Window Design Center’s Laser Scanning Innovation Story

Window Design Center of Madison, WI is a premier window and door dealer.  The firm works with a range of design professionals from architects and contractors, institutional and historic preservation specialists, as-well-as homeowners.

Recently the firm was contracted by the University of Wisconsin-Stout to replace windows in many of UW-Stout’s historic buildings. The University needed to meet targets for energy efficiency.  Window Design Center needed to provide accurately measured windows that could cost-effectively be installed even with the irregularities older buildings can present. Window Design Center approached Chris Wilkes, MasterGraphics.aec’s (MG.aec) Scanning Service Manager to learn more about laser scanning tools and workflows. Craig Patchin, the WDC’s Owner along with Joe Hillary, Success Facilitator, had the idea that laser scanning technology could help them with the project.

Chris came right alongside the Window Design Center team and developed an ideal workflow and technology solution which includes the Leica BLK scanner and Autodesk’s ReCap 360 Pro scanning image management software.  Within a few hours Joe, Jason, and the WDC team were successfully underway at UW-Stout.  Over the course of the first project, Joe developed some modified tripod mounts for the Leica BLK allowing the team to extend the equipment out of window spaces and then scan back into the building for some very accurate imaging to measure from.

In talking with Joe, he said that the collaboration between Chris Wilkes/MG.aec and Window Design Center made all the difference in their first project’s success.  He felt that Chris had WDC’s interests and the interests of their clients at heart during the development of WDC’s Leica BLK/Autodesk ReCap solution.  He went on to say that the accuracy, effectiveness, and time savings of the solution – not to mention the business edge the solution provides WDC – have made it an essential part of WDC’s tool set.

The UW-Stout project is still underway as of this writing, and the Window Design Center team has gone on to incorporate their scanning technologies into a at least 6 other projects at this point.

If your firm or company requires this kind of “high bar” quality solution for laser scanning or the variety of other services and technologies MG.aec’s Specialized Services team can provide, don’t hesitate to contact us.  Our Design Technologists are well versed in everything from scanning, to visualization, animation, VR/AR, sustainability practices, BIM to FM practices, Forge and Dynamo programming and a host of complementary technologies.