Cornish firm PBWC Architects has utilised 3D laser-scanning technology to create an accurate model of the rocky site and listed surroundings of a house for St Ives, which has just received planning permission (+ slideshow).
The local studio used the technology when designing the Rock House, a two-and-a-half storey replacement dwelling for a site on Carncrows Rock within the St Ives Conservation Area.

To obtain a digital model of the existing building and complex site, which includes a granite outcrop and adjacent Grade-II listed properties, PBWC architect Jacob Down asked CESurveys to take a lidar scan of the area.
"More conventional surveying techniques would have proved problematic with limited use and accuracy," said Down.
"The high level of contextual information helped foresee many planning-related issues resulting in smooth and successful planning outcome," added Down.

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The lidar scanner fires tens of thousands of laser beams per second in almost all directions and records a point each time a beam hits a surface.

Multiple scans are usually taken from different viewpoints and stitched together, forming a 3D map made up of coordinate points with accuracies of up to 0.01 millimetres.
The map of the site, known as a pointcloud, was then combined with building information modelling (BIM) software to be used throughout the design process.

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