Le Robert, Ducos, Rivière-Salée: three social housing estates surveyed in 3D
From May 2024 to July 2025, for two social landlords, we surveyed three housing estates by drone: colourised point clouds split building by building, plans and roof inspection photos, delivered to the architects and engineering firms in the formats their software reads.
Background
Before redoing the waterproofing of flat roofs, repairing façades or checking that each building matches the typology adopted by the architect, the project manager needs a measured survey of the existing state. On an estate of several buildings, the drone records roofs and façades in a few days, without working at height. The difficulty lies downstream: delivering point clouds that architecture software can open, at a density that remains workable on a desktop computer.
What we did
In Le Robert, in May 2024, for SMHLM, its architect and the engineering firm IB Consult, we surveyed the 7 hectares of the Moulin à Vent estate in oblique flight at 60°, 30 m above ground with terrain following and 80% overlap, and delivered the 1,059 photos of the roof inspection; the point cloud, judged too dense, was redelivered on 1 m and 50 cm grids. In Ducos, on Ozanam’s La Marie estate, the architect worked in ArchiCAD, which opens neither LAS nor LAZ: after the February 2025 acquisition, we delivered colourised clouds in XYZ format in March, one file per building, with a plan naming each building; the architect confirmed, give or take a few adjustments, that they matched the typologies defined for the project. Phases 2 and 3 followed from 30 June to 4 July 2025. In Rivière-Salée, for the waterproofing renewal of the 168 homes of Thorailles, flights began on 28 April 2025 after tenants had been notified: a first survey of the whole estate produced the 3D model on which the façade flights were programmed. Point clouds by zone filtered at 10 cm and a plan were delivered on 16 May, DWG files filtered at 10 and 20 cm on 28 May.
5 related missions in the log
La Marie estate: phases 2 and 3
Flights from 30 June to 4 July 2025, delivered on 4 July.
Read the article3D survey of the roofs and façades of the Thorailles estate (168 homes)
Flights from 28 April 2025, after tenants had been notified: 3D model of the whole estate, then façade flights programmed on that model; clouds by zone filtered at 10 cm and plan on 16 May, DWG at 10 and 20 cm on 28 May, for the waterproofing renewal.
Read the articlePoint clouds of the La Marie estate, first phase
Acquisition at the end of February 2025, results presented by video call on 10 March; colourised XYZ clouds, one file per building, and a plan naming each building delivered on 14 March to the architects, who work in ArchiCAD.
Read the articleRoof inspection of a housing complex
Residents notified in advance, flight on 3 September, images online on the 5th for the engineering firm and the landlord.
3D survey of 7 hectares of buildings in Le Robert
Moulin à Vent estate: oblique flight at 60° and 30 m with terrain following, 80/80 overlap, for a social landlord, its architect and its engineering firm; 1,059 roof inspection photos delivered at the end of May, point cloud redelivered on 1 m and 50 cm grids.
- 7 ha
- 1 059 photos
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97310 Kourou
French Guiana
Route des Trois-Îlets
97229 Les Trois-Îlets
Martinique
20030-041 Rio de Janeiro – RJ
Brazil