Street view imagery-based method for reconstructing 3D building façade openings

Rui Ma; Chendi Yang; Jiayu Chen; Filip Biljecki; Xin Li

doi:10.1016/j.autcon.2026.106842

Street view imagery-based method for reconstructing 3D building façade openings

Rui Ma
, Chendi Yang
, Jiayu Chen
, Filip Biljecki^*
, Xin Li

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

The availability of 3D building models has been increasing, but they often lack detail at the architectural scale. This paper presents a method for reconstructing façade openings in 3D building models by integrating Street View imagery (SVI). Methodologically, the paper advances opening reconstruction in two key ways: first, by introducing a mathematically derived method for estimating unknown intrinsic camera parameters, enabling metric 2D-to-3D projection without relying on multi-view imagery or pre-existing depth information. Second, the method extends single-image photogrammetry to accurately measure detailed façade openings, converting pixel coordinates into spatial coordinates. The proposed method is validated through case studies in Amsterdam. Quantitative evaluation using the Façade Re-projection Dice Score (FRDS) shows high spatial consistency between reconstructed openings and reference opening geometries, with most scores ranging from 0.84 to 0.98. Given the broad coverage of SVI, there is a significant potential for enhancing 3D city models in diverse urban contexts where current representations remain geometrically basic.
© 2026 Elsevier B.V.

Original language	English
Article number	106842
Number of pages	19
Journal	Automation in Construction
Volume	184
Online published	20 Feb 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2026.106842
Publication status	Published - Apr 2026

Funding

This work is part of the project Multi-scale Digital Twins for the Urban Environment: From Heartbeats to Cities, which is supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 1. The support of the General Research Fund of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong (#11216422) and City University of Hong Kong (#9239027, #9239042) is gratefully acknowledged. The conclusions herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsoring agencies. We express gratitude to the members of the Urban Analytics Lab at the National University of Singapore and the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong for their valuable discussions.

Research Keywords

Street view imagery
Façade opening reconstruction
Image formation
3D model augmentation

Publisher's Copyright Statement

COPYRIGHT TERMS OF DEPOSITED POSTPRINT FILE: © 2026. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

RGC Funding Information

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GRF: OpenBIM-based Integrated Urban Road Maintenance Planning Framework
LI, X. (Principal Investigator / Project Coordinator)
1/08/22 → …
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "Street view imagery-based method for reconstructing 3D building fa{\c c}ade openings",

abstract = "The availability of 3D building models has been increasing, but they often lack detail at the architectural scale. This paper presents a method for reconstructing fa{\c c}ade openings in 3D building models by integrating Street View imagery (SVI). Methodologically, the paper advances opening reconstruction in two key ways: first, by introducing a mathematically derived method for estimating unknown intrinsic camera parameters, enabling metric 2D-to-3D projection without relying on multi-view imagery or pre-existing depth information. Second, the method extends single-image photogrammetry to accurately measure detailed fa{\c c}ade openings, converting pixel coordinates into spatial coordinates. The proposed method is validated through case studies in Amsterdam. Quantitative evaluation using the Fa{\c c}ade Re-projection Dice Score (FRDS) shows high spatial consistency between reconstructed openings and reference opening geometries, with most scores ranging from 0.84 to 0.98. Given the broad coverage of SVI, there is a significant potential for enhancing 3D city models in diverse urban contexts where current representations remain geometrically basic. {\textcopyright} 2026 Elsevier B.V. ",

keywords = "Street view imagery, Fa{\c c}ade opening reconstruction, Image formation, 3D model augmentation",

author = "Rui Ma and Chendi Yang and Jiayu Chen and Filip Biljecki and Xin Li",

year = "2026",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1016/j.autcon.2026.106842",

language = "English",

volume = "184",

journal = "Automation in Construction",

issn = "0926-5805",

publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Street view imagery-based method for reconstructing 3D building façade openings

AU - Ma, Rui

AU - Yang, Chendi

AU - Chen, Jiayu

AU - Biljecki, Filip

AU - Li, Xin

PY - 2026/4

Y1 - 2026/4

N2 - The availability of 3D building models has been increasing, but they often lack detail at the architectural scale. This paper presents a method for reconstructing façade openings in 3D building models by integrating Street View imagery (SVI). Methodologically, the paper advances opening reconstruction in two key ways: first, by introducing a mathematically derived method for estimating unknown intrinsic camera parameters, enabling metric 2D-to-3D projection without relying on multi-view imagery or pre-existing depth information. Second, the method extends single-image photogrammetry to accurately measure detailed façade openings, converting pixel coordinates into spatial coordinates. The proposed method is validated through case studies in Amsterdam. Quantitative evaluation using the Façade Re-projection Dice Score (FRDS) shows high spatial consistency between reconstructed openings and reference opening geometries, with most scores ranging from 0.84 to 0.98. Given the broad coverage of SVI, there is a significant potential for enhancing 3D city models in diverse urban contexts where current representations remain geometrically basic. © 2026 Elsevier B.V.

AB - The availability of 3D building models has been increasing, but they often lack detail at the architectural scale. This paper presents a method for reconstructing façade openings in 3D building models by integrating Street View imagery (SVI). Methodologically, the paper advances opening reconstruction in two key ways: first, by introducing a mathematically derived method for estimating unknown intrinsic camera parameters, enabling metric 2D-to-3D projection without relying on multi-view imagery or pre-existing depth information. Second, the method extends single-image photogrammetry to accurately measure detailed façade openings, converting pixel coordinates into spatial coordinates. The proposed method is validated through case studies in Amsterdam. Quantitative evaluation using the Façade Re-projection Dice Score (FRDS) shows high spatial consistency between reconstructed openings and reference opening geometries, with most scores ranging from 0.84 to 0.98. Given the broad coverage of SVI, there is a significant potential for enhancing 3D city models in diverse urban contexts where current representations remain geometrically basic. © 2026 Elsevier B.V.

KW - Street view imagery

KW - Façade opening reconstruction

KW - Image formation

KW - 3D model augmentation

U2 - 10.1016/j.autcon.2026.106842

DO - 10.1016/j.autcon.2026.106842

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

SN - 0926-5805

VL - 184

JO - Automation in Construction

JF - Automation in Construction

M1 - 106842

ER -

Street view imagery-based method for reconstructing 3D building façade openings

Abstract

Funding

Research Keywords

Publisher's Copyright Statement

RGC Funding Information

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Embargoed Document

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Projects

GRF: OpenBIM-based Integrated Urban Road Maintenance Planning Framework

Cite this