About historic preservation 3d scanning
Survey-grade 3D documentation for landmark designation, restoration planning, and grant-funded preservation projects across the tristate.
Historic buildings live longer when they are documented. We scan landmark-eligible properties, historic-district contributors, and museum interiors to produce the kind of survey-grade record that preservation grants typically require, and that restoration teams will actually rely on a decade from now.
What we capture
Full-resolution interior and exterior LiDAR, paired with high-detail photography for textural reference. Carved trim, plaster moldings, structural detail, anything visible to the scanner. The capture is dense enough that downstream teams can pull measurements years later without sending someone back to the building.
Common projects
Most historic scanning work falls into a few buckets.
- Landmark designation applications, where the documentation supports the nomination paperwork
- Restoration scope-of-work documentation, capturing the existing-conditions baseline before any work begins
- Museum and historic-house collection-context preservation, capturing rooms with their objects in place
- Grant-required HABS Level II-style documentation for federally-funded preservation work
- Post-acquisition condition documentation for new owners taking on a historic property
Working with grant-funded projects
Most historic preservation work is grant-funded, and the funder usually has documentation requirements baked into the award. Tell us at intake which standard the funder wants. HABS, state SHPO, local landmark commission, NPS, museum-specific standards — each has its own deliverable spec, and the right capture is the one the funder will accept. We have done all of them, but they are not interchangeable.
Deliverables
Point cloud files (.e57, .rcp), measured drawings, archival imagery, and an optional Matterport walkthrough for stakeholder communication when the audience is non-technical. Boards, donors, and community stakeholders read a walkthrough; the preservation specialist reads the point cloud.