LiDAR Scanning

Goal

MESUR was commissioned to produce highly accurate as-built documentation for a patrimonial building in downtown Montreal. A new commercial tenant is looking to occupy the space and requested our services.

Given the building’s complex architectural detailing, conventional measurement techniques would have been insufficient to capture the intricate spatial conditions with the required level of precision.

Method

To address this challenge, we use a Matterport LiDAR scanner and conducted a comprehensive interior scan, generating a high-fidelity point cloud with up to millimeter accuracy as well as a 360 photographic walkthrough.

‍

The scan documented spatial relationships, material conditions, and dimensional variances inherent to heritage structures, many of which have undergone multiple modifications over time.

‍

This method provides us with a precise digital twin containing all the necessary dimensional and textural data needed for the architecture, the structural and the design teams to work.

The point cloud served as the foundation for producing orthorectified elevations, detailed floor plans, and cross-sections, ensuring that all measured data aligned with real-world conditions. This level of accuracy was crucial in detecting misalignments, non-orthogonal wall conditions, and structural deformations often impossible to get by traditional measuring methods.

‍

By integrating reality capture technologies into our workflow, we greatly enhanced the efficiency and reliability of our as-built documentation process. The resulting digital twin not only facilitated the creation of precise architectural/structural/design drawings today but will also provide a robust rich archived dataset for future structural assessments, conservation planning, and adaptive reuse interventions.

‍

Conclusion

This project and the workflow it helped us hone, underscores our firm’s growing expertise in heritage architecture documentation. It demonstrates how LiDAR scanning and digital modeling workflows can help achieve a new level of historical preservation integrity.

‍