. Each project is crafted like a theatrical set—an envelope for life’s activities. This approach demands tools that don’t just depict form, but support narrative.

Rooted in Context

Designs aren’t dropped into locations—they emerge from them. Especially in dense Bangkok, buildings must engage their surroundings, whether it’s filtering harsh daylight with greenery or aligning massing with sightlines. These are hallmarks of tropical modernism: architecture that breathes, shields, and harmonizes with its setting.

Material with Meaning

Materiality at makeAscene is never arbitrary. Every choice aligns practical needs with expressive intent. With D5, those materials don’t just show up—they show off.

Final Thoughts: Designing in Real-Time, Designing with Confidence

Wellness Hotel G may be just one project, but it encapsulates makeAscene’s broader evolution. The studio didn’t just adopt a new tool—they redefined how they work. D5 Render replaced delay with dialogue, uncertainty with immediacy, and passive clients with engaged collaborators.

Today, D5 isn’t just a rendering tool in the studio. It’s a core part of how makeAscene tells stories through space. And for a firm that sees architecture as a living scene—and tropical modernism as its language—that partnership is priceless.

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