Where renderings are useful
A rendering can show materials, light and atmosphere in a way a scale model usually will not. It can take a buyer down a proposed street or into a room. It is also easier to change when the design is still moving.
Where a model is useful
A model gives several people the same overview. They can move around it, find a building, trace a road or compare two parts of a site. Our Central Park model was made for a sales center where buyers could look at the planned community before the first home had been built.
Often, the two work together.
A model of the entire development and renderings of individual spaces answer different questions. If the only goal is to show the finish of one room, a model is probably unnecessary. If the question is how that room's building fits into a large site, a rendering alone may be hard to use. At Daybreak, for example, the sales team can use the model to explain the overall layout and then turn to the plans for individual lot details.
For an example, see our Central Park Development project. We also have real estate development models in the portfolio.