Worcester Art Museum

Case Study: Worcester Art Museum

This case study will focus on a recent and successful collaboration with Existing Conditions, Seth Wiseman (Conform Lab), and the Worcester Art Museum. With the most advanced 3D laser scanners, aerial drones, and decades of experience, the team was provided with a comprehensive interior and exterior existing conditions model.

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History of the Worcester Art Museum

The museum, located in central Massachusetts, has faced limited maintenance and capital improvements since around 2015 due to resource constraints. Despite the complexity of the facility and over 30 years of deferred maintenance, the current leadership team has found success in fundraising for back-of-house efforts. As a result of this success, they have been prompted to evaluate different methods for documenting the physical plant and complexities of the six iterations of buildings since 1898.

Subsequently, there were multiple building campaigns in the 1920s, 1930s, late 1960s, and a final iteration in 1983, which added to the complexity of the museum's architecture and history.

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Building Partnerships

Seth Wiseman, Partner at Conform Lab, has been working with the Worcester Art Museum since 2015. Recognizing the benefits of 3D laser scanning, Wiseman recommended Existing Conditions to the museum as a solution to combat the issues the museum was facing with outdated and inaccurate 2D paper drawings.

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The Challenge

When considering the need for existing conditions drawings, the Worcester Art Museum contemplated hiring a traditional architect to field measure the facility. However, they recognized that this approach might not be as effective as using the latest 3D laser scanning equipment and may involve relying on traditional methods such as tape measures, which interns would likely be responsible for. For a high-profile project like this, this would not be sufficient.

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The Solution

The Worcester Art Museum determined the most effective approach to creating accurate and reliable existing conditions drawings was to entrust the task to professionals with the necessary equipment, expertise, and experience. As a result, they enlisted the services of Existing Conditions, whose timely and precise delivery provided them with an accurate point of departure.

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How the Museum Leveraged Our Deliverables

• The 3D Revit model supported sub-consultant teams and simplified facility management for the leadership team
• When placing aerial drone photography, videography, and image application onto the 3D model, the Worcester Art Museum gained valuable insights into the relationships between different parts of the building, especially when initiating tasks such as removing roofs
• Deformation mapping services by Existing Conditions were leveraged for evaluating roof topography during roof replacement to meet warranty parameters
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How This Project Was Unique

This project's distinctiveness comes from the campus's history and evolution. As the campus has expanded over time, a sequence of building volumes has emerged, conforming to the sloping site and then offset as well. There is a series of elevators distributed across the site. The elevators do not operate, but they are all located on the same floor plates due to the different iterations.

The Worcester Art Museum is actively using the 3D Revit model provided by Existing Conditions to help establish work plans, understand complexities, and find simpler solutions, such as replacing an existing freight elevator with a code-compliant ADA elevator (which is currently underway).

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Where Does This Project Stand Now?

This multi-phase and multi-year endeavor is currently being undertaken by Seth Wiseman. This project began in 2018 as part of a ten-year campaign, which is scheduled to end in 2028.

Wiseman and the Worcester Art Museum are utilizing cloud-based computing to share deliverables from Existing Conditions with their teams to aid in completing the first 30% of work.

While a significant portion of the capital works and fundraising is already in place, Wiseman and the Worcester Art Museum still have approximately 70% of the work left to complete within the next five years. As the Worcester Art Museum moves forward with this large-scale project, Existing Conditions continues to support them.

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About the Client

Seth W. Wiseman, Conform Lab

Fascinated with systems & systems thinking Seth W. Wiseman, Conform Lab of has worked in a variety of capacities within the building & design industry over the course of his career. Working & designing at various scales, Seth seeks to uncover a unique logic for each project. Moving through the design process, Seth leverages & refines this logic to inform design decision-making, detailing and development. This process, greatly steered through client input, creates a framework that informs and reinforces the design process.

Seth studied Building Science (BS) & Industrial Design (BS) at Appalachian State University & minored in Sustainable Development. After working in the architectural industry in NYC Seth completed a Master of Architecture degree at Rhode Island School of Design. Seth is founder Designwise LLC, an architectural design studio based in Boston.

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"As the Worcester Art Museum (WAM) began developing and planning its master plan, it was evident that a comprehensive model was necessary to capture the complexity of the 125-year-old facility. Partnering with Existing Conditions to scan the facility and translate the data into a Revit model continues to assist WAM in its strategic planning effort and consistently supports the various design and engineering teams." Seth Wiseman OPM, Conform Lab

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Existing Conditions 3D Laser Scanning Services

Over the past 27 years, we have measured, documented, and modeled over 10,000 buildings spanning over 700 million square feet across the United States, establishing ourselves as an industry leader in 3D laser scanning. Building professionals trust us to deliver digital representations of the as-built environment with unparalleled accuracy and efficiency. Our dedicated Project Managers provide fast and accurate 3D laser scanning services and drone imagery services, and expert CAD and BIM technicians create custom, detailed deliverables. Our greatest reward remains delivering superior-quality scan-to-BIM work and knowing we played a vital role in our clients’ unique and historic projects.

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