Heritage Building Laser Scanning in Ottawa
Full as-built capture of a federally designated heritage building in Ottawa's downtown core.
The Challenge
The building was undergoing planning for a major interior restoration. Its federal heritage designation imposed strict requirements on any work performed within or on the structure - no physical contact with finished surfaces, no drilling for survey targets, and limited access hours due to ongoing government operations within the building.
Existing architectural drawings dated from the 1920s and were unreliable. Wall locations, floor elevations, and ceiling heights had changed over decades of modifications, and no as-built documentation had been produced since original construction. The design team needed accurate existing-conditions data across all three floors plus the exterior facade before they could begin design development.
The project demanded a capture method that was non-contact, fast enough to work within restricted access windows, and precise enough to support a heritage restoration where dimensional accuracy is critical.
Our Approach
We deployed non-contact laser scanning from 85+ scan positions over 4 days. Each floor was captured systematically, with scanning scheduled around the building's daily operations. High-traffic common areas and corridors were scanned during evening sessions when foot traffic was minimal, while offices and enclosed rooms were captured during regular hours with brief coordination from building staff.
No survey targets were adhered to any surface. Registration relied entirely on cloud-to-cloud alignment using the overlapping geometry between adjacent scan positions. This approach satisfied the heritage protection requirements while maintaining the registration accuracy needed for downstream deliverables.
Exterior facade scanning was completed from ground level and from adjacent rooftop positions to capture the full height of the building's front and side elevations. All scan data was registered into a single unified coordinate system and verified against control measurements taken on-site.
Deliverables
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Registered point cloud
.E57 .RCP
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2D floor plans - all three floors
.DWG .PDF
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Exterior elevations
.DWG
Results
The design team received a complete, verified dataset 10 business days after the final scan day. The point cloud and floor plans provided the dimensional foundation they needed to move into design development without delays or return site visits.
The scan data revealed structural conditions that were not visible in the original 1920s drawings, including previously undocumented floor-level changes between wings of the building and concealed MEP routing behind finished walls. These discoveries allowed the design team to adjust their restoration approach early - before construction, not during it.
The project proceeded to design development on schedule.
"The scan data gave us a level of confidence in the existing conditions that we simply couldn't have achieved with hand measurements. We were able to proceed directly to design without second-guessing dimensions."