28 Jul Case Study: Parramatta North Urban Transformation

The NSW Government’s renewal of Parramatta North exists to conserve and unlock the rich history of the historic precinct. The project includes heritage works, rehabilitation of the river foreshore, creating new public open spaces, and infrastructure such as roads, cycleways and playgrounds. The works were completed between February 2017 to August 2018.

Images for Business was asked to document the transformation of five historical buildings during their restoration across time-lapse, aerial drone and still image formats.

The imaging project covered:

• The Cricket Pavilion – Time-lapse and still images to capture exterior, interior and foundation works
• Recreation Hall and Chapel – Time-lapse to capture key roofing works and still photography of roof and window restoration
• Female Factory – Time-lapse from the clock tower and stills of the archaeological works
• Laundry Building – Time-lapse of essential roof works along with still photography of workers gutting the interior. Remarkably, still photography of animal handlers dealing with bats and other wildlife that had taken up residency in the building
• Main Building – Time-lapse and still photography to capture restoration and scaffolding removal

The image content has been used, and continues to be used, for a variety of purposes including community and public relations, project promotion, project documentation and heritage documentation.

Projects of this type always contain several challenges that have to be overcome. In this case, the most significant problems related to the site’s location and use.

The site location was immediately adjacent to a heliport, which required considerable negotiation, planning and approvals to allow drone operation. The site also contains a facility that is managed by NSW Health, which involved a requirement for zero engagement with people on the site and meticulous respect of privacy.

Safety compliance and environmental noise also had to be managed. While this is standard practice, there were additional challenges relating to the project’s heritage status and location.

Time-lapse

Images for Business uses professional-grade D-SLR cameras mounted in a protective case with remote software control of camera settings, camera monitoring, maintenance alerts and image data download. This approach ensures the highest quality images and reliability.

Time-lapse images of the Parramatta North Urban transformation project involved five cameras transferred across multiple locations over the 18-month project window.

Aerial drone

Images for Business uses professional imaging drones that provide stable, high-resolution images. Heavy lift drones were used for this assignment to carry a professional D-SLR and lens. Drones images were captured from a range of GPS coordinates once per month at each of the five project locations over the 18-month project duration.

Stills

Still images are unique in their ability to capture a moment in time in the most exquisite detail. The results are not just visual records of events, but pictures of specific construction and restoration details as well as high-resolution architectural images of the finished results.

Infrastructure and construction insight

The infrastructure and construction experience that Images for Business brought to the Parramatta North Urban Transformation project provided significant value to the project team.

• Stakeholder management and negotiation
• Safety compliance
• Our expertise in multi-format imaging allowed us to recommend optimum camera locations and the most efficient ways to achieve the required results.