Overview

Downtown Los Angeles is in the midst of a revival, and that means a lot of older, mostly-vacant buildings are being transformed for modern use as they return to their former glory. The old architecture is beautiful, but modernization is a considerable project (even today less than half of LA residences have air conditioning).

So when the boutique hotel chain Hoxton set their eyes on a 10 story building in LA’s Fashion District, Spatial Acuity was contracted by developer BLVD Hospitality to assess the building with unmatched accuracy.

Process

Upon its opening in 1925, the building was headquarters of Los Angeles Railroad. When a laser scan team from Spatial Acuity got to the future site of Hoxton’s DTLA outpost, it contained a mix of retail and office space. All that was slated to redevelop into multiple bars, restaurants, and 164 guest rooms. Such a transformation required a detailed understanding of the building as it stood after being gutted and before new construction.

Spatial’s laser team scanned the entire building and delivered a CAD model to the client. That as-built was then adapted into a Revit model, as the client was transitioning to a new platform.

The model was delivered ready for the general contractor’s VDC team to get to work. After the elevators were demolished, the laser team was brought back to capture the shaft and pit conditions and add them to the model.

Result

The scan turned out to be invaluable to the project. Spatial Acuity discovered and documented numerous structural anomalies in great detail. These included ceiling beams with unusual deflection, and transfer beams that were previously hidden. With these unexpected details documented in the Revit model, the client was able to plan around them, and avoid any expensive delays that would have resulted had they not found these until construction was in full swing.
 

Project developed by BLVD Hospitality