Digital twins of wooden shingle envelopes

Wooden shingles have long been used as a vernacular roofing technique in many well-wooded areas. Despite the fact that shingles, as local raw materials, are low in embodied energy, nowadays they are not much used in construction, as the specific craft knowledge for building shingle roofs and facades has not been well-documented. Consequently, it is now becoming more difficult to find a new generation of skilled workers who can perform this task. As a result, this type of architecture is gradually disappearing. This research aims to provide a technical approach for digitization and generation of an as-built three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of wooden shingle envelopes. Towards this aim, digital twins of wooden shingle envelopes are generated based on step-by-step real-time 3D scanning of shingles and point-cloud processing of the obtained scans, while they are placed by craftspeople. Two experiments on two different types of wooden shingles are conducted to validate the proposed method, and a precise digital model of this valuable type of vernacular architecture is produced. Furthermore, the exact geometrical configuration, assembly rules, installation patterns, and technical details of the construction process are documented and explained in detail. This work concludes with potential future research directions including design automation and optimization of wooden shingle envelopes which could help the industry re-introduce the use of local raw wood in contemporary architectural constructions, and revive this cultural and artisanal heritage.