Albert Residence
A New Era Will Dawn With A Flatiron-Style Residence In The Belgian Capital
Sunny outlook
In Belgium, Kolmont is pushing its new Flatiron-style residential project with a major real estate campaign and approached ZOA Studio for yet another collaboration; this time to deliver a full visualization package consisting of twenty interior and exterior renderings as well as a 30-sec animation.
The new Albert Residence targets Belgian hipsters to encourage them to buy or rent out chic apartments or spacious offices by highlighting the hustle and bustle of a big city lifestyle and a New-Yorkish atmosphere.
Once Kolmont will inaugurate this new residential complex, many youngsters will be given the chance to move into these contemporary homes situated in a former industrial site with a Manhattan-like charm, and envision a new life in Brechem.
New Yorkish vibes
Even if you haven’t had the chance to visit The Big Apple yet, from the countless movies that were shot there you can get a general idea of just how crazy life can get in the metropolis.
Our task with this project was to mirror the exciting and fast-paced life of Manhattan and the “across the pond” feeling of America.
As folks arrive at the old Albert building, on the corner of the Belpairestraat and the Coveliersstraat, they immediately get a piece of New York, so to speak; you definitely won’t miss the resemblance of the Albert building and the steel-framed Flatiron which was completed in 1902 and is one of the city’s oldest surviving skyscrapers.
Embracing a forgotten building
The project personifies what Kolmont does best: to embrace forgotten buildings, reimagine them, bring them back to life and remind the youngsters of Antwerp why this city ought to be considered for finding a new home and settling down.
This industrial site had been vacant for quite some time, but the moment has come for it to undergo the much-needed transformation it deserves—starting this year.
The independent shops, and pleasant public parks, have long been in need of more activity: street skaters and dog walkers, new parents pushing a baby buggy, and youngsters meeting up for a chat—all of the little things that would reflect the new, lively energy of the place.
After bumping into the twenty-five or so Antwerp-based startups and retail managers on the ground floor you can step into the elevator and check out the 77 trendy, high-ceiling loft-style apartments, where light and comfort combined with cozy winter gardens and spacious roof terraces.
The dawn of a new era
The development not only focuses on the overall well-being of the future residents but will create more ecologically valuable green spaces keeping in sight the importance of the continuous development of the cities regarding green infrastructure.
As a result of this, a welcoming atmosphere and down-to-earth cultural and residential space are to be built and the main goal is to nurture a healthier, happier generation.
Derailing from the approach of mainstream studios
ZOA Studio boasts a reputation for making unique real estate animations globally and derailing from the mainstream approach of other animation studios made complete, with a friendly working process with our strategic partners in Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, or Norway.
With our state-of-the-art architectural visualizations, we are hoping to capitalize on the booming demand for using dynamic video formats, and wide-scale digital content packages—but we usually start off with high-end exterior and interior impressions.
We produced and delivered almost twenty renderings besides a half-minute architectural animation that is way above the average marketing package that most companies use for communication purposes.
We believe that having the opportunity to choose from and showcase more content in posts and running ads from a bigger selection is definitely an advantage when you are selling real estate in today’s economy.
The missing pieces of the puzzle
Split into two phases, the first phase of our animation process was the ideation, including concept writing and storyboarding which is then presented to the client who then chooses the one option that they see fit better for the message they want to deliver.
The second half, the production phase, which carries the ‘3D magic’, music edit, and scene development put the missing pieces of the puzzle in place making it possible for the 30-second-long animation to premiere today.
As project leaders, it was Hajni’s and Samer’s job to mentor artists remotely and oversee image production down to every last frame and the musical note of the animation, which—to be fair—given their charming personalities and exceptional eyes for detail not to mention years and years of professional experience behind them—was actually not a very difficult task for them.
If we learned anything from this project, it’s that nothing bad can happen as long as there is a stylish brick facade, devotion to the art of visualizations, and we have a Hajni and a Samer in our team.
