Digital tools have been helping us to streamline workflows and improve efficiencies as part of our £34m refurbishment of The Grand Hotel, Birmingham.

Occupying a prominent position in the city’s prestigious Colmore Row, with views over St Philip’s Cathedral, the hotel is being restored back to its former glory.

In our role as principal contractor, we are currently delivering works comprising installation and defect rectification, plus the interior fit-out, of approximately 15,254m2 of internal floor space.

Upon completion in Spring 2020, The Grand Hotel will include 188 luxury bedrooms, a lounge, a restaurant, bars, a gym and conference facilities.

Applying our expertise to this project, we implemented a digital scanning programme for a complex series of lift shafts.

Using a BLK 360 laser scanner (pictured below), a powerful device that can capture intricate details of desired areas, we were able to capture exact measurements, safely create point cloud models and analyse the point cloud output.

As a result, the efficient and successful scanning process achieved three key benefits:

• A considerable reduction in scaffolding and labour costs
• Engineered significant risk out of the process
• Streamlined the survey of elevator shafts from weeks to hours

Positive impact

Explaining the positive impact of the laser scanner on The Grand Hotel scheme, Melanie Dawson, GRAHAM Director of Digital Construction, said:

“With BIM as our foundation, we understand the critical need for the capture and maintenance of existing and as-built data. Replacing traditional methods with innovative approaches, the BLK 360 laser scanner has complemented conventional surveying techniques.

“With each laser scan, vast amounts of data were captured, and with big data comes big results.

“Through careful planning, scanning a full ten-storey lift shaft with pin-point accuracy was completed in under two hours at The Grand Hotel, significantly reducing the time needed to prepare and survey.

“Transferring the scans into our specialist software, Autodesk Recap, created a point cloud model and this ensured that precise measurements were taken and subsequently validated.”

As this example demonstrates, laser scanning has been instrumental in providing a clear and accurate understanding of the existing or as-built model while validating the design.