Following an exhibition earlier in the year, MBS & MLS were asked to undertake a 3D wire-frame survey of the Coudenberg Vaults, situated under the Royal Palace in Brussels, for a prestigious London Model-Maker.

The palace as it stands today is credited to King Leopold I, who completed the building in 1903.  The building was used as the residence of the Belgian King until after the death of Queen Astrid in 1935, when her husband Leopold III decided to move his residence to the castle of Laken.  The royal palace is now used as the office of the King and as the residence of the crown prince and harbours the Belle-vue museum and Coudenberg Vaults.

The brief for the survey was to provide full 3-Dimensional information in CAD format to allow the model makers to produce a scaled presentational model of the tunnels and vaults for a forthcoming exhibition. 

The intricate tunnels occupy nearly 12,000 sq ft, encompassing over 25 individual rooms, many with vaulted ceilings and sloping cobbled floors. Due to the nature of the job and the required specification, the survey was fully-connected throughout and undertaken within the MBS Floor Plan software in little over 9 hours! 

The subsequent CAD processing was a further 9 hours. The critical elements of plan position and levels were all achieved within the software - so for anyone who thinks this software can only be used for "square" buildings; think again!