60p a Coffee in Wilko, Huddersfield - Laser Scanning of a Building Complex

Recently, we visited Huddersfield to survey a building complex. The new owner requested a comprehensive survey as part of the planned refurbishment, and our NavVis VLX laser scanner was the perfect tool for this mapping job.

Laser-scanned front façade of the building

The building consists of a basement, ground and upper floors, an attic, and a clock tower. A reference point network was established around and inside the building to provide a sufficient number of control points for the scanning.

It's always a pleasure to work on sites with history in every brick. The building complex housed a pub in the basement from the time when beans and chips cost £1.20 and a coffee 60p, as the signs with the chalk writings are still visible today.

Memories of the past enclosed in beautiful tiles vandalised for generations

We also found history—and a challenge—within the clock tower. The building layout provided enough space for comfortable scanning with the NavVis VLX scanner; however, to capture the original clock mechanism made by W. Potts and Sons in 1905, our team had to think outside the box again.

The original - and still operational - clock mechanism in the tower

After the upper floors were scanned, the team used a rope to lift the scanner into the tower, ensuring the safety of both the crew and the scanner. While pulling the scanner up into the tower, it was continuously running to maintain connection with the lower floor. After scanning around the clock mechanism, the same rope technique was used to safely lower the scanner and close the scanning loop over a reference point.

Extracting the cross-sections from the point cloud

Cross section of the building including the clock mechanism

We provided our client with online access to navigate the scanned data. Navigation is simple and intuitive, and distances and areas can be measured quickly and easily.

Navigating between panoramic images within the model is easy

Distances and areas can be marked and measured

The building façade, including its underground sections

Even if the interior looks different in the future, we captured a 'snapshot' of the past that can be utilised later on. A point cloud has unlimited potential, which might not be visible right now, but over the years, these point cloud datasets might pave the way for future heritage protection initiatives. We proudly take part in recording the history of these buildings, helping them to become buzzing, crowded places once again, where people can enjoy a meal or a coffee together and experience their true beauty.