Laser surveys of old buildings. We measure how far they have moved.
A two-person survey studio in Beauvais. We scan churches, cathedrals and towers, inside and out, to within a few millimetres.
[ 300 m from our door ]
Old buildings move. The highest Gothic vault ever built, at Beauvais, fell in 1284. Since the 1990s, timber and steel braces have held up its transept. A survey shows where a building is moving, while there is still time to decide what to do.
[ Range noise ]
2mm
[ Range noise at 10 m ]
2M
[ Points a second ]
360°×300°
[ Field per station ]
One station takes two minutes. A parish church needs about twenty, a cathedral choir about a hundred.
Movement
[ Campanile drawn at 3.97°, contours every 250 mm ]
3.97°
Pisa's tower has leaned since 1178. Its upper floors were built taller on one side, so it is curved as well as tilted. A scan measures the lean at every course, not one angle for the whole tower.
118mm
Vaults push walls outwards. On our sample choir the north clerestory wall stands 118 mm out at the cornice. Drawn 30 times larger here so you can see it.
64mm
A vault crown that has dropped. We compare every rib with a true arc through its springing points, and draw the difference.
22mm
Floors sink where the ground gives. You get a level map of the whole floor, a reading every ten centimetres.
[ What a scan shows ]
[ Sample values ]
[ Sample survey ]
One survey, five steps
I
Stations
We set the scanner up wherever it can see something new. Seventeen stations for this choir, nine outside and eight in.
II
Registration
Each station sees the building from its own position. We fit the clouds together on shared targets and surfaces until they agree to within 3 mm.
III
Section
Then we cut it. Any plane, anywhere: here, through the middle of the second bay, from the floor to the ridge.
IV
Deviation
Against plumb, the walls lean out and the vault has dropped. Contours every 15 mm, drawn 25 times larger.
V
Drawing
The section you receive: walls, vault, flyers and the roof frame, dimensioned, as DWG and PDF.
The report
Every finding is a point you can find again in the cloud, with its value, where it is and what we suggest. Pick one.
Three surveys
See what you receive-
[ 01 · Record ]
Record survey
€3,800from
The whole building as one registered cloud, with plans, sections and elevations. For a parish church; a cathedral choir starts at €14,000.
- On site
- 1 to 4 days
- Delivered
- 10 working days
-
[ 02 · Monitor ]
Movement monitoring
€2,200a visit
We scan again from the same control points every 6 or 12 months and draw what has moved since the last visit.
- On site
- 1 day
- Delivered
- 5 working days
-
[ 03 · Before works ]
Before-works survey
€5,600from
Roof spaces and timber frames included, with a section every metre, so the architect can draw the repair before the scaffold goes up.
- On site
- 2 to 3 days
- Delivered
- 10 working days
Tell us about the building.
Where it is, what worries you, and when you need the drawings. We reply within two working days with a date and a fixed price.