Lighting · Movement · Touchscreen control
Interactive models with built-in lighting, movement and touchscreen control
We build interactive models, physical scale models with the electronics designed in from the start. They light up zone by zone, move parts and respond to a touchscreen, a push button or a visitor walking past. Made for marketing suites, museums, exhibition stands and technical presentations.
- LED lighting by zone, floor or unit
- Motorised parts and opening sections
- Tablet, touchscreen or push-button control
- Reply within 1–2 working days
01Physical models, electronics inside
An interactive scale model explains what a static one can't
A static model shows what a project looks like. An interactive one also shows how it works: which flats are still available, how water moves through a treatment plant, how a city grew century by century or what sits inside a machine. A visitor touches the screen and the model responds.
Our Madrid workshop makes bespoke scale models for architects, developers, industry and museums. We design the electronics alongside the model from the first drawing rather than adding them at the end. Wiring is hidden in the base, components can be reached for servicing, and the interface is built for whoever uses it every day: a sales consultant, a guide or a visitor with no instructions.
- Who for: property developers, museums and visitor centres, industry and engineering firms, and exhibitors.
- What for: selling off-plan, explaining a process, making heritage accessible and stopping people at your stand.
02What they can do
Lighting, movement, control and content in one piece
Every project combines what it needs. These are the features clients ask for most.
03How we build them
Electronics built for years of use, not a one-off demo
Lighting an LED is easy. Keeping it working on day 300, with a busy gallery and nobody from the workshop on hand, is the hard part. So the electronics are part of the brief: we agree with you what lights up or moves and why, choose components rated for long running hours, and keep all the wiring accessible from the base.
Motorised models can run on their own, repeating a sequence, or on demand, when a visitor presses a button or your sales team selects something on screen. We test every zone, motor and button before crating, and again once the model is installed.
- Hidden wiring, with the electronics serviceable from the base
- Every zone tested in the workshop and again on site
- Interface in your language, with your colours and content
04Where they work
Interactive models for every sector
Marketing suites: live availability, unit by unit
Each flat or house gets its own LED, wired to a touchscreen. Your sales consultant taps a unit and it lights up; filter by bedrooms or aspect and only the matching homes glow. Each unit's status (available, reserved or sold) is updated on screen without touching the model. More on our real estate scale models.
Museums and visitor centres
In a gallery, interactivity has to survive thousands of hands. That means push buttons rather than touchscreens, lighting that guides visitors through a site or a city period by period, and audio for people who cannot see the model. These accessible pieces work alongside the touch-friendly models described on our museum models page.
Industry, energy and infrastructure
A treatment plant or a power station makes sense when the process lights up stage by stage: intake, treatment, discharge. In front of investors, in a tender or in a training session, a working model with light and movement explains in two minutes what takes twenty with drawings. See our industrial models.
Exhibition stands
On a busy show floor, anything that moves or lights up draws the eye. A product replica that opens, turns or lights up section by section stops visitors and gives your team a reason to start the conversation. See our exhibition models.
05Process
From brief to a model working in the room
- 01
Brief and storyline
Tell us who will use the model and what it needs to explain. From that we decide what lights up, what moves and how it is controlled.
- 02
Quote
Within 1–2 working days we send a written quote with scale, features, lead time and price.
- 03
Model and electronics design
A 3D model, a zoning plan and the cable routes, plus a mock-up of the interface for you to approve before we build.
- 04
Build and programming
Laser-cut, CNC-milled and 3D printed parts, assembled and finished by hand. Then we fit the LEDs, motors and controller and programme the scenes.
- 05
Testing, delivery and installation
Every zone is tested in the workshop, crated to measure and installed on site. We install in and around Madrid ourselves, and elsewhere on request.
06Specification
Features, components and lead times
| Feature | Controlled by | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| LED lighting by zone or unit | Tablet, touchscreen or automatic sequence | Marketing suites, museums, industry |
| Day and night scenes | Timer or push button | Permanent exhibitions, trade shows |
| Motorised parts and turntables | Push button, sensor or sequence | Trade shows, museums, machinery |
| Synchronised audio and video | Screen or push button | Museums, visitor centres |
| Projection onto the model | Computer running a programmed sequence | Planning, processes, historical change |
Components
- Low-energy LEDs as strips, point lights or fibre optics
- Programmable controller and power supply
- Geared motors and servos
- Robust push buttons and presence sensors
- Tablet or touchscreen
Base model
- Scales from 1:1000 to 1:20, and products at 1:1 or larger
- Acrylic, MDF, foamed PVC and 3D printed parts
- Serviceable base housing the electronics
- Ventilated acrylic case
Lead times and indicative price
- Reply within 1–2 working days
- Large-format models in 4–10 weeks
- Unit-by-unit lighting with touchscreen control from €12,000 (excl. VAT)
- Other set-ups quoted on the features required
07Projects
Models with lighting, movement and cutaways
- 1:150Real estateSample
Residential development model with lighting by unit
A 1:150 sales model for a new-build scheme's marketing suite, with every flat lit individually from a tablet.
- 1:200IndustrialSample
Water treatment plant model at 1:200
An industrial model of a wastewater treatment plant at 1:200, showing the full treatment process, colour-coded pipework and process buildings with lift-off roofs.
- 5:1ExhibitionsSample
Oversized cutaway product replica
A 5:1 replica of a compact component, cut away to reveal its mechanism on an international trade show stand.
08FAQs
Questions about interactive models
It is a physical scale model with built-in electronics that responds to the person using it. It lights up by zone, moves parts or plays audio and video when someone touches a screen, presses a button or walks up to it. It is not a 3D model on a screen or a VR experience: it is a hand-finished model with the technology hidden in the base.
You will hear animated, motorised, kinetic or working models. When the movement responds to the visitor (a button, a touchscreen, a sensor) it is an interactive model. Models that move on their own, repeating a sequence, are common on exhibition stands and in shop windows.
It depends on the base model and the electronics. As a guide, a development model with unit-by-unit lighting and touchscreen control starts from €12,000 (excl. VAT). The number of zones, motors, the interface, the deadline and installation all affect the price. See our price guide by type of model; once we have your drawings we send a detailed quote.
Sometimes. It depends on whether the base has room for the electronics and whether the model can be opened without damage. Send us photos and dimensions and we'll tell you whether it's feasible or whether a new model makes more sense.
Very little. We use long-life LEDs and keep the controller and connections accessible from the base, so a check-up or a replacement part never means taking the model apart. You receive instructions for switching it on and off and for updating the content.
Yes. Unit status, lighting scenes and videos are changed from the screen or computer that controls the model, without touching it. If the project changes, with a new phase or revised layouts, we modify the model in our workshop.
Yes. We deliver, install and test models in and around Madrid ourselves, and you are welcome to visit our Madrid model making workshop by appointment. Elsewhere in Spain we ship with bespoke packing, in wooden crates for large models, and install on site on request. The UK, the rest of Europe and other destinations are quoted on request.
Want your model to light up, move or respond?
Tell us what it needs to explain and where it will live, and we'll come back with features, lead time and a quote.