This dataset is a combination of the The GeoInformation Groups' Cities Revealed UK building heights and UK building classes datasets, although height information is lacking for some buildings, so users may wish to check the UK building heights database in these cases. This dataset provides outlines of building blocks with height information derived from the Cities Revealed LiDAR surveys, high-resolution aerial photography and other height data sources combined with UK building classes data. The data were acquired by the Landmap project from The GeoInformation Group (TGG).

The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) funded Landmap service which ran from 2001 to July 2014 collected and hosted a large amount of earth observation data, such as thermal imagery, for the majority of the UK. After removal of JISC funding in 2013, the Landmap service is no longer operational, with the data now held at the NEODC.

Data are available as shapefiles, which comprise of .shp, .shx and .dbf files.

• shp - shape format; the feature geometry itself
• shx - shape index format; a positional index of the feature geometry to allow seeking forwards and backwards quickly
• dbf - attribute format; columnar attributes for each shape, in dBase IV format

Also provided are prj, sbn, sbx and xml files.

• prj - projection format; the coordinate system and projection information, a plain text file describing the projection
• sbn and sbx - a spatial index of the features
• xml - location and other associated information

Free software can be used to open shapefiles, such as Quantum GIS (QGIS) or User-friendly Desktop Internet GIS (uDig).

The classifications attributes found in the attribute table (dbf files) of the shapefiles can be identified using this building class reference sheet. There are 9 Age categories and 19 Type categories. Not all the Age/Type combinations are used, for example there are no Early and Middle Victorian very tall flats (point blocks) in the current edition of the classification (Version 6 September 2012). The current database for the UK does not contain Age categories 1 and 2 and only one type for Age 8. Also the type categories of Medium Height flats 5-6 storeys (3), Tall Terraces 3-4 storeys (5) and Very Large Detached Houses, Sometimes converted to flats (15) have been removed. These are all indicated by the DNU label in the classification sheet. More information can be found on in the The GeoInformation Group guide to the building class dataset (link here). All building blocks have also have a height attribute, HGT, this value is the height of the building blocks from the base to the top of the building. In some cases this information is not supplied and presented as 0.

Software

Quantum GIS (QGIS) is a user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) licensed under the GNU General Public License. QGIS is an official project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo). It runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows and Android and supports numerous vector, raster, and database formats and functionalities.

User-friendly Desktop Internet GIS (uDig) is an open source (EPL and BSD) desktop application framework, built with Eclipse Rich Client (RCP) technology; that provides a Java solution for desktop GIS data access, editing, and viewing.

Documentation

• Building classes reference sheet
• The Cities Revealed buildings product guide
• The GeoInformation Group guide to the building class dataset (link here)

Links to further information

• The Landmap project building blocks website, this website may be offline after 1st August 2014 due to a withdrawal of JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) funding, see below for an archived version of the site
• An archived version of the Landmap project building blocks site, hosted by the Internet Archive project
• The GeoInformation Group (TGG) homepage

If you have queries about these pages or about obtaining the Landmap building class data from the NEODC then you should contact the NEODC Support team. Your query should be answered within one working day. When follow-up work is required, the NEODC support team will carry out the work as quickly and efficiently as possible.