The renovation of a historic property in Sóller, Mallorca, in Spain, presented Broadley Studios with both a challenge and an opportunity: how to respect the building’s character while reimagining its future. Central to that process was Gaussian Splatting, an emerging 3D imaging technique that became a core reference tool throughout the project.
Gaussian Splatting transforms video captures into dense, three-dimensional fields of “splats”, ellipsoid particles rendered in real time. Unlike traditional photogrammetry, which relies on rigid meshing, splatting produces fluid, high-fidelity models that are easy to navigate.
This flexibility makes it ideal for architectural visualisation, enabling designers to study textures, light patterns, and spatial irregularities with an immediacy that traditional scans often lack.
The renovation of a historic property in Sóller, Mallorca, Spain, presented Broadley Studios with both a challenge and an opportunity.
Broadley Studios began by recording the property with video, then used Volinga to convert the footage into Gaussian Splats. This allowed our team to explore the original structure as an immersive, true-to-life 3D environment. The splatted model revealed subtle architectural conditions: slightly tapering walls, uneven ceiling beams, and non-standard room geometries. Critical details that would shape our renovation strategy.
The spatial clarity of the model also made it possible to analyse natural light movement within the home, particularly how sunlight filtered into the main living spaces throughout the day. Such insights guided the early planning discussions long before any physical drawings were drafted.
While the digital capture offered an intuitive way to inhabit the space, it was paired intentionally with traditional architectural floor planning. Measurements from the splatted environment were cross-checked with technical drawings, ensuring accuracy while allowing creative flexibility.
In practice, the two methods formed a feedback loop: the splats helped validate the architectural plans, and the plans provided a structured lens for interpreting the 3D data.
Our renovation’s digital workflow relied on a seamless interplay between tools. After generating splats in Volinga, the team used its built-in plugin to import the Gaussian model directly into Unreal Engine. Inside Unreal, our designers created a blockout, a simplified geometric representation of the building, based on the splatted space. This blockout was exported as an FBX and brought into 3ds Max, where additional architectural floor planning refined proportions, alignments, and key structural relationships.
Once refined, the updated model was re-imported into Unreal Engine. There, using tools such as Ultra Dynamic Sky for accurate skylight and cloud simulation and Quixel Bridge for selecting and applying materials, the team rebuilt the property with realistic textures, lighting, and atmospheric cues.
This iterative cycle allowed Broadley Studios to recreate, redesign, and ultimately re-envision the Sóller residence with exceptional clarity.
This allowed Broadley Studios to recreate, redesign, and ultimately re-envision the Sóller residence with exceptional clarity
The finished design balances heritage and modernity: a once fragmented interior now flows naturally, enriched by controlled natural light and carefully curated materials. At every stage, Gaussian Splatting, supported by Volinga, Unreal Engine, and 3ds Max, acted as both a technical instrument and a storytelling tool, preserving the essence of the original property while guiding its transformation into a contemporary Sóller retreat.
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