Surveying listed buildings
How LA Surveys scanned and modelled a Grade II listed public house in a rural Sussex conservation area
Role
Carry out a 3D point cloud survey of the historic building, inside and out. Produce a BIM Model and 2D CAD drawings.
Brief
To accurately record every millimetre of this historically-significant timber-framed property and produce an accurate and reliable model and drawings for use in a planning and listed building application.
Worthy of note
The front elevation has a 17th Century appearance with 16th Century elements inside. The building has been empty for three years and when we were surveying it lots of villagers were asking us when their local pub might re-open!
Front Elevation
The consultation.
The client’s representative provided us with the brief: they wanted to refurbish the existing public house to return it to its former glory, with a restaurant and bar on the ground floor and en suite guest accommodation on the first floor.
Maintaining the aesthetic details that had historical value whilst bringing the quality and comfort of the building up to a high standard was the client’s priority. They planned to refurbish the ground floor, reconfigure the first floor to allow for the creation of a fourth bedroom, and refurbish the cellar.
The client met us on the day of the survey to ensure we had full access to the property. It quickly became apparent there was a cellar that had not been mentioned in the brief; fortunately the LA Surveys team were able to easily accommodate this extra work because we had brought a team of three highly experienced Architect-Surveyors to carry out the measured survey with four laser scanners.
The survey.
The 3D point cloud measured survey was carried out in one day using four state-of-the-art Faro laser scanners. The highest level of precision and accuracy was needed because every part of the building had to be measured, from the bowing beams to sloping flagstone floors as well as ceilings of varying heights and levels. The cellar had to be accessed through a hatch in the floor which opened up to a large staircase leading down to below.
By surveying the building in such detail, no further scans will need to be carried out in the future for any building work to be carried or new applications made. From day one, the client has accurate, reliable data, which is particularly important in historic, listed buildings.
It is important that the data is accurate so that it can’t be challenged in the future, especially in a building that has already been subject to a great deal of alteration.
The BIM model and drawings.
We used the raw data from the point cloud survey to create a detailed BIM model. This process took three weeks because of the complexity of the building and the level of detail required. Each point measured by the 3D Point Cloud scanner had to be traced as we gradually built the BIM model, all with the highest degree of skill and precision.
Long and internal sections
Creating a digital twin of the property allows any proposed scheme to be accurately implemented and coordinated into the model now and at any time in the future.
Modelling at this level is quite unique. For example, we will follow the exact course of a beam that has been shaped over thousands of years – bowed and weighed down with age. By mapping these historic buildings we are freezing them in time, creating and preserving accurate exact replicas of our past and future in digital form. It is a genuine privilege that we never take for granted.