Historic Preservation students use technology to document historic castle in England
About fifty miles south of London, on a stately 600 acres in the southern English countryside, sits the quintessential medieval castle—turrets, moat, and all. Built in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England, is one of England’s oldest brick buildings and the home of Bader College, the British campus of Queen’s University. It is a cultural, historical, and archeological treasure. With six centuries’ worth of accumulated history, and as a uniquely English example of Brick Gothic architecture, it is paramount that it be thoroughly and properly documented.
Bader Philanthropies, a partner and benefactor of both UW-Milwaukee and Queens University, invited the Historic Preservation Institute and its range of scanning expertise and state-of-the-art equipment to study advanced documentation at the castle.
To digitally recreate and store these features and spaces, the UWM’s study abroad team brought a variety of LiDAR scanners. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanning measures the way laser points reflect and deform upon hitting a surface to measure the object’s shape and location in space. This data can be used to create two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) drawings and accompanying files.
These files can be used for archival and analytical works and are useful for keeping a virtual record of a building, or for digitally and physically fabricating correct reconstructions of elements and structures.
Having an “archival copy” of a building is important as a means of safeguarding its future—this past year the castle was temporarily closed for structural stabilization and rehabilitation. A wider body of exact documentation acts as an added layer of backup for the physical footprint of artifacts.
Visiting this past October, Associate Professor and HPI Director of Documentation William Krueger has already completed two hundred scans of the castle.
“Both sides of the moat, the interior courtyard, the ground floor interior, and the basement foundation—and this is just a start of what we’re documenting, ” said Kreuger.
Using this initial data of the castle exterior and ground level, Teresa Klopp, a directed-study preservation student, has worked on transforming these point clouds into digital models and creating measured line drawings from these scans with the data collected. Building upon this initial documentation, students are capturing previously inaccessible parts of the castle, collecting data on the upper floors.
Scales of Scanning
Three types of scanners are being brought along to collect data at three scales of detail. The FARO S350-3 is a terrestrial scanner with a range of 350 meters (1,150ft). It is capable of taking scans in rain, snow, and fog, day or night, and with high contrast shadows and colors. In a matter of minutes, it can scan large objects and can capture entire buildings with exquisite detail.
Smaller objects and ornamental details are captured with handheld scanners such as the Artec Leo, which can capture and ‘rebuild’ objects at 80 frames per second and is accurate to 1/10th of a millimeter.
Students are also working with another means of scanning large buildings and grounds: drone capture.
While the castle is complex, it is merely part of a six-hundred-acre campus. Individual laser scans from a movable tripod have limitations. Drone scanning is fantastic for capturing large swaths of coverage and data inaccessible from scanner on the ground.
Using drones, students were able to quickly capture the site using photogrammetry—a process by which thousands of photographs are digitally stitched together and cross-referenced to determine object geometry and scene depth.
Ornament & Details
With the exterior scans mostly complete, HPI’s focus will shift to the castle’s interiors. Herstmonceux Castle contains many centuries’ worth of artistic details, such as ornate wood carvings and stonework, its grand staircase, and its ballroom. Through 3D scans, small objects and ornaments can be replicated.
“If there is something broken, we can reverse engineer it. If a rosette is missing, but there is another one in there, we can document it and copy it exactly,” Krueger said.
This year, students are primarily working on documenting the trove of data inside the castle. Krueger noted that with 600 acres of castle, formal gardens and preserve, there is plenty of work ahead. This inaugural documentation marks the start of a multi-year study abroad.
For reference, the 25,000 square-foot former UWM Alumni House in Milwaukee required 80 scanning hours.
Using data from these scans, students are able to complete precise 3D models and architectural documentation, creating a lasting record for archival and planning purposes.
This scanning study abroad trip lasts the first three weeks of June. Opening up Herstmonceux as a UWM international travel opportunity, nine students and three faculty took part in this valuable summer research.
Story by Luke Koelsch
