diff --git a/app/runtime/src/main_window.cpp b/app/runtime/src/main_window.cpp
index 1e081d1..85e832e 100644
--- a/app/runtime/src/main_window.cpp
+++ b/app/runtime/src/main_window.cpp
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@ namespace zephyr {
       ZEPHYR_INFO("metalness={}", pbr_material->GetParameter<f32>("metalness"));
       ZEPHYR_INFO("roughness={}", pbr_material->GetParameter<f32>("roughness"));
     }
+
+    m_render_engine = std::make_unique<RenderEngine>();
   }
 
   MainWindow::~MainWindow() {
@@ -84,6 +86,8 @@ namespace zephyr {
       return true;
     });
 
+    m_render_engine->RenderScene(m_scene_root.get());
+
     const Mesh3D* current_mesh = nullptr;
     const Material* current_material = nullptr;
     GraphicsPipeline* current_pipeline = nullptr;
diff --git a/app/runtime/src/main_window.hpp b/app/runtime/src/main_window.hpp
index b64f6a5..c1869e3 100644
--- a/app/runtime/src/main_window.hpp
+++ b/app/runtime/src/main_window.hpp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <zephyr/renderer/texture/texture_2D.hpp>
 #include <zephyr/renderer/texture/texture_cube.hpp>
 #include <zephyr/renderer/mesh.hpp>
+#include <zephyr/renderer/render_engine.hpp>
 #include <zephyr/scene/mesh.hpp>
 #include <zephyr/scene/node.hpp>
 #include <zephyr/window/window.hpp>
@@ -78,6 +79,8 @@ namespace zephyr {
 
       std::unique_ptr<SceneNode> m_scene_root;
 
+      std::unique_ptr<RenderEngine> m_render_engine;
+
       Matrix4 m_projection_matrix;
       uint m_frame{0};
       uint m_frames_in_flight{};
diff --git a/zephyr/renderer/CMakeLists.txt b/zephyr/renderer/CMakeLists.txt
index 0f8370f..044c044 100644
--- a/zephyr/renderer/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/zephyr/renderer/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 
 set(SOURCES
-  src/placeholder.cpp
+  src/render_engine.cpp
 )
 
 set(HEADERS
@@ -21,11 +21,12 @@ set(HEADERS_PUBLIC
   include/zephyr/renderer/texture/texture_cube.hpp
   include/zephyr/renderer/texture/texture_resource.hpp
   include/zephyr/renderer/mesh.hpp
+  include/zephyr/renderer/render_engine.hpp
   include/zephyr/renderer/resource.hpp
 )
 
 add_library(zephyr-renderer ${SOURCES} ${HEADERS} ${HEADERS_PUBLIC})
 
-target_link_libraries(zephyr-renderer PUBLIC zephyr-common zephyr-cxx-opts)
+target_link_libraries(zephyr-renderer PUBLIC zephyr-common zephyr-math zephyr-gpu zephyr-scene zephyr-cxx-opts)
 target_include_directories(zephyr-renderer PUBLIC include)
 target_include_directories(zephyr-renderer PRIVATE src)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/zephyr/renderer/include/zephyr/renderer/render_engine.hpp b/zephyr/renderer/include/zephyr/renderer/render_engine.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f5732ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zephyr/renderer/include/zephyr/renderer/render_engine.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <zephyr/math/matrix4.hpp>
+#include <zephyr/scene/node.hpp>
+#include <zephyr/scene/mesh.hpp>
+#include <atomic>
+#include <semaphore>
+#include <thread>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace zephyr {
+
+  struct RenderObject {
+    Matrix4 local_to_world_transform;
+  };
+
+  class RenderEngine {
+    public:
+      RenderEngine();
+     ~RenderEngine();
+
+      void RenderScene(SceneNode* scene_root);
+
+    private:
+      void CreateRenderThread();
+      void JoinRenderThread();
+      void RenderThreadMain();
+
+      std::thread m_render_thread;
+      std::atomic_bool m_render_thread_running;
+      std::atomic_bool m_render_thread_is_waiting;
+      std::binary_semaphore m_caller_thread_semaphore{0}; //> Semaphore signalled by the calling thread
+      std::binary_semaphore m_render_thread_semaphore{1}; //> Semaphore signalled by the rendering thread
+
+      std::vector<RenderObject> m_render_objects;
+  };
+
+} // namespace zephyr
diff --git a/zephyr/renderer/src/placeholder.cpp b/zephyr/renderer/src/placeholder.cpp
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29..0000000
diff --git a/zephyr/renderer/src/render_engine.cpp b/zephyr/renderer/src/render_engine.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2bea7f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/zephyr/renderer/src/render_engine.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+
+#include <zephyr/renderer/render_engine.hpp>
+#include <fmt/format.h>
+
+namespace zephyr {
+
+  RenderEngine::RenderEngine() {
+    CreateRenderThread();
+  }
+
+  RenderEngine::~RenderEngine() {
+    JoinRenderThread();
+  }
+
+  void RenderEngine::RenderScene(SceneNode* scene_root) {
+    // Wait for the render thread to complete reading the internal render structures.
+    m_render_thread_semaphore.acquire();
+
+    m_render_objects.clear();
+
+    scene_root->Traverse([&](SceneNode* node) -> bool {
+      if(!node->IsVisible()) return false;
+
+      if(node->HasComponent<MeshComponent>()) {
+        m_render_objects.push_back({
+          .local_to_world_transform = node->GetTransform().GetWorld()
+        });
+      }
+
+      return true;
+    });
+
+    // Signal to the render thread that the next frame is ready
+    m_caller_thread_semaphore.release();
+  }
+
+  void RenderEngine::CreateRenderThread() {
+    m_render_thread_running = true;
+    m_render_thread_is_waiting = false;
+    m_render_thread = std::thread{[this] { RenderThreadMain(); }};
+  }
+
+  void RenderEngine::JoinRenderThread() {
+    m_render_thread_running = false;
+    if(m_render_thread_is_waiting) {
+      m_caller_thread_semaphore.release();
+    }
+    m_render_thread.join();
+  }
+
+  void RenderEngine::RenderThreadMain() {
+    while(m_render_thread_running) {
+      // Wait for the caller thread to prepare the internal render structures for the next frame.
+      m_render_thread_is_waiting = true;
+      m_caller_thread_semaphore.acquire();
+      m_render_thread_is_waiting = false;
+
+      fmt::print("got {} render objects\n", m_render_objects.size());
+
+      // Signal to the caller thread that we are done reading the internal render structures.
+      m_render_thread_semaphore.release();
+    }
+  }
+
+} // namespace zephyr
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/zephyr/scene/include/zephyr/scene/mesh.hpp b/zephyr/scene/include/zephyr/scene/mesh.hpp
index 37407b5..639bbef 100644
--- a/zephyr/scene/include/zephyr/scene/mesh.hpp
+++ b/zephyr/scene/include/zephyr/scene/mesh.hpp
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 #include <zephyr/renderer/mesh.hpp>
 #include <memory>
 
+#pragma once
+
 namespace zephyr {
 
   struct MeshComponent : Component {
diff --git a/zephyr/scene/include/zephyr/scene/node.hpp b/zephyr/scene/include/zephyr/scene/node.hpp
index 1590b9f..0e40ace 100644
--- a/zephyr/scene/include/zephyr/scene/node.hpp
+++ b/zephyr/scene/include/zephyr/scene/node.hpp
@@ -72,11 +72,19 @@ namespace zephyr {
       }
 
       [[nodiscard]] bool IsVisible() const {
-        return m_visible;
+        return m_is_visible;
       }
 
       void SetVisible(bool visible) {
-        m_visible = visible;
+        m_is_visible = visible;
+      }
+
+      [[nodiscard]] bool IsRendererStatic() const {
+        return m_is_renderer_static;
+      }
+
+      void MakeRendererStatic() {
+        m_is_renderer_static = true;
       }
 
       [[nodiscard]] const Transform3D& GetTransform() const {
@@ -143,7 +151,8 @@ namespace zephyr {
       SceneNode* m_parent{};
       std::vector<std::unique_ptr<SceneNode>> m_children;
       std::string m_name;
-      bool m_visible{true};
+      bool m_is_visible{true};
+      bool m_is_renderer_static{false};
       Transform3D m_transform{this};
       std::unordered_map<std::type_index, std::unique_ptr<Component>> m_components;
   };