Interactive Portfolio Website for a Global Architecture Firm with 3D Model Integration

A Europe-based architecture firm with operations across 12 countries aimed to create an immersive online experience showcasing its premium commercial and residential projects. Their legacy site was outdated, lacked interactive elements, and did not reflect the firm’s high-tech, design-driven brand. The objective was to build a high-performance, visually stunning portfolio website that allowed visitors to explore 3D building models, view categorized project galleries, and access detailed project data. The new platform needed to support international audiences, function well on mobile, and handle large media assets without performance lags. Post-launch, the firm reported a 3.6x increase in time-on-site and significant uptick in inquiries from enterprise clients and design partners.

Problem Statement

Legacy website was static and lacked interactive media capabilities
3D models had to be shared via external tools, limiting engagement
Project galleries were disorganized and not categorized effectively
Site load times were slow due to unoptimized media content
The design did not reflect the brand’s innovation-forward identity

Solution Approach

Developed a 3D model viewer using WebGL and Three.js, embedded within each project page
Implemented a dynamic gallery grid filtered by region, type, and design style
Migrated all content to Strapi CMS with structured fields for project metadata, images, and embedded walkthroughs
Integrated Cloudinary for automatic media compression without quality loss
Optimized site performance using lazy loading, image prefetching, and SSR rendering via Next.js
Built custom animations and hover effects using GSAP and Lottie for immersive navigation
Designed the layout with modular sections: firm overview, project timeline, media kits, and awards
Enabled multilingual support and geo-intelligent content suggestions

Benefits

3.6x increase in average session duration due to interactive 3D models
SEO score improved by 28% due to structured content and faster page loads
Visual branding alignment helped position the firm as an innovation leader
Categorized project galleries improved UX and client discoverability
Fully mobile-optimized experience contributed to 61% increase in mobile sessions
Reduced bounce rate by 45%, especially on key project pages