Information Gathering
The first step of a design project is to collect information, usually starting with getting to know the client, their family, and what the overall program is for the project. When the project involves renovation there is a quick familiarization with the house usually through Google Maps, realtor listings and then a visit to the house. A lot can be learned this way, but none of it yields a drawing that can be used to to understand the dimensional layout of the building, the size and alignment of rooms, or how the structural and mechanical systems of the building relate to one another. For that there must be measuring, a lot of measuring. Up until recently this meant that the architect and/or their team (if they have one) move through the building with tape measures and paper; one person measuring and calling out the dimension while the other scribbles it down on a hastily done sketch that will be quickly filled with notes, numbers and lines meant to indicate real objects - sometimes all overlapping one another. Then one lucky person gets to translate that into a 3D model back at the office; a challenging task as they have to look through smudges, coffee stains and rushed handwriting to divine what the dimension is that they need (is that 114” or 11’-4”?). This is a labor intensive and time consuming undertaking that unfortunately is prone to error, multiple trips back to the site to re-verify dimensions and an overall delay in the start of design, which is the fun part of the project right?
I’ve done this many times over my career and still do it on small projects, but to be honest, if I could avoid having to do it again I would. That’s why I’m so glad for the development of Simultaneous Location and Mapping (SLAM) technology and the local companies that make it affordable to scan and model a structure in 3D without needing tape measures or field sketching. SLAM takes advantage of the now-ubiquitous Global Positioning System which allows a SLAM device to know where it is in the world so that the data its sensors takes can be placed in relation to one another. There are multiple technologies to accomplish this, but the tools that I’m most familiar with use LiDAR or Light Detection and Ranging to to collect data that will eventually become a 3D model and drawings on a page. LiDAR basically works by pointing a laser at a mirror that is rapidly turning so that in a few seconds the laser has fired in all directions around it. The laser is invisible to the human eye, but a sensor in the SLAM device is looking for the laser light to reflect off an object and hit the sensor. Using algorithms the device can understand how far that point is from the device as well as how far it is from the next point, and the next and the next. This creates a “cloud” of points that all have coordinates in three dimensions and located in relation to each other. By moving the SLAM from room to room, inside and outside a house tens of thousands of points are created into what we call a point cloud (that’s an example of one above). When taken together these points create a ghostly outline of the walls, ceilings, floors, windows, doors, and roofs as well as whatever objects are inside the room.
Once the data is collected and it is processed into a point cloud that after a few steps is imported into Revit so that usable building elements can be created. I’m not super familiar with this part of the process, but I believe that some elements are created automatically and others are done by a drafter. Regardless, when it’s done I’m handed a three-dimensional model that is highly dimensionally accurate, including grade, some hardscape, and relevant surrounding structures (in this case a detached garage and fence at the property line). Non-architectural objects like furniture (and people) are omitted. Once I have this model in hand I’m ready to draw up the designs that have been percolating in my head (or hand sketched) since the first meeting and put them to the test.
Images here are taken from models generated by PointKnown, a building consultant that we’ve had a long and successful relationship with. Find out more about what they do and how to hire them at https://www.pointknown.com/.
