Overview
A popular 190-room hotel in downtown Washington D.C. was set to undergo a major overhaul. Every room was to be updated, and the rooftop was to undergo a complete transformation, including a new bar or restaurant. In spite of considerable challenges, Spatial Acuity was able to 3D laser scan the existing building and create a highly accurate Revit model which is now the basis for design and construction of the historic building’s latest iteration.
Process
The hotel was built in the former headquarters of Riggs National Bank, right in the heart of the nation’s capital. The structure was built in 1891 as a retail bank on the first floor with offices above. Features such as marble columns and brass doors make for a regal crash pad for visiting businessmen and tourists. At the time of the latest renovation, the building contained 190 guest rooms and suites, a fitness center, a pool, and two restaurants.
The first step: document every inch of every room so the architects and contractors know what they are dealing with.
Documenting an old hotel is no problem for Spatial Acuity’s 3D laser scanning team. However, this one happened to be hosting guests at full capacity at the time of the scan. The crew had to collaborate closely with management to gain access to and document 90% of the rooms over a one-week period for verification.
When working in a building well over a century old, there are going to be some major quirks that modern-day architects are unable to predict, but need to know about. In this case, the basement, lobby, and back of house contained numerous abnormalities. Having scanned numerous buildings serving purposes they were not originally built for, the Spatial Acuity team has come to expect the unexpected.
Result
The detailed laser scans were processed by the modeling team and turned into a highly functional Revit model. With this model at their disposal, the architects and engineers working on the remodel will be able to access every inch of the site right from their computers or mobile devices. All of that insight will help avoid mistakes or miscalculations that would normally lead to construction delays and lost revenue.
