Describe Architectural Design Process
See
See textbook
page XX "Heading xxx"
a)
List types of Drawing Sets
In Architectural drafting, there are 2
types of drawings sets:
In general, the presentation drawings
are used to present the conceptual design to a group who is not comfortable
in reading plans and sections to visualize the finished building.
Presentation drawings are more visual and can be either illustrated plans or
renderings.
Illustrated plans typically use a floor plan,
or section with artistic additions to emphasize features, allow the viewer
to judge scale and relationships. Often treated more like art than a
technical document. Typically does not contain dimensions or other technical
information; it may contain summary information such as floor space
summaries.
Renderings are photographic type images
showing outside or inside views and are most easily understood by most
people.
Working drawings are technical documents,
following the conventions of Architectural standards, to provide all
required information for someone else to build the structure. As such they
require some knowledge and understanding of the conventions to interpret the
documents.
This is your job -- to create, and update,
these technical documents so knowledgeable builders can create the
structure.
b) Describe design process overview
The Design process involves many steps. Starting
with an idea, or a request, the designer will develop sketches or
preliminary design images for the client.
Presentation Drawings
This step may generate many
drawings that are generally classified as "Presentation ideas" or
Presentation Drawings.
Once the concept is approved, the more formal
design development step starts. This is where many ideas are tested and then
one, or more, are selected for further examination. At this stage many
questions need to be asked:
Before a Floor Plan
is developed, the designer must ask many questions of the client to make
sure the client’s needs in a house are met. Some typical questions and
concerns would be:
-
Budget
-
Property size
-
Size of family
-
Lifestyle (family
oriented, business oriented, like to cook, like to entertain, etc)
-
Physical needs
(i.e. is the person in a wheelchair, or unable to negotiate stairs)
Working
Drawings
Once the
needs of the client are determined, the designer will sketch out a Floor
Plan. Once the client has approved the layout, the house can be developed
into a full set of Working Drawings as listed below.
- This is where you come in!
But… before you begin to develop the Floor
Plan, you must first make sure that the proposed layout will fit properly on
the property, and that the floorspace / property ratio is not exceeded.
To check this, you need to work with the
Survey information about the property and the zoning guidelines from the
municipality.
Setback dimensions from property line to
outline of foundation, and floorspace / property ratio can be found in the
Surrey City By-laws.
When you know your proposed foundation will
fit on your site, you can develop the floor plan.
When you have the floor plan, you need to
develop the remaining working drawings. These are the set of drawings that
are used to construct the building. This set consists of:
- Floor plan(s)
- Foundation plans - what supports the
floor(s).
- Site plan - how the building sits on the
property
- Sections - to show the construction
materials and how they go together
- Framing Schematics - to show joist, beam,
and lintel sizes
- Details - larger scale drawings that show
parts of the building in greater detail.
- Elevations - what the building looks like
from the outside
- Schedules - a list of various items, such
as doors, windows, floor finishes, wall finishes, etc.
- Presentations - Usually a perspective
sketch or rendering that indicates the overall or artistic impression of
the building.
c) List required
information
The designer may provide only a
guideline for the finished area. Your job is to create, via the working
drawings set, the building. You will need to follow guidelines established
by:
- National Building Code
- Provincial Building codes
- Municipal codes
- Municipal By-laws
- Zoning By-laws
You will use these standards and codes during
this project.
These collections
of codes provide guidelines for how things are built, and inspected. These
rules follow common established building practice for your region. When you
use standard building methods (such as wood frame construction and post and
beam design) there are tables that provide accepted sizes for things like;
floor joists; beams to support the joists; ceiling joists; rafters.
d) Organize collected
information
At the beginning of the project, your
instructor gave you a list of index tabs to make for your project
binder. It is extremely important to keep all information that is
given to you, or that you find on your own in textbooks or on the
internet, and keep it ORGANIZED! This cannot be emphasized enough.
When your boss comes to you for a piece of reference information
that you used during the project and you can locate it with less
than 3 page-flips in your binder... you will be identified as a
professional. More importantly, the information you are providing
could be vital to a code or legal issue. Your ability to keep
information organized could save your company a significant amount
of money (and maybe even save your job).
Please keep your binder organized in
class. At any time your instructor could ask to do an inspection of
your binder, and you want to be ready to look professional.
e)
Describe the contents of each type of drawing
Site Drawings
The "where" portion of the questions.
Usually based on a survey drawing, this locates the structure within the
property lines.
May also include many other aspects, such as
landscaping features, contour changes, outdoor man-made features
(structures, walkways, paths etc.) as well as connection information to
water, sewer, gas, telcom and other services.
Often includes additional drawing types, such
as Roof plans, if they are not complicated. Can also call out details
like gazabos, garages, or special areas.
For small projects, can also serve as cover
page, including a drawing index, a list of municipal zoning requirements,
any building notes, or General Notes, a key to symbols, and owner/client
contact records.
Floor Plan
The primary design document, this is where it all has to come together.
This records the form, relationship and layout of all rooms. May require a
number of drawings for multiple levels, or special details.
The floor plan is a horizontal section, as if all
the walls were cut about 3' above the floor and the upper portion was
removed. We use stylized symbols for many of the features that are cut:
- doors
- windows
- archways
- floor changes
- stairs.
You generally start with the floor plan and
then develop the other drawings as needed. many of the other drawings
(sections, foundation, elevations) require the floor plan to be well
developed if not complete.
Foundation Plan
As the name implies, this supports the
floor plan, and all walls. This shows how the rest of the building rests on
the ground.
This shows the types of foundations selected
and their locations. Based on the floor plan(s) the foundations must line up
with the walls and floor levels.
The drawing may also show details for
construction, and any support columns and pads for decks or garages.
Any retaining walls or other foundation items must be located.
The intent is to show all in-ground based
construction that can be built or poured before the remaining construction
can proceed. Usually, for our area of Canada, we record all concrete items,
with full dimensions, that require ground contact. The dimensions are
to locate the form work both vertically and horizontally. Therefore
dimensions are to faces and corners rather than to centerlines.
Sections - Full and Partial
For our use, these are vertical sections, a vertical slice and then
viewing the remaining items from one side.
Sections are used to show how the components go together. For a Full
section, often called a Cross Section, this shows the various rooms and
walls and how they sit on the ground. Partial sections are used to show in
greater detail a smaller area of interest.
Often use a full section to highlight and
locate the partial sections. The highlights are indicated with a dashed
outline and a Call-out that points to a detail section.
Details
Where there is a complicated construction area, or some area of interest
that requires a more detailed documentation we use a Detail to draw a small
part of the building in greater detail.
Usually done at a large scale, seldom done
actual size, a detail must be linked back to a floor or foundation plan or
to a full section. Each detail is given a unique name or title for the
project.
Elevations
Each face of the building is shown in an orthographic view (not a
perspective or projection.) Normally includes 4 elevations, one for each
major side of the building there can be others for any large features.
Each elevation is normally named for the
geographic direction (North, South, East, West) that the wall faces
(outward) -- not the direction you face to see it.
Schedules
The drawings can not include
all the information needed to estimate the parts that go into the building.
Because we use symbols to represent doors, windows, etc. we need to record
just which door, or window, we intend to use. Each symbol is assigned
a "tag" that is then listed in a table that describes the detailed
information for the item. Doors use a
Hexagonal symbol, windows use a circle. The schedule records the actual part
number, the sizes, manufacturer and any special features for the
door/window. Special features might include finish colour, special glazing
(i.e. pebbled glass for bathrooms) or material (i.e. metal doors).
There are methods used to automate the collection
of the schedule information which works when using Blocks in the AutoCAD
drawings. If you explode any of these blocks the schedules will not be
accurate. |
