Gleeds expands reality capture after £2m client savings

Gleeds is expanding its Visualise reality-capture service following deployment across approximately 340 construction projects worldwide. The consultancy reports that the technology helped deliver around £2m in client savings during 2025 and is now incorporating the system more widely into its project delivery operations. Developed using OpenSpace’s Visual Intelligence Platform, Visualise connects recorded site conditions with project management and advisory activities.

The service has expanded substantially since its introduction in 2022. An initial pilot involving 16 people has grown to more than 1,900 platform users across ten countries, while project teams have recorded over 50,000 observations, issues and actions. Applications include office fit-outs, listed building refurbishments and complex programmes such as the Bicentennial Schools Programme in Peru.

Construction projects generate substantial amounts of information through inspections, progress reports, photographs, drawings and correspondence. These records are often produced by different organisations and at different stages of delivery. Establishing the condition of a particular location at an earlier date can consequently require extensive examination of separate records, particularly when a design change, defect or commercial disagreement arises after the relevant work has been completed or concealed.

Visualise was introduced to address these difficulties by providing a searchable visual record of physical site conditions. OpenSpace’s platform uses 360-degree cameras and mobile software to capture imagery as personnel walk through a construction site. The recorded images are processed and associated with the relevant locations on project floor plans, allowing authorised users to navigate the captured environment and examine conditions recorded during different visits.

OpenSpace’s Spatial AI technology uses computer vision and image-based simultaneous localisation and mapping to estimate the camera’s movement and position. By comparing visual features across successive images, the system reconstructs the capture route and aligns the imagery with the building layout. This reduces the need for personnel to position every image manually on a drawing, although reliable results still depend on the availability of suitable project information and adequate capture coverage.

The resulting visual record allows users to examine particular spaces through images associated with a location and date. Repeated captures can show how construction conditions changed as the project progressed. The information provides a basis for comparing recorded physical work with the programme or design information available at the time, although the imagery itself does not establish whether construction complies with every technical requirement.

For example, photographs recorded before a ceiling is closed may help establish the position of services or the condition of work that subsequently becomes inaccessible. Earlier imagery may also assist when assessing the circumstances of a variation, investigating a defect or reconstructing the sequence in which construction activities took place. The usefulness of the record depends on whether the relevant area was captured clearly and at an appropriate stage.

Project teams can also attach observations and actions to information associated with the site. Gleeds and OpenSpace report more than 50,000 such entries against live project records, providing a way to connect issues with the locations and circumstances in which they were identified. A dated observation can support subsequent investigation and communication between project participants, rather than relying entirely on separate written descriptions of the same condition.

These records can be valuable during commercial assessment, particularly where the parties need to establish which work had been completed before an instruction was issued. A time-stamped image may assist in identifying the visible condition of an area, but other evidence can still be required to establish quantities, compliance, responsibility or contractual entitlement. Visual documentation supports professional judgement rather than replacing measurement, inspection or formal contract administration.

Gleeds and OpenSpace report efficiency improvements of up to 75% in selected activities, including progress reporting, change management, claims assessment and defects resolution. The companies have not established that this improvement applies uniformly across every project or function. Results depend on the previous reporting process, the nature of the task and the extent to which project personnel use the captured information.

The approximately £2m in client savings reported for 2025 should also be understood as a company-reported outcome. The published information does not provide an independent project-by-project calculation or demonstrate that equivalent savings can be achieved on all construction schemes. The figure nevertheless provides a measure of the benefits Gleeds attributes to the service within its existing client portfolio.

Remote access forms another part of the deployment. Gleeds users have logged nearly 10,000 hours of remote site viewing, allowing project participants to examine recorded conditions without travelling to the location for every review. The approach can reduce journeys associated with routine progress checks or information gathering, particularly where advisers work across geographically dispersed sites.

Access to visual records does not remove the need for physical visits when a task requires measurement, testing, intrusive investigation or direct inspection by a competent person. The available imagery also represents conditions at the time of capture, rather than a continuously updated view of everything occurring on site. A record taken before subsequent construction activity may no longer describe the current condition of the same location.

Capture frequency and consistency are therefore important elements of the service. Areas that are not visited by the camera may remain undocumented, while images recorded too far apart can miss intermediate construction stages. Establishing regular capture procedures and retaining the relevant historical records helps improve the usefulness of the information when project teams need to review earlier work.

The system also relies on suitable access controls because construction imagery can contain commercially sensitive or project-specific information. The availability of a shared visual record should be managed in accordance with the project’s information requirements and the responsibilities of the organisations involved. The published deployment figures do not establish the particular information-security arrangements used on every Gleeds project.

Visualise is being expanded through Gleeds’ wider Service Innovation programme, which aims to standardise and digitalise elements of consultancy delivery. The system provides information that can be used during project management, commercial assessment and construction advisory work, with the potential to reduce duplication where different teams would otherwise gather or reconstruct the same site evidence.

The consultancy’s work on programmes involving multiple sites provides a substantial operating environment for the technology. Distributed projects can require information to be reviewed by personnel who are not present during every construction activity. Consistent visual capture allows those teams to examine dated records while coordinating their responsibilities across different locations and stages of the programme.

Gleeds will continue working with OpenSpace as Visualise becomes more closely integrated into its regular services. The reported deployment across approximately 340 projects, more than 1,900 users and over 50,000 recorded observations establishes the current scale of adoption. Further performance assessment will depend on the reliability of the captured information and the measurable outcomes achieved as the service is extended to additional projects.