Architecture

Architectural Plans: The Top 5 Things You Should Know

Receiving a complex set of architectural drawings of your home is one of the most exciting stages of a new building or renovation. You can see the layout of your room, the dimensions of each room and the details of fixtures and fixtures.

However, if you’ve never seen architectural drawings before, you might get confused trying to decipher individual documents, patterns, and symbols.

1. UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EACH PICTURE

Depending on the scale of the work, you will most likely receive an architectural drawing package. Each of these will provide you with a different detail and appearance of the building. Understanding the differences between each image is very important so that you can see the project as a whole.

This is what you usually receive from your architect:

  • Site Plans   – included in the site plan are items such as existing site conditions, building boundaries and heights.
  • Floor Plan   – this will outline the location and dimensions of the room, structure and items such as cabinets.
  • Elevation   – You will see the exterior elevation and elevation of your building from all sides. External materials, windows, doors and services will also be documented.
  • Internal Height   – details will be revealed on the internal height including the materials and dimensions of the cabinet and installation details.
  • The   sections will show the height of the building and its structure including beams, insulation and foundation.
  • Construction Details   – these drawings are specially designed to help builders understand how the details will be constructed.
  • Reflected ceiling plan   – this will show ceiling details and electrical items such as the location of the lights.
  • Electrical package   – You will see where the lamps, switches and sockets are located in this package.
  • Door and Window Schedule   – this will show the dimensions of the door / window and the size of the opening.

Other architectural plans you may receive include illustrations, shadow diagrams, tile layouts, or 3D renderings.

2. ANALYSIS OF THE LEGEND

Before you start reading the floor plans, it is important to check the legends of the drawings. Although architects tend to communicate in the same language, there may be some differences in symbols or line designs.

3. FIND OUT WHAT IS NEW AND OLD

Knowing what is living and what is being built will give you a better understanding of how space is changing.
Existing walls are usually shown as solid black lines or may have a gray shading pattern. New works usually appear as two empty, single lines.

4.Understand HOW THE PICTURES ARE RELATED TO ONE OTHER

You may have seen circular circles filled with numbers and letters next to image titles or within the floor plan itself, for example, 05-A201. This refers to other drawings in your architecture city planning. In this case you will find details relating to the element in figure 5 on page A201.

5. FIND OUT HOW EACH MATERIAL IS PRESENTED

Materials are referred to as hatch patterns in your drawing. You may look at the elevation in your internal tile layout or at the paving format plan. Other materials commonly featured on architectural drawings are cladding, roof cladding and structural wall types. Your legend may indicate which hatch or you may need some clarification from your architect.

When you first look at architectural plans, they may appear confusing and written in another language. However, once you navigate through a set of images, you’ll realize that a reading plan isn’t that difficult. But when in doubt, have your architect explain it to you. They are there to help make the building or renovation process more enjoyable!