Building information modelling for conservation : a feasibility study of a mobile HBIM application in heritage conservation process in Hong Kong

Abstract

The conservation process of a heritage building starts off with creating an understanding of the building and documenting the current state of the built heritage. Documenting heritage buildings is a vital step in a conservation project. In addition to the investigation on the structural layout of the heritage building, historical details that would represent the heritage values of the building also need to be documented and managed. Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology is increasingly being adopted in the heritage conservation industry in recent years as a tool for managing heritage information and create digital representation and archives of the heritage building. In this regard, BIM is a tool for different stakeholders in a project to collaborate in a shared open platform throughout the building lifecycle. It facilitates the dissemination of information and facilitates the management of building information through digital representation. Due to its capabilities and potentials, there is an increase in the awareness of the potential of the application of BIM technology in the heritage conservation process. However, researches that have investigated in the topic of BIM and heritage conservation mainly focuses on the methodologies and workflows of modelling the built heritage – from BIM surveying to BIM model. Due to the complicated post processing of the point cloud data obtain from the terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) into 3D BIM model, research that goes beyond the methodologies into enriching the information model is still at its infancy. In contrast to the widespread research and usage of BIM worldwide, there is a lack of in-depth research and application of BIM in the heritage conservation process in Hong Kong. BIM interventions usually stop at creating the 3D model to generate orthographic drawings and the application of the BIM models are limited to visualisation purposes. Therefore, there is a need to research on further application of BIM in the heritage conservation process in Hong Kong and evaluate its effectiveness and feasibility to conventionalize its usage. Therefore, this dissertation focuses on investigating the further application of BIM as an effective tool in the documentation and management of heritage data in the conservation process in Hong Kong. Using the Hong Kong Declared Monument Tung Lin Kok Yuen as a case study, the research conducts an investigation and assessment of the potential of BIM application in the context of Hong Kong.