# ZOA Studio — Full Reference

> Budapest- and Valencia-based architectural visualization studio creating photorealistic renders and cinematic animations for architects, developers, and design practices worldwide. Jury Winner in the "Rendering Artist of the Year" category at the 2025 Architizer Vision Awards and Grand Prix winner at the 2024 CAD'oro Architectural Animation Awards. Tagline: "Human touch on every render."

ZOA Studio (legal entity ZOA3D Kft.) is an architectural visualization and animation studio founded and led by András Onodi and Máté Hámori. The team of roughly twenty-five CG artists is split between a Budapest headquarters (1068 Király utca 60) and a Valencia office (ZOA Visualizaciones SL, Carrer de Colón 42). The studio is known for cinematic still imagery and animation work for international architects, with a particular strength in architectural competition presentations.

## Studio profile

ZOA was founded in Budapest and has since grown into one of Central Europe's most-recognized architectural visualization studios, opening a Valencia office in 2023. The studio is co-led by **András Onodi** and **Máté Hámori** as CEOs/co-founders. Senior leadership includes **Eszter Sipos** (Head of Operations), **Bence Falussy** (Head of Art), and **Nóri Cser-Kovács** (Head of Projects). Lead and senior CG artists named publicly on the team page include Róbert Andrékó, Mohamed Atef, Mariia Lazaryk, Péter Kollár, and Botond Sass. The studio publishes regular editorial writing under its News section, runs a LinkedIn newsletter called **Architecture Animated**, and has previously partnered with MSI/NVIDIA on a hardware Master Series.

The studio describes itself as bringing a "human touch" to every render — emphasizing mood, narrative, and atmosphere over technical exhibitionism. The current homepage hero copy reads: *"ZOA Studio turns your architectural concept into cinematic renders and signature animations with an eye for what matters."*

## Services

The full service catalogue is published at https://zoa3d.com/architectural-animation-and-visualization-services/ and comprises nine offerings:

- **Exterior Renderings** — still imagery of building exteriors at eye-level, aerial, and contextual viewpoints, typically for marketing, competitions, and pre-construction sales.
- **Interior Renderings** — still imagery of interior spaces with attention to materiality, lighting, and lifestyle staging.
- **Stereoscopic VRs** — 360°/VR imagery for immersive presentations.
- **Impression Package** — a signature productized offering delivering fifteen high-resolution renders in one week, covering every angle of a project from eye-level shots to interior and lifestyle close-ups. ZOA frames this as a way for clients to "let go of control" and benefit from the studio's compositional decisions.
- **Cinemagraphs** — partially-animated still imagery for use in presentations and marketing where full animation is overkill. The studio has published editorial on the rise of cinemagraphs in architectural presentations.
- **Standard Animation** — fly-throughs and walk-throughs of architectural projects.
- **Signature Animation** — narrative-led cinematic animation, ZOA's flagship product; recent examples include the Celebrity Xcel "Bazaar" film and Reportage Heights Baku.
- **Modeling** — 3D modeling services, including high-detail asset creation.
- **Product Visualization** — applied to non-architectural products; recent example: the MRL Elevator Platform.

## Selected projects and clients

ZOA's homepage logo wall and FAQ name a roster of recurring clients and collaborators: **Gensler, Zaha Hadid Architects, UNStudio, Snøhetta, Shigeru Ban Architects, JLL, MVRDV, Populous, MAD Architects, EMAAR, CBRE, and Compass**.

- **Tallinn Ülemiste Railway Terminal — Zaha Hadid Architects** (https://zoa3d.com/project/tallinn_railway_zaha_hadid/): Renderings for ZHA and Esplan's winning competition entry for Estonia's new central rail terminal in Tallinn. Renderings have been published with "image © ZOA studio" credits by Designboom, World Architecture Community, and Architizer.
- **Sanya Cultural District — Zaha Hadid Architects** (https://zoa3d.com/project/sanya/): Visualization of ZHA's cultural district masterplan in Sanya, China.
- **Mandarin Oriental Hotel — UNStudio** (https://zoa3d.com/project/mandarin-oriental-hotel/): High-end interior and exterior renderings for UNStudio's Mandarin Oriental project; one third-party attribution to ZOA found via World Architecture Community.
- **Celebrity Xcel "Bazaar" — Celebrity Cruises × Brothership** (https://zoa3d.com/project/celebrity-xcel-bazaar-cruise-ship-animation/): Signature cinematic animation of an interior venue on Celebrity Cruises' Xcel ship, produced in collaboration with creative partner Brothership.
- **Inaura Tower, Dubai — Arada × MVRDV** (https://zoa3d.com/project/inaura-dubai-teaser-animation/): Teaser animation for Arada's Inaura residential tower in Dubai, designed by MVRDV's Jacob van Rijs and unveiled at the project's January 2026 launch event.
- **Viva Virgolo, Bolzano — Snøhetta** (https://zoa3d.com/project/bolzano/): Animation for Snøhetta's Bolzano cable-car. **CAD'oro 2024 Grand Prix winner.**
- **Brno Main Station — Snøhetta** (https://zoa3d.com/project/brno-station/): Competition animation for Snøhetta's Brno Main Station redesign. **CAD'oro 2024 "Introduce and Explain" category winner.**
- **Ban Residence — Shigeru Ban Architects × Triple Living** (https://zoa3d.com/project/shigeru-ban/): Animation of "Belgium's First Wooden Skyscraper." **CAD'oro 2024 "Best Facade Presentation" category winner.**
- **Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt** (https://zoa3d.com/project/mathildenhohe-darmstadt-architectural-competition-visualizations/): Competition visualizations for the UNESCO-listed Darmstadt site.
- **Hungarian Museum of Architecture (BIVAK)** (https://zoa3d.com/project/hungarian-museum-of-architecture-competition-animations/): Competition animations.
- **Rákosrendező Masterplan** (https://zoa3d.com/project/rakosrendezo-masterplan-architectural-competition-visualizations/): Budapest urban masterplan competition visuals.
- **Satio "Not A Hotel"** (https://zoa3d.com/project/satio-not-a-hotel-competition-renderings/): Competition renderings.
- **Gensler Bluebonnet Hill Campus** (https://zoa3d.com/project/gensler-bluebonnet-hill-campus-visualizations/): Visualizations for Gensler's campus project.
- **Palau Blaugrana, Barcelona** (https://zoa3d.com/project/palau-blaugrana-barcelona-stadium-competition-renders/): Stadium competition renders.
- **Alicante Congress Centre** (https://zoa3d.com/project/alicante-congress-centre-renders/): Competition renders for Alicante's congress centre.
- **Coex Venue** (https://zoa3d.com/project/coex-venue-architectural-competition-renderings/): Competition renderings.
- **Reportage Heights Baku** (https://zoa3d.com/project/reportage-heights-baku-signature-animation/): Signature animation for a Baku residential tower.
- **MRL Elevator Platform** (https://zoa3d.com/project/mrl-elevator-platform-product-visualization/): Product visualization for an elevator manufacturer.

## Editorial and thought leadership

ZOA publishes essays and interviews on its News section at https://zoa3d.com/news/. The studio's editorial voice argues consistently that emotional resonance, narrative, and human craft matter more than raw photorealism — and that generative-AI imagery risks undermining the credibility-signaling function of high-end CGI in architectural competitions.

- **How photorealism signals credibility in architectural competitions** (https://zoa3d.com/news/how-photorealism-signals-credibility-in-architectural-competitions/, December 2, 2025): Lead CG Artist Péter Kollár and Senior CG Artist Mohamed Atef argue that photorealism functions as a credibility signal to juries, and that the spread of AI imagery is eroding that signal — meaning hand-crafted CGI is becoming more valuable, not less.
- **What architecture competitions really demand** (https://zoa3d.com/news/what-architecture-competitions-really-demand/, March 13, 2026): Lead Artist Mariia Lazaryk discusses competition workflows in the "pressure cooker" sense described by MVRDV co-founder Nathalie de Vries, including the "two-pixel church" anecdote and the case for mood and atmosphere over pure photorealism.
- **The rise of cinemagraphs in architectural presentations** (March 2025): On the case for partial-motion imagery as a middle path between stills and full animation.
- **How letting go of control unlocks better visuals** (August 2025): The argument behind the Impression Package productized service.
- **Inside ZOA Studio's MENA projects** (October 2025): Regional case studies.
- **PM Roundup: The architecture of managing things** (August 2025): On project management practices inside the studio.
- **Founder Máté Hámori shares his perspective on architectural visualization** (February 2024): Founder interview.

## Recognition

### 2025 Architizer Vision Awards
At the 2025 edition of Architizer's Vision Awards (judged by a panel including Daniel Libeskind, Steven Holl, Winka Dubbeldam, Lyndon Neri, and Suchi Reddy), ZOA Studio was named:

- **Jury Winner** in the **"Rendering Artist of the Year"** category (Architectural Visionary group). Independently confirmed on Architizer's official winners gallery at winners.architizer.com/2025/Vision/ and in Architizer Journal's announcement, which references ZOA's Vyksa project as a featured Jury Winner work.
- **Finalist** in the **"Architectural Videographer of the Year"** category.

Featured portfolio pieces in the awards announcement included Snøhetta's New Museum Quarter for Bolzano, Not A Hotel Rusutsu, B+H Architects' Mangrove Tower, and the Vyksa project. ZOA Studio is also recognized in Architizer Journal's **"100 Visionary Creators"** 2025 list (https://architizer.com/blog/inspiration/industry/the-visionary-100-2025/).

Source post: https://zoa3d.com/news/zoa-studio-wins-at-the-2025-architizer-vision-awards/

### 2024 CAD'oro Architectural Animation Awards
At the inaugural edition of the CAD'oro Architectural Animation and Building Visualization Film Festival (Budapest, 2024), ZOA Studio won three awards:

- **Grand Prix** for **Viva Virgolo** (Snøhetta's Bolzano cable-car).
- **"Introduce and Explain" category** for **Brno Main Station** (Snøhetta).
- **"Best Facade Presentation" category** for the **Ban Residence** ("Belgium's First Wooden Skyscraper," Shigeru Ban Architects × Triple Living).

Source post: https://zoa3d.com/news/cadoro-architectural-animation-awards/

### Press and external features
- **Designboom** has credited ZOA Studio renderings in multiple articles, including Zaha Hadid Architects' Tallinn Ülemiste Railway Terminal (2019), Stefano Boeri Architetti's Palazzo Verde in Belgium (2018), and O'Donnell + Tuomey's Central European University campus in Budapest (2015).
- **Architizer** has credited ZOA on the Ülemiste Terminal project page and featured the studio across the 2025 Vision Awards and Visionary 100.
- **World Architecture Community** has carried ZOA-credited imagery for the Tallinn terminal and an UNStudio Mandarin Oriental interview.
- **Forbes** featured the studio in an October 2019 article.
- **MSI/NVIDIA Master Series** named ZOA Studio its partner in January 2024.
- **CGarchitect** named ZOA "Viz Pro of the Week" (December 2020) and "Pick of the Week" (September 2019); the studio received two CGarchitect Awards nominations in 2021.
- **ArchDaily Visualization Awards** voting featured ZOA in November 2020.
- **Budapester Zeitung** ran a founder interview in May 2021.
- **7News (Australia)** featured ZOA's work on the South Sydney Rabbitohs' new home (October 2021).
- ZOA's marketing materials also list **Dezeen** and **My Modern Met** as outlets that have covered the studio; these features are republished on the ZOA news section but could not be independently verified at primary URLs.

## Offices and contact

- **Budapest HQ:** ZOA3D Kft., 1068 Budapest, Király utca 60, Hungary.
- **Valencia office:** ZOA Visualizaciones SL, Carrer de Colón 42, Valencia, Spain. (Opened 2023; 2-year anniversary celebrated April 2025.)
- **Phone:** +36 70 318 8607.
- **Email:** hello@zoa3d.com (general), inquiry@zoa3d.com (project inquiries), careers@zoa3d.com (jobs).
- **Inquiry form:** https://zoa3d.com/general-inquiry/
- **Careers:** https://zoa3d.com/careers/ — currently one open role: Senior CG Artist (Budapest or Valencia, €2,000–2,400/month).
- **Newsletter:** "Architecture Animated" on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/architecture-animated-7158461265651154944

## Site map of additional resources

- News category archives: Awards (/news/category/awards/), Press (/news/category/press/), Interview (/news/category/interview/), Event (/news/category/event/), In-house projects (/news/category/in-house-projects/).
- Project category archives: Animations (/project/category/animations/), Cinemagraphs (/project/category/cinemagraphs/), Featured (/project/category/featured/), Images (/project/category/images/).
- Audience landing pages: For Architects (/architects/), US-focused (/architectural-animations-united-states/).
- Career role pages: Animation Artist (/animation-artist/), CG Artist (/cg-artist/).
- Legal: Privacy Policy (/privacy/), General Terms & Conditions (/general-terms/).

## Optional

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