informing the conservation of the built env ironment - Historic Scotland

The Scottish Ten: Progress in 2010
The Scottish Ten is an ambitious five-year programme which will see Historic Scotland and the Digital Design
Studio at Glasgow School of Art digitally document in 3D Scotland’s five UNESCO World Heritage Sites and five
international heritage sites. The resulting leading-edge data will be stored and shared via
our US partner CyArk’s web portal (www.cyark.org).
Reflections
Looking back on 2010, it has been a very busy year for
those involved with the Scottish Ten project. We’ve taken
the Scottish Ten message around Scotland and beyond,
presenting our work to date at many venues from local
history society events to international conferences.
We’ve forged strong and long-lasting links with our
international partners and we’ve carried out fieldwork
on two sites. We take a look here at some of the year’s
highlights…
The Centre for Digital Documentation
and Visualisation
In Spring 2010, the Centre for Digital Documentation
and Visualisation LLP was formally established. This is
a joint partnership between Historic Scotland and the
Digital Design Studio at Glasgow School of Art. Although
CDDV is primarily a vehicle to deliver the Scottish Ten,
it will also undertake appropriate commercial work to
generate income for both parties and fund research and
development to maintain Scotland’s leading edge with
3D documentation technologies. CDDV undertook its
first commercial project in April 2010, laser scanning the
entire UNESCO World Heritage Palace at Schönbrunn,
in Vienna, Austria. The laser scans were converted into
a 3D visualisation tool, which staff will use in facilities
management of the Palace.
Our First International Project
The team travelled to South Dakota, USA in May 2010
to carry out the first international project. The digital
documentation of Mount Rushmore National Memorial
was made possible by a unique partnership between
CDDV, the National Park Service and CyArk. Scanning
a mountain was never going to be easy, but it was the
unpredictable Black Hills weather that posed the first
difficulties. The team endured all four seasons within
the space of a few days, including a foot of snow and
lightning strikes. However, with a break in the weather
and with detailed planning and safety considerations
in place, the project got underway.
Point cloud showing detail on main palace building , Schönbrunn, Vienna
Historic Scotland 2011 | FOCUS
7