3D MEASUREMENT IN SAINT RUMBOLD'S CATHEDRAL MECHELEN

“One for the books”, is what we hear at our office in Ghent. For this project, we got creative with the 3D measuring and linking of the cathedral in Mechelen. Our client, Studio Roma from Leuven, won the prestigious competition for the interior restoration of the Sint-Romboutskathedraal. We were asked to provide accurate additional data: from 3D measurements to 2D plans, orthophotos and an interactive inspection tool.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Since St Rombouts Cathedral had been scanned earlier, georeferenced points were available to work on. This ensured accurate and correct alignment with our scans. The client wanted additional data such as orthophotos, created from photogrammetry, in order to obtain detailed information about the material, the skeletal structure and the condition of the cathedral. Between the earlier scan and our intervention, many objects were moved in the cathedral. This created "ghost" objects: scanned elements in the point cloud without connected colour and texture information. After consulting with the customer, we decided to take additional scans in the chapels to fill in the gaps from the previous measurement. The use of a drone was necessary to capture the hard-to-reach windows of the side aisles and the walls and pillars of the main nave. Optimal photogrammetry was also provided. Scroll down to see the results and their high level of detail.

We combined both scan information with the photos and built a mesh that was then divided according to texture. And the ghost objects? They were successfully cut out of the final mesh. RealVisuals

THE ACCURATE 2D AND 3D RESULTS

The highly detailed orthophotos can be exported for internal work and communication with contractors. The detailing of the 2D plans was also improved. In addition, we added an interactive inspection tool to easily navigate through the model and zoom in on parts of the building that are otherwise very difficult to reach and analyse. This allowed the client to increase efficiency and focus on their plans to restore the cathedral.