Our Story
Measured surveys by Architects
All of our trained surveyors have graduate or post-graduate degrees in Architecture and have a comprehensive understanding of construction.
As one of London’s leading premium architectural practices, we deliver some of the finest projects in the world for the most demanding and discerning clients.
During one of our weekly project meetings, a pattern began to emerge: almost every team had encountered an issue with their survey. These problems often only came to light months after the survey had been completed, by which point they could cause frustrating delays and unnecessary complexity.
It was a simple but important realisation — why not do them ourselves?
With over 40 years of architectural expertise behind us, the answer felt obvious. We established our own in-house surveying arm, and LA Surveys was born.
Today, our clients benefit from surveys carried out quickly, accurately, and with a depth of understanding that only architects can bring.
Why?
Our Expertise
LA Surveys was born out of Lees Associates, our market-leading architectural practice. Recognising a gap in the market, we took the opportunity to further apply the expertise we had honed over forty years and establish our surveying arm in early 2020.
Our Perspective
We are unique as Architects that carry-out full measured building surveys in-house, and as a standalone service. More importantly, all of our surveyors have at least a post-graduate qualification in Architecture, so they have an unrivalled understanding of the buildings they survey.
The problem
Traditionally, as Architects, we procured measured surveys from third-party surveyors, including having them build an as-existing BIM model from the survey data. But we often found this to be unreliable, not least because we were removed from the process.
The solution
It is crucial to have a full understanding of a project’s requirements to be able to correctly interpret the raw survey data in order to provide a completely reliable survey that is tailored to the project’s needs. As Architects, we are uniquely qualified to do that.
Our Technology
Using the latest point-cloud scanning technology, we are able to survey buildings with exceptional accuracy, translating the data into detailed BIM models and traditional 2D CAD drawings as required.
The Result
Since we established LA Surveys, the positive feedback from our industry colleagues has been extremely encouraging and has pushed us to scale our offering into a standalone offering, alongside our Lees Associates brand.
So who are we?
We are a progressive team of market-leading Architects who have long embraced innovation in the way we deliver projects. Today, that approach extends to offering in-house measured building surveys.
Every member of our surveying team holds a graduate or postgraduate qualification in Architecture, giving them a deep understanding of buildings, construction, and the information architects genuinely need from a survey.
Whether or not we are the appointed Architect for a project, and therefore the ultimate beneficiary of a survey, we have a highly tuned understanding of what a survey must capture in order to support the design process. This is particularly valuable when working with complex or listed buildings, where both precision and judgement are essential.
An architectural perspective allows us to approach surveying not simply as a technical exercise, but as the first and most important step in understanding a building.
Where we are appointed as Architect, the benefits are even greater. The same team responsible for delivering the project will carry out the survey, giving them an immediate and detailed understanding of the property from the outset.
In these cases, we will refund the cost of producing the BIM model - we know just how much time and value a well executed survey can bring to the rest of the project.