Traditional Cumbrian Barn Survey

A measured survey challenge on BIM

My recently completed measured survey of this traditional stone Cumbrian barn, modelled on Autodesk Revit LT, was certainly a challenge. The measured survey itself was relatively straight forward despite the minus 7 temperature on one of the days I was on site, however the decision as to which software to use to ‘draw’ it up was a difficult one.

Given the age and character of the building, it certainly didn’t fit into the bracket of being ‘square’ and the temptation to step back into the world of 2D was significant. That said, the thought of manually drawing all the plans, elevations and sections was making me steer the mouse towards the Revit icon on my desktop.

In the end, I used both. I roughed up the plans and a basic section using AutoCAD LT to make sure all the angles were correct, and used that information to either import the plans into my model or to feed the model with all the levels and dimensions required to give me the desired result.

I think it was worth the challenge, and my clients at Oak Tree Animals Charity are delighted with the result.