Case study
Sankari Place
Project at a glance
A teaser-led pre-launch campaign, a 50-second cinematic animation and a phased set of hero renderings, built to position Sankari Place at the top of Dubai's branded-residence market before the official launch.
- Client
- Sankari Properties
- Architecture
- Foster + Partners
- Interiors
- Portia Fox
- Operator
- Regent (IHG), its first branded residences in the world
- Location
- Marasi Marina, Business Bay, on the Dubai Water Canal
- Building type
- Two 37-storey towers (180m), 63 residences and 10 villas
- Status
- Under construction, handover targeted Q4 2027
- Purpose
- Pre-launch marketing campaign
- Scope
- 50-second cinematic animation and phased hero renderings
- Engagement
- Pre-launch through sales-phase visuals
Animation
The project
Regent's First Branded Residences in the World.
Sankari Place is a flagship ultra-luxury development by Sankari Properties, rising as two 37-storey towers, 180 metres tall, in Marasi Marina, Business Bay, directly on the Dubai Water Canal. It is Regent's first branded residences in the world, operated under IHG Hotels and Resorts, with 63 full-floor residences and 10 floating villas priced from around AED 36.7 million at launch. That places it at the very top of the global luxury market, where expectations around branding, storytelling, and visual quality are uncompromising.
The towers are designed by Foster + Partners, whose Head of Studio describes their dynamic, twisting form, inspired by cascading water, as a distinctive new addition to Business Bay. Interiors are by the design studio Portia Fox. A pedigree like that sets the bar: the imagery had to live up to one of the most recognised names in architecture.
When we began discussions with the client, they already had architectural visuals in place. But those assets were not suitable for a high-end pre-launch campaign. The client's goal was not to explain the building. It was to ignite market excitement, generate visibility across digital and media channels, and build anticipation before the official launch.
The challenge
A Branding Problem, Not a Rendering Brief.
Five constraints shaped the work:
- 01 A tight pre-launch deadline.
- 02 Existing visuals that lacked marketing and cinematic quality.
- 03 An ultra-luxury audience with global mobility, since many buyers do not permanently live in Dubai.
- 04 The need to communicate desire and lifestyle, not just architecture.
- 05 The risk of revealing too much too early.
This was not a standard "show everything" visualization brief. It was a branding and positioning challenge.
The approach
Reveal Less. Create More Desire.
Rather than attempting to present the full building under time pressure, we proposed a teaser-driven pre-launch strategy built on one simple, intentional idea: reveal less, create more desire. The cinematic animation was constructed from close-up architectural moments, carefully selected partial views, atmospheric lighting, and material detail, suggestion rather than explanation. Much like a film teaser released before principal photography, the goal was to spark curiosity, encourage speculation, and let the audience imagine what is coming instead of showing everything upfront.
Just as critical was shifting the focus away from the product alone and toward the aspirational lifestyle behind it. We proposed a hybrid approach, pairing selective CGI shots that highlighted architectural quality and material refinement with high-end lifestyle footage aligned with the target audience. The narrative was crafted for ultra-high-net-worth individuals seeking world-class elegance, privacy and exclusivity, and a global lifestyle defined by private travel, refined leisure, and prestige.
That framing mattered because many prospective buyers travel frequently and view Dubai as a base rather than a permanent residence. The animation needed to resonate with how they live, not just where they live.
In the frame
A Partial View, Built to Make You Want the Whole.
The teaser logic ran through every frame. A penthouse terrace and its private pool, suspended over the Dubai Water Canal with Business Bay stretching below, suggests the building without giving it away. Atmosphere and material detail do the talking, and the viewer is left to imagine the rest, which is exactly the point.
The second phase
From Teaser to Sales Stage, Without Breaking the Spell.
Following the success of the pre-launch campaign, the project moved into its second phase: high-end marketing renderings for listings and sales materials. We worked from the Foster + Partners Revit model and 3D files supplied by Portia Fox's studio, which meant optimizing the geometry for photorealistic output, refining materials and developing the lighting, and resolving fragmented inputs spread across multiple sources.
Every view began as a white-model camera proposal the developer approved before any color work, followed by a lighting and mood board to lock the atmosphere, so composition and tone were signed off before final rendering.
At this stage we continued the same branding logic established during the pre-launch, gradually revealing more of the project while preserving its mystery, its sense of desire, and the strong lifestyle narrative. The interiors in particular required careful interpretation, so the final imagery reflected the intended luxury language while staying consistent with the cinematic tone set earlier.
The outcome
Built for the Reveal, and Ready When It Came.
The final pre-launch animation delivered a cinematic, emotionally driven narrative that aligned with the project's positioning, and it was deployed across social media, digital campaigns, and media and press channels. The market response was strong. Early buyer interest was established at the top of Dubai's branded-residence market, demand built ahead of the official launch phase, and the teaser-based strategy was clearly validated, all without overexposing the project.
The campaign carried the project through to its public unveiling. Foster + Partners revealed the design to the market in December 2024, and the pre-launch imagery was built for exactly that moment, ready to support the reveal across press, digital, and sales channels.
The second-phase marketing renderings then extended that momentum into the sales phase, providing high-end visuals for listings while maintaining the brand language and sense of exclusivity introduced during the pre-launch.
Questions
Marketing a Branded Residence
- How do you market an ultra-luxury development before its official launch?
- For Sankari Place, a Foster + Partners development in Marasi Marina, Business Bay, and Regent’s first branded residences in the world, the brief was to build anticipation rather than explain the building. We led with a teaser strategy, reveal less and create more desire, using a 50-second cinematic animation and a small set of hero renderings that showed partial views, atmospheric light, and material detail. The work was built for the project’s public unveiling, which came when Foster + Partners revealed the design in December 2024, and was ready to position the towers at the top of Dubai’s branded-residence market before full sales materials existed.
- What goes into a pre-launch campaign for a branded residence?
- Sankari Place ran as a phased engagement: a 50-second pre-launch animation and eight hero renderings first, then a second phase of interior and amenity views for the sales stage. The work was sequenced so the developer had a breadth of imagery to announce the project while the remaining renders were still in production.
- Can you elevate a developer’s existing renderings to marketing grade?
- Yes. Sankari Place already had exterior renders from another agency and interior renders from its interior design studio, Portia Fox, but they read as design intent rather than marketing. Working from the Foster + Partners Revit model and Portia Fox’s 3D files, we kept the approved interior design untouched and rebuilt the lighting, camera angles, mood, and atmosphere to a cinematic standard. Every camera angle was approved on a white model before any surface was rendered, so the developer signed off on composition before color work began.
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