The Built Heritage acts as a constant reminder of shared histories across society. It is experienced subconsciously through our multiple daily interactions with the physical environment we inhabit through buildings and spaces. However, this physical relationship with historic entities only serves to reveal a portion of the tapestry of experience contained within a building. Buildings and places are ‘imbued with a message from the past’ that reveal a myriad of experiences associated with a place. This is referred to as the ‘intangible’ aspect of the Built Heritage. It is within this scope of exploring the intangible that we can truly understand the full depth of past generations endeavours and achievements. Contemporary research within this area is largely underpinned by the written word and, in some cases the re-casting of information without thorough evaluation. The practice of applying digital technologies and processes to the Built Heritage area is on-going and continues to evolve, however this has focused primarily on advanced technical solutions to visualisation, data acquisition, data collation and reproductions.
I contend that a gap exists in contemporary research of the Built Heritage that successfully exploits the opportunities that digital technologies offer, through the implementation of (Building) Information Modelling, to enable access to the intangible richness contained within the historical legacy of a building, or place. In addressing this gap in knowledge, this research investigates the following questions:

- How can the application of digital information modelling, through the platform of virtual environments, create a new approach to accessing the intangible fabric of the Built Heritage?
- How can this novel approach enhance engagement with historic buildings and places so that it affords the end-user a greater level of understanding?
- In what way is this novel approach of significance to the wider heritage community in contributing to the theoretical discourse regarding the Built Heritage?

This research considers each stage of this novel process and puts in place a framework that allows access to this information that has not been previously considered. Furthermore, by utilising a series of Test Studies that are designed to demonstrate the new digital workflow this approach is evaluated through demonstrations, workshops, observational analysis, and interviews conducted on a selected audience of University level students. It then concludes with a discussion regarding where this work may reside within the broader academic heritage community.