Case Study: 3D Data Center Visualizations for DATA CASTLE Frankfurt and Berlin

A data center is one of the hardest buildings to present before it exists. From the outside it is a closed volume with few windows. Its most important rooms are restricted areas. And its key process, the flow of energy and heat, cannot be seen at all.

For DATA CASTLE, Render Vision created 3D data center visualizations for two planned facilities in Frankfurt and Berlin. The project started without any 3D or BIM model. Working only from PDF documentation and DWG drawings, the team built both environments from scratch and delivered 19 final CGI images. The images were created to market both facilities for lease or sale and to present them to investors. Later the collaboration grew into custom 3D sequences for the client’s brand film.

3D Data Center Visualization: From DWG Plans to Complete CGI Environments

The first project, located near Frankfurt, arrived as PDF and DWG documentation with no production-ready model.

Before any image could be composed or lit, the team had to create the data center 3D model itself: the building, its surrounding context, landscaping, materials and the selected interiors. Every 3D view of the data center depends on the accuracy of this base, so it was built directly from the drawings.

Exteriors from Three Viewpoints, by Day and by Evening

The Frankfurt package includes five exterior views from three viewpoints, two of them rendered in both daylight and evening light. The daylight views show the building volume, the green facade and the landscaped parking area. The evening versions bring out the illuminated facade and the teal accent lighting of the brand. Together they give a complete 3D view of the data center and its site.

Foyer, Meeting Room and Open Office

The interior series covers the foyer, the meeting room and the open office space. The client’s references set the direction, while Render Vision handled most of the visual development: materials, furniture, lighting and atmosphere. Warm wood, plant walls and soft seating balance the technical character of the building. The brand is built into the space through an illuminated logo in the foyer and DATA CASTLE signage in the meeting room. People in the scenes show how each space is meant to be used.

Server Rooms: Fitted Racks and Empty White Space

The server areas were shown in two states. The fitted server room presents an enclosed rack aisle with perforated floor tiles and linear lighting, where scale and equipment layout had to be exact. The second view shows the empty server hall before fit-out, the open white space available to future tenants. For a 3D rendering of a data center marketed for lease, both views matter: one shows the technical standard, the other the available capacity.

In total, Render Vision produced 11 final CGI images for Frankfurt, creating the entire environment from the first drawing to the final render.

3D View of the Data Center in Berlin: Same Brand, Different Architecture

After Frankfurt, the client commissioned a second visualization package for its Berlin location.

The Berlin architecture differed from Frankfurt, so a new data center 3D model was built for the site. The package comprised eight final CGI images:

• three exterior views, one of them at dusk;
• empty server hall;
• meeting room;
• lobby;
• office;
• kitchen.

Brand Details Shared by Both Locations

Both facilities follow the client’s brand guidelines, which define one visual language for every location so the brand stays recognizable. Render Vision translated these guidelines into both 3D environments, so details such as the teal neon logo, plant walls and ring pendant lights appear in Frankfurt and Berlin alike.

With the lobby, office and kitchen included, the set shows more than the technical core. It presents the facility as a place where people work every day, which makes the 3D data center visualization relevant to tenants and investors, not only to engineers.

Data Center 3D Model in Motion: Animation for the DATA CASTLE Brand Film

The project then moved from still images into data center animation for the DATA CASTLE brand film.

The film was a collaboration with Elbe am Rhein Werbeagentur GmbH. The agency developed the concept and script and assembled the final film. Render Vision produced the CGI sequences for elements that conventional footage could not show. These sequences were built on the same data center 3D model created for the still images, so the architecture in the film matches the renderings exactly.

Visualizing Waste Heat Recovery

The most demanding sequence explained the waste heat recovery concept: heat generated inside the data center leaves the facility and is transferred toward the surrounding city through the district heating infrastructure.

The topic carries growing weight in Germany. Under the Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG), data centers that start operation from 1 July 2026 must reach a share of reused energy of at least 10 percent. For facilities starting from July 2027 the planned share rises to 15 percent and from July 2028 to 20 percent.

Here 3D data center visualization goes beyond architecture, because the process itself is invisible. It cannot be filmed or covered with stock footage, so the entire sequence had to be designed and animated in 3D.

Clarity Within a Few Seconds

The main challenge was not only technical accuracy but clarity. Within a few seconds, viewers needed to understand the connection between the data center, the recovered heat and the urban infrastructure around it. The finished CGI sequence was then integrated into the agency’s film alongside the other content.

3D Rendering of a Data Center: Production Timeline and Team

Experience with technical and architectural visualization allowed the team to move quickly despite starting without 3D models. The data center renderings for each location took approximately three weeks, with Frankfurt and Berlin following the same schedule. The 3D sequences for the brand film were completed within a similar timeframe.

The core team consisted of an exterior artist, an interior artist, a project manager and an art director. This follows the standard Render Vision setup, in which every project is supported by at least three dedicated specialists. The art director kept both locations aligned with the client’s brand guidelines, while the project manager coordinated deliverables and approvals with the client.

Ready for a 3D View of Your Data Center?

Across Frankfurt and Berlin, Render Vision delivered 19 final CGI images, two complete data center environments and custom 3D animation sequences for the brand film. All of it started from drawings and references alone and gave the client one consistent set of materials for leasing, sales and investor presentations.

This is the core value of 3D data center visualizations: they make a building type that is closed by design understandable before construction, from the facade to the server hall to the heat it returns to the city.

Planning a data center? Render Vision can create a 3D rendering of a data center from your existing drawings.