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Brophy’s earlier research, including Ephemeral Space, positioned 3D scanning as more than a tool for documentation. It explored scanning as a critical design methodology that could capture space as a temporal condition and translate it into navigable digital form. This work established a framework for how spatial data can be recorded, interpreted and re-experienced.
Westacott has subsequently taken forward and developed scanning practice across UCA Canterbury School of Art, Architecture and Design. Supported by an AHRC-funded CresCa bid, which enabled the acquisition of Artec Ray 2, Leo and Space Spider scanning systems, this work has expanded both the scope and ambition of spatial capture at UCA.
What has emerged is a clear shift from exploratory research into embedded, scalable and outward-facing practice.
Scaling up: from research enquiry to applied workflow
Recently work has moved towards robust, multi-scalar capture. Using LiDAR technologies such as the Artec Ray 2, Westacott has undertaken detailed surveys of complex architectural environments, including the nave of Canterbury Cathedral. These scans have generated highly accurate spatial datasets that can be reconstructed into fully navigable digital environments.
The technical challenge of handling extremely large datasets has also become part of the research itself, with ongoing work to optimise meshes and workflows so that high-resolution models can be processed, textured and shared more effectively.
Seeing what cannot be seen: scanning heritage
Beyond documentation, the researchers have been increasingly mobilising scanning to produce new heritage-based knowledge and insights. Scanning a local 11th Century Kent church interior has revealed surface inscriptions on a tomb that had been illegible for over a century. In another, a Napoleonic tunnel closed to public access has been digitally captured, preserving fragile hand-painted signage that is physically deteriorating and at risk of being lost.
These examples demonstrate how high-resolution capture can reveal latent information embedded within material surfaces, reinforcing scanning as a tool for discovery as well as preservation.
Hybrid capture and technical integration
Current projects extend beyond single-method capture, combining LiDAR with drone-based photogrammetry and structured light scanning using systems such as the Artec Leo and Space Spider. This hybrid approach enables a full hemispherical understanding of buildings, from large-scale context to fine surface detail.
By integrating multiple datasets into cohesive digital models, this work reflects a maturing technical ecosystem, one that moves beyond isolated scans of interior or exterior spaces, towards comprehensive spatial reconstruction of a complete building or site.
Bridging physical and digital practice
Alongside heritage-focused work, scanning is being used to investigate alternative design workflows that reposition the relationship between physical and digital practice. In this context, physical architectural models are captured through 3D scanning and re-situated within digitally constructed environments, where they can be rendered and evaluated.
This challenges the assumption that digital models must be authored entirely within software, instead proposing a hybrid workflow in which material making becomes the primary mode of design generation, with scanning acting as the point of translation into digital space.
Embedding in teaching and knowledge exchange
The introduction of handheld systems such as the Artec Leo has enabled scanning to be embedded directly into teaching. Workshops with students have explored emerging applications including 3D body scanning and digital surface manipulation, allowing students to generate and work with their own data in real time.
This integration reflects a broader research, knowledge exchange and teaching ecosystem at UCA, where research-led practice with external partners informs teaching, and student experimentation feeds back into the development of new workflows.
Access, collaboration and cultural impact
A central outcome of this work so far has been increased accessibility of the built environment. The creation of 1:1 scale digital twins allows spaces that are physically inaccessible, whether due to fragility, risk or location, to be experienced remotely.
Brophy and Westacott are currently in conversation with international partners to further develop the applicability of these technologies, from heritage and conservation to games design and cultural engagement. In each case, scanning enables new forms of access to space, both geographically and conceptually.
As the programme continues to develop, future work will focus on refining hybrid workflows, expanding collaborative projects and further embedding scanning within the culture of art and design practice at UCA.