Automated 3D Reconstruction of Interior Structures from Unstructured Point Clouds
The automatic reconstruction of existing buildings has gained momentum through the integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) into architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) workflows. This study presents a hybrid methodology that combines deep learning with surface-based techniques to automate the generation of 3D models and 2D floor plans from unstructured indoor point clouds. The approach begins with point cloud preprocessing using voxel-based downsampling and robust statistical outlier removal. Room partitions are extracted via DBSCAN applied in the 2D space, followed by structural segmentation using the RandLA-Net deep learning model to classify key building components such as walls, floors, ceilings, columns, doors, and windows. To enhance segmentation fidelity, a density-based filtering technique is employed, and RANSAC is utilized to detect and fit planar primitives representing major surfaces. Wall-surface openings such as doors and windows are identified through local histogram analysis and interpolation in wall-aligned coordinate systems. The method supports complex indoor environments including Manhattan and non-Manhattan layouts, variable ceiling heights, and cluttered scenes with occlusions. The approach was validated using six datasets with varying architectural characteristics, and evaluated using completeness, correctness, and accuracy metrics. Results show a minimum completeness of 86.6%, correctness of 84.8%, and a maximum geometric error of 9.6 cm, demonstrating the robustness and generalizability of the proposed pipeline for automated as-built BIM reconstruction.
Authors
- Adel El-Shazly (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4332-9386)
- Ahmad M. Senousi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2578-795X)
- Walid Darwish (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0549-6052)
- Wael Ahmed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3053-3268)
- Youssef Hany (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7545-8074)
Institutions
- Cairo University (EG)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information
- Published
- 2025-10-31
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi14110428
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- 3D Surveying and Cultural Heritage
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.69
Funders
- Cairo University
- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
- Universität Zürich