The Four Courts: Block Survey

Overview Four Courts
The four courts was constructed between 1786 - 1802. There was a large amount of damage to the building in 1922 when it was bombarded during the civil war. The dome was re constructed using reinforced concrete and the capital which were carved on all sides were rotated so the damaged sides were not showing and two of the columns were replaced as they were damaged beyond repair (The Four Courts : HERITAGE 2016). The Blocks which are subject to this survey are granite. These blocks are braced using steel framing and steel cleats which are set into the stone using molten led.

Aim of Survey
The aim of this survey is to use orthographic elevations to create a 3D model of the ring of granite blocks which make up the drum
These were then moved to the side to see them clearly. The spline tool was then used to draw the arc over these hotspots. once the spline is complete the hotspots can be removed leaving the spline which represents the outer face of the blocks.

Block Survey
The aim of this block survey is to use both Archicad and Google Sketch up to create a 3D model of the blocks which make up the drum. In the first step block No.1 was marked up on the sketch up model in both plan and elevation No.3 which can be seen in Figure XX Screenshot No.1. Block No.1 was also located in the Archicad model which was open along with the sketch up model. The reasoning behind this is that the block edges are not very clear in the Sketch up model, they are much clearer in the Archicad model so dimensions will be taken off the Archicad to insert them into the Sketch up Model.

Each block was measured by firstly placing a hotspot on the edges of the block. This allowed the measure tool to be placed more accurately. The length of the first block was found to be
This was done by picking multiple random points around the model to measure the height of the blocks. The average of these was then found to be 556mm . Coincidentally this was also the measure taken on the first block.
The depth of the block was not able to be determined so it was assumed to be 300mm. The arc model was then opened in Sketch up. The measurement from the Archicad model (1054mm) was used to place the guidelines in the Sketch up model, this can be seen in Figure XX Screenshot No.1. Where the guidelines intersect the arc represents the edges of the face of the block. The section of arc between the guidelines represents the face of Block No.1 The depth of the block (assumed to be 300mm) can now be drawn to create the block. Once the 4th line is drawn to represent the back it will create a shape. The extrude tool was then used to pull this shape up. The shape was extruded by 556mm to create the 3D block which can be seen in Figure XX Screenshot No.1. This block was then selected and made into a component. This was done by right clicking on the block and selecting create component, the component was named Block