SVA NYC

Existing conditions documentation across more than 14 School of Visual Arts buildings in Manhattan—captured on site in just over a week and transformed into coordinated floor plans, reflected ceiling plans, plotted stakeholder-ready PDF sets, and 3D Revit building models.

14+ Buildings documented across a distributed Manhattan campus

1 Week Intensive on-site capture campaign across active academic spaces

2D + 3D Floor plans, RCPs, and Revit-based building understanding

Usable Output Formatting, legends, plotting structure, and deliverables built for stakeholder review

A campus-wide documentation effort, not a single-building survey.

The School of Visual Arts operates across multiple buildings in New York City, with classrooms, offices, libraries, theaters, support spaces, basements, rooftops, and mechanical areas all needing to be documented and organized into one consistent framework.

Pointknown was brought in to move quickly in the field, then stay disciplined in the follow-through. The goal was not just to capture geometry, but to create a usable documentation system SVA could rely on for planning, coordination, and communication with internal stakeholders and consultant teams.

Multiple buildings. Multiple addresses. One coordinated base of information.

For SVA, existing conditions work had to function at city scale. Pointknown moved building-to-building across Manhattan, documenting a distributed academic environment and turning that field effort into a consistent set of deliverables that could support real campus decision-making.

The real work continued long after the week on site.

This project required extensive follow-through and project management to create plotting standards, legend systems, sheet organization, and overall formatting structure in conjunction with SVA. The final PDFs were intended to serve as active working tools, not just archived survey drawings.

That meant building deliverables that were clear, consistent, and easy to use across departments, stakeholders, and future planning efforts.

From plotted plans to specialty spaces to coordinated 3D models.

The final package combined broad campus understanding with building-specific detail—floor plans, reflected ceiling plans, specialty-space documentation, and Revit-based 3D modeling that could support planning, renovation, and coordination across an active educational environment.

Representative SVA floor plan at East 23rd Street showing detailed room layouts and existing conditions documentation.

Floor Plans

Clear existing conditions plans built for campus planning, downstream design work, and stakeholder review.

Representative reflected ceiling plan for SVA showing lights, ceiling systems, and coordination elements.

Reflected Ceiling Plans

Ceiling and systems documentation that adds another layer of clarity for coordination and planning.

Library plan drawing for an SVA building on Second Avenue.

Academic + Support Spaces

Libraries, offices, classrooms, and student-facing spaces documented with a consistent standard across the campus portfolio.

Theater plan at SVA showing auditorium seating, stage area, and support spaces.

Specialty Spaces

Theaters and other unique campus environments required the same rigor as standard academic space documentation.

3D Revit model view of an SVA building at 335 West 16th Street.

3D Building Models

Revit-based models gave SVA a broader, coordinated understanding of building form and future planning potential.

Interior mechanical room model view from SVA Revit documentation.

Systems + Infrastructure

Mechanical areas, rooftops, and infrastructure conditions were captured as part of the same coordinated effort.

Structured deliverables built for real campus use.

The outcome was more than a model and more than a set of drawings. It was a coordinated existing conditions resource that gave SVA a clearer base of information across multiple Manhattan buildings and multiple space types.

Faster stakeholder alignment PDF sets and sheet logic designed to be shared, reviewed, and understood by more than just the survey team.

Stronger planning foundation Accurate plans, RCPs, and 3D building models supporting renovation and campus planning work.

Consistency across buildings One documentation standard applied across a distributed New York City academic portfolio.