Digital Twins & Building Intelligence

Digital Twins & Building Intelligence

Know Your Building Inside and Out

We combine aerial drone surveys with handheld LiDAR scanning to create a precise, navigable 3D replica of your building. Stop relying on outdated plans. Know your building as it is today.

What Is a Building Digital Twin?

A digital twin is a precise, navigable 3D replica of a real building — created from actual scan data, not from drawings or assumptions. Unlike a CAD model or an architect’s design, a digital twin represents the building as it is today, with every wall, ceiling, floor, and structural element captured in three dimensions with centimetre-level accuracy.

Building owners use digital twins for maintenance planning, renovation design, lease documentation, and insurance baseline records. Facilities managers use them to locate concealed services, plan refurbishments, and manage assets across a portfolio. Architects and engineers use them as the starting point for any design work on an existing building.

Drones At Work is the only operator in New Zealand that can deliver a complete exterior-to-interior digital twin from a single team — combining our DJI M350 RTK aerial platform with the Xgrids Lixel K2 handheld interior scanner. No other provider offers this.

How We Build Your Digital Twin

Step 1: Aerial Survey

Our M350 RTK drone captures the roof, facade, and site context with H30T thermal and L2 LiDAR payloads. The exterior of the building is mapped in precise 3D, referenced to NZTM2000 coordinates.

Step 2: Interior Scan

Our Lixel K2 handheld scanner walks through the interior — every room, corridor, plant area, and ceiling space — building a georeferenced 3D model from inside the building.

Step 3: Data Fusion

Aerial and interior datasets are merged into a single coordinate system. The result is one unified point cloud covering the building from rooftop to floor slab, with no gaps.

Step 4: Delivery

You receive a colourised point cloud (.LAS), 3D mesh model, as-built floor plans, and a shareable web viewer link. Optional: 3DGS photorealistic walkthrough for premium visual deliverables.

What You Receive

  • Colourised point cloud (.LAS file) — survey-grade accuracy, NZTM2000 georeferenced
  • 3D mesh model — navigable in standard viewers, shareable by web link
  • As-built floor plans — extracted from scan data, accurate to 1 cm
  • Thermal overlay (optional) — heat map of walls, ceiling, and floor surface temperatures
  • 3D Gaussian Splatting walkthrough (premium option) — photorealistic, immersive building tour
  • Condition notes and maintenance flags identified during the scan

Who Uses Digital Twins

Building Owners & Investors

No accurate as-built drawings? We scan the building as it stands today and deliver a complete 3D record — the foundation of all future maintenance and renovation planning.

Architects & Engineers

Design against reality, not assumption. Our as-built twin gives you precise existing conditions for any extension, alteration, or seismic strengthening project — far faster and more accurate than a traditional measured survey.

Facilities & Asset Managers

Know where every pipe, duct, cable, and structural element runs. Plan maintenance, manage contractors, and make decisions from data — not from guesswork or memory.

Insurance Professionals

Pre-event baseline documentation of building condition and geometry — timestamped, georeferenced, and legally defensible. Accelerate claims and eliminate disputes about pre-existing conditions.

Portfolio Managers

Standardise asset documentation across your entire portfolio. Every building, the same format, the same accuracy. Scheduled re-scans keep your records current as buildings change.

Ready to know your building inside and out?

Contact Drones At Work for a digital twin proposal tailored to your building and your objectives.