Merrett Survey Limited is proud to be involved with any project where the preservation of the World’s heritage sites & buildings can be enabled or improved through the application of the latest measurement and surveying technologies. These include laser scanning, high quality High Dynamic Range (HDR) imagery and photogrammetry. Our project experience in the heritage sector is wide ranging and includes surveying historic castles, churches, bridges, piers, churches, chimneys, breweries, hotels and more.
One recent project involved surveying an historic bridge (see image at top of this page), producing ‘stone by stone’ 2D elevations of the structure, as well as a 3D model and high resolution ortho-images. Locally, we have surveyed many fire damaged cob buildings to enable their reconstruction.
In Redruth, Cornwall, we surveyed a listed brewery building and provided a BIM model as the building was set to be converted into an archive and history resource centre. This project also required a verticality analysis of the historic chimneys and walls. The chimney survey included use of a UAV or drone to carry out a detailed, thorough and safe aerial inspection.
“We appointed Merrett Surveys to provide laser scanning and verticality analysis and have been impressed by their helpful, pro-active approach, and the quality of their produced information on what is a complex and challenging project.” – Neil Farquar, Senior Architect at Purcell
For more information about this project, please visit the case study on our Redruth Brewery Heritage Survey
When surveying a heritage or historic building, we deploy laser scanning technology as, when using traditional methods, recording the irregularities within such structures can be impossible or extremely time consuming. Laser scanning and the drawings derived from it reveal the full irregularities within an historic building.
Rooms are seldom anywhere near square, floors are rarely level and walls are invariably out of plumb. The use of laser scanning also reduces the need for site revisits. The high level of detail obtained though scanning provides designers and archaeologists with the complete information set needed to study and preserve the heritage fabric.
Where direct line of sight to a feature is not possible, additional measurements will be made using total stations, disto or tape. Wherever possible, non-contact instruments are preferred. When surveying a historic building, our heritage topographic surveyors take great care not to cause any damage to the building fabric. Targets are not applied to delicate surfaces using tape or glue.
In fact, we use statically charged targets or targets mounted on camera tripods. We also use tripods with rubberised feet so as to avoid any damage caused by spiked survey tripods. Merrett Survey Limited has been called upon to use airborne Lidar to search for historic features, ranging from World War 1 trenches to iron age settlements.
Why not check out a recent heritage building survey project of ours? The above video details the laser scanning methods we used on Burgh Island Hotel, a Grade II listed building built in the 1930s.
Contact us today if you have a project involving a listed building or heritage site that you require our assistance with – whether it requires surveying services, mapping or both.
Jersey Castle – Heritage Building Survey for Wall Movement
Monitoring
Laser Scan of 400 Year Old Fire Damaged
Historic Buildings – to aid Reconstruction
Scan of historic Last Timber Rail Bridge in UK for
Archaeological Records
