Historic Probasco Hall Laser Scanning and Drone Survey Project in Cincinnati, Ohio

TrueScan provided 3D laser scanning and drone surveying services for Probasco Hall near the University of Cincinnati campus in Cincinnati, Ohio.

The project involved the planned renovation of a historic neoclassical church built in the early 1900s. Because of the building’s unique spaces and detailed architecture, the design team needed a documentation method capable of capturing complex existing conditions accurately.

Project Facts

Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

Property Type: Historic academic / institutional building

Services:

• 3D laser scanning
• Drone surveys
• UAV data collection
• Existing-conditions documentation

Size / Scope: Full interior and exterior documentation of Probasco Hall

Scan Count: Approximately 200 scan setups

Fieldwork Duration: Approximately two days

Areas Documented:

• Building interior
• Building exterior
• Roof
• Architectural details

Deliverables:

• Registered point cloud
• Combined terrestrial and UAV scan data
• Existing-conditions data for the design team

The Challenge

Probasco Hall’s historic architecture included unique spaces and intricate details that were difficult to document comprehensively with traditional measurement methods.

The roof also included areas that could not be effectively captured from ground-based scan positions alone.

TrueScan’s Approach

TrueScan scanned the entire building in approximately two days, completing around 200 interior and exterior scan setups.

A UAV was also used to capture roof data that could not be reached with terrestrial laser scanning. The UAV points were placed in the same coordinate system as the ground-based scan data so both datasets could be combined.

The Result

The terrestrial and UAV data were merged into a single point cloud and delivered to the design team.

This gave the team one coordinated dataset covering the building interior, exterior, and roof for use during the planned renovation.