The way people buy property is changing. As new-build developments become more common, buyers are often asked to commit before a home is physically complete. Traditional tools such as 2D floorplans, static renders and brochures can only go so far in helping people understand space, layout and finishes.

What buyers increasingly want is a digital experience that feels as close as possible to viewing a real home.

This shift has created space for interactive 3D platforms that allow buyers to explore and personalise homes online. Through a partnership between Kayo Digital and Spec3D, this kind of experience has been brought to life on Umbraco, combining immersive visuals with a powerful, flexible content management system.

For many years, property marketing has relied on floorplans, CGI images and physical showrooms. While these still have value, they don’t always give buyers the confidence they need, especially when a home has not yet been built. You may have started noticing AI being used on property listings websites, using 'virtual staging' or 'interior design' to help bring empty rooms to life. 

Interactive 3D technology changes this. Instead of interpreting a floorplan, buyers can walk through a virtual home, view rooms from different angles, and experiment with finishes and layouts. This creates a much stronger emotional connection and a clearer understanding of what they are buying.

Spec3D was created to support this new way of buying. Its platform allows buyers to explore homes digitally, personalise key elements, and make decisions visually from anywhere.

To deliver an interactive platform at scale, strong visuals alone aren’t enough. It also needs a system that can efficiently manage content, configurations, data and user interaction. This is where Umbraco plays a central role.

Rather than acting as a traditional CMS, Umbraco becomes the engine that powers:

• Content management across multiple developments.
• Control of 3D models and configurations.
• User interaction and data capture.
• Integration with commercial and marketing tools.

By building the platform on Umbraco, the Spec3D experience stays flexible, scalable and easy to manage even for non-technical teams.

The 3D experience combines visual tools such as Blender and Shapespark with custom Umbraco components. This allows internal teams to manage complex interactive features through a familiar CMS interface.

Using Umbraco, teams can:

• Overlay different textures and finishes in-browser.
• Control visibility of rooms, kitchens and features.
• Capture user preferences and behaviour.
• Update content across multiple developments quickly.

This means the platform can grow and adapt as new developments are added, without heavy technical overhead.

What started as a tool for configuring kitchen layouts has grown into a full property exploration platform. Buyers can now:

• Take virtual walkthroughs of specific plots.
• Personalise room-by-room finishes.
• Configure selected external features.
• Submit their choices directly through the platform.

Every interaction is managed through Umbraco, creating a seamless flow between exploration, personalisation and enquiry.

The platform is not only designed for buyers, it also delivers strong commercial value for developers.

A custom Umbraco dashboard provides:

• Real-time insights into user behaviour
• Data on popular finishes and layouts
• Performance tracking for premium upgrades
• Access to plot-specific documentation

This turns buyer interaction into useful business intelligence, helping developers refine marketing, pricing and product strategy.

By combining immersive 3D technology with Umbraco’s flexibility, the partnership between Kayo Digital and Spec3D demonstrates how property websites can evolve from static marketing tools into interactive sales platforms.

Key benefits include:

• Stronger buyer confidence through visual decision-making.
• Better engagement and longer time on site.
• Data-driven insights for developers.
• Scalable content management for growing developments.
• A remote-first experience suited to modern buyers.

Interactive 3D platforms are setting a new standard for how homes are marketed and sold. When built on a flexible CMS like Umbraco, they become not just visually impressive, but commercially powerful, turning exploration into action, and interest into measurable growth.

Umbraco is an ideal choice for complex, content-rich platforms because it combines flexibility with ease of use. Its open, extendable architecture allows highly customised digital experiences, while still giving non-technical teams full control over content and structure.

As an experienced Umbraco partner, Kayo Digital helps organisations get the most from the platform, designing and building solutions that are scalable, user-focused and commercially effective.

Interested in how Umbraco can support your next digital innovation? Get in touch with the team today.