How Newomij and supRmen take real estate inspection to next level

In this customer case, we focus on a specific project carried out for Newomij and the long-term collaboration that resulted. We highlight the impact of 3D models on daily processes, implementation challenges at the organizational level and the future of the cooperation between Newomij and supRmen.

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Project

The Apollohouse, located on the Apollolaan in Amsterdam, is a national monument and high-rise complex with a courtyard garden. Traditional inspection methods fall short because of the hard-to-reach areas and complexity of the building. Rob van Geet. Manager Vastgoed Techniek at Newomij, saw an opportunity in this for an innovative approach with supRmen's photorealistic 3D models, which led to a maintenance inspection of the Apollohouse.

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The Apollohouse has challenges due to its height and ring building structure with a courtyard garden. With any maintenance work, it is difficult to get a complete picture of the condition of the facades and other parts of the building. This leads to assumptions about dimensions, numbers and damages, and thus often leads to incomplete inspection reports and maintenance schedules.Newomij asked us, "Can you provide a solution that allows us to get a complete and accurate measurement report for the Apollohouse, including the hard-to-reach parts?"

Our solution consisted of three phases:

1. Gathering all images of the complex;
2. Visualizing these images into a photorealistic 3D model;
3. Quantifying numbers, dimensions and defects;

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Gather

Together with our partner Eyefly, we gathered all the necessary images. Eyefly provided flying in drones to capture exterior facades and hard-to-reach areas. Over time, we jointly perfected real estate flying in. Expertise that came in handy with this complex building. 

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Surveying this building was challenging due to several factors. First, because there are many trees surrounding the building, this makes it difficult to take enough pictures of the entire building envelope. Second, the building is near Schiphol Airport which means Eyefly has to be in constant contact with air traffic control. A third challenge is the fact that the building is in a residential area which means that there are many nearby residents. The local residents were informed and privacy was ensured by automatically blurring people and license plates, similar to Google Streetview.

Prior to flying, stickers were applied. These stickers are necessary for processing the data, they are found by the software and help to compute all the images together into one whole. The arithmetic of these images together is called photogrammetry. This is the technique that precisely computes the thousands of created images together into one 3D model.

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In order to measure as precisely as possible in the 3D model, the roofs and facades must be imaged as accurately and in as much detail as possible. Therefore, the detail level of the underlying photos for this model is 1 millimeter per pixel. This means that you can zoom in to 1 millimeter level of detail on each photo taken. How do we get this done? Eyefly first takes images at a greater distance. Gradually, the pilot builds up the detail by flying closer and closer to the building.

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The entire complex was digitized as completely as possible through a combination of ground and aerial imagery. This is because it was not (safely) possible to fly there at ground level, so we chose to make additional high resolution images with a ground camera. A nice detail in this 3D model is the entrance to the building, which Eyefly has visualized very completely by taking many additional ground photos.

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Visualize

Based on the collected data, supRmen gets to work modeling and visualizing the building. The generated 3D Mesh, point cloud and high-resolution photos form the basis for this. This data is not only used to create the 3D model, but also serves as a foundation for preparing Multi-Year Maintenance Budgets (MJOBs).

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All collected data is integrated into the cloud-based supRmen platform, where all stakeholders can easily access the interactive 3D model.

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Quantify

We extracted all the data from the 3D model, including dimensions and damages. This data was integrated into the Vastware system, which Newomij uses for their property management. This allowed numbers and sizes to be read in directly and used for various purposes such as inspection.

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The solution brought three key benefits to Newomij:

Accurate documentation

The 3D model makes the smallest details and exact conditions of the building visible and measurable. This ensures precision in all measurements and numbers, which is essential for accurate project planning.

Increased efficiency

In a short period of time, a comprehensive photo database was created that serves as a digital archive. This valuable reference work is always and everywhere available to all involved.

Improved maintenance planning

The 3D model provides a solid foundation for future maintenance, periodic inspections and trend monitoring. This enables proactive building management.

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The use of the model is expanding within the organization. For example, external partners are already using it effectively as well - for example, "the Green Boys" when installing solar foil on the roof. This resulted in fewer physical inspections and more efficient execution of work.