WHAT DOES AN ARCHITECT DO FOR WORK?

When referring to the profession of an “architect” we may assume they’ll be working in an office environment with the focus on creating, drawing, and designing larger scale buildings or they’ll be inspecting a construction site during the process of building, however that’s not the complete picture.

If viewing your own city, it’s likely you’ll see a number of buildings already constructed and operating. When an architect is given a task to create “something original” it usually requires creating and designing an infrastructure within an area that already consists of buildings and electrical wirings. The task an architect usually has is to conduct surveys and invent an idea for a new infrastructure within that space. This involves being present during construction to gain all the necessary information required for their planning.

Specialised work is required to establish the site survey of architecture. Firstly, they’ll be inspecting the area for measurements, locations, and size for their upcoming designs. They’ll also be assessing the structure and all the necessary details of the building, including the ceilings, walls, doors, windows, roof, and any further information that’s relevant.

An architect will need to extract a ceiling tile to find HVAC routes, in addition to locating the structure from above to measure its distance from the floor and determine the materials of the internal walls. They’ll determine the roof by taking notes of mechanical units, roof drains, and the overall state of the finished materials.

Overall, the architect’s survey will provide considerately more than just a functional space, as it will specify all the information necessary to determine the labor that’s required to develop the most efficient and useful design. This helpful explanation also answers the question, “what is included in a site survey?”.

WHAT IS AN ARCHITECTURAL SURVEY?

Within larger or smaller communities, there’s always a history between the towns. Some may be old tales or historic monuments or there maybe an older building full of history or a small-town cafe that’s a “must visit” for tourists.

In a fast and evolving world, integrating modern times into a monumental space can be quite crucial, as it can capture the essence of a town’s character. Creating changes in general can be unpredictable, although it’s often inevitable. It’s important when creating a new building or infrastructure within a historical figure, to construct and build it accurately and respectfully.

Taking this into consideration, architectural surveys are commonly required for one of two purposes. Firstly, they can be conducted as part of a communities desire to gain a thorough grasp of its history and conserve important resources. A historic organisation, for example, would need to investigate what architectural resources are in the region and which ones are suitable for a national historic landmark. An architectural survey questions and documents the types, styles, and characteristics of each historic resource within the studied area. Architectural surveying techniques can also involve an examination of cultural landscape resources in the historic community, such as parks, public places, roads, cemeteries, and natural resources.

The second objective for conducting an architectural survey’s methods is to comply with federal regulations. Federal authorities are required to discover, assess, evaluate, and nominate historic resources for which they are responsible. Architectural surveys are required for projects that receive federal financing and have the potential to damage historic resources which are listed or possibly eligible for listing on the National Register. Surveys are required in these cases to identify whether historic buildings and structures are located in a project's Area of Potential Effect, in addition to if any of these resources are National Register-eligible and require additional care during project planning and execution.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LASER SCANNING IN ARCHITECTURE

There are a number of reasons why laser scanning is a requirement for architectural building surveys. Laser scanning is a precise method of capturing the details of an existing structure and/or building.  Advanced scanners create 3D representations known as point clouds by using a laser light. The data contained in these point clouds is processed to create a map of the exact shape and size of physical infrastructures.

Laser scanning in architecture has been popular for a range of building land surveys due to its speed and efficiency, as well as the accuracy of the resulting 3D depiction of site conditions. If you've viewed 3D laser scanning in action, it’s quite interesting to discover how powerful and impressive this mapping technology can be.

Here’s some reasons why laser scanning is such a beneficial architectural surveying technique.

Mapping existing site conditions is important and necessary.

Before starting a renovation project, architects must use the building owner's as-built plans as a reference point. The issue is that as-built plans are rarely precise, and in many cases, they’re not even available. Due to a lack of time and resources, even when architects conduct a site survey to verify site conditions, they frequently fail to capture all of the information or identify flaws in the original design and construction plans. These design flaws may later appear as complications, resulting in change requests, production delays, and increased expenses. By allowing architects to assess as-built conditions and identify design concerns earlier in the construction phase, 3D laser scanning for architecture purposes would be very effective, less time consuming, and inexpensive.

Verifying Correct Design Execution

For quality assurance, 3D laser scanning for architecture can also be utilized to validate design execution. Architects can create a model of existing conditions which they can compare to the as-designed drawings or model for perfectly accurate quality assurance by performing a rapid 3D laser scan of a completed or in-progress project. For something more beneficial, the model can be colour-coded and marked up to show various degrees of deviation from the design, allowing contractors to view exactly what needs to be addressed before it becomes a challenge.

Precise Measurements and Evaluation Progress.

When 3D laser scanning is used throughout the entire project, it will produce an accurate record of every phase of construction in addition to verifying precise design execution. Everything can be recorded from the inner walls, ceilings, and flooring. The building management team can refer to that record for the duration of the building's life cycle. 3D laser scanning adds value to the contractor's complete package in this way.

Laser scanning in architecture is efficient and detailed. This accurate technique reduces a considerable amount of time during the inspection, while also securing all the necessary safety measures are in place during the construction project. Laser scanning uses the highest quality equipment, allowing further opportunity to create your forthcoming infrastructure, while providing all the required information in one exact scan.