#Architecture For beginners...

1. The Building Site

2. The Building Site
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
built by the Ancestral Puebloans (previously known as the Anasazi) in the late 12th and 13th centuries
www.360parks.com/ancient_dwellings_virtual_tour.shtml

3. www.arkleg.state.ar.us/data/SustainDesignBuildingPractice/GreenBldgInit_files/frame.htm#slide0235.htm
SiteAnalysisistheprocessof surveying or studying
theexisting environment and how it will influencethe
structure’sdesign and layout on thesite.

4. Now you know why I asked you to purchase
somebasic colored markersand colored pencils
for theclass!
Site Analysis and Site Plans (rendered)

5. Site Analysis
•Topography
•Geographic location
•Plant material
•Water
•Climate
•Solar orientation
•Prevailing winds
•Soil
•Regulatory factors
Zoning Ordinances
Codes
Covenants
Historical Requirements
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, USA
•Sensory Factors
Views
Sounds
Smells

6. www.360parks.com/ancient_dwellings_virtual_tour.shtml
www.360parks.com/ancient_dwellings_virtual_tour.shtml
www.tetonscience.org/campus_buildings.shtml&h
Building Section

7. The Angle of the Sun varies during the seasons,
this is due to the tilting of the earth’s axis as it rotates around the sun.
Actually, the earth is closer to the sun in winter but the northern
hemisphere is tilting away from the sun.

8. Therefore…. one could assume that a design that works
well for a flat plot of land may not do as well for a sloped
topography and visa versa.
http://www.cce.ufl.edu/current/green_building/passive.html

9. The Affects of a Slope

10. Affects of Slope on Building Design

11. Therefore a SITE ANALYSIS must be completed first
before design development can commence.

12. Solar radiation
Exteriordevices are betterthan interiordevices, because they intercept the sun’s radiation
before it can reach the surfaces of the building.

13. Relationship between 2-Dand 3-Drepresentation of site topography (contourline

14. Topography
Contour lines are imaginary lines in plan view that connect points of
equal height above a datum or bench mark.
 Each contour line represents the form in which the site acquires
over a specified elevation that is why we have surveyors and
topographic surveys vs. metes and bounds surveys
 Contour lines are continuous and never intersect each other.
They change in shape, but never in elevation.

15. Various ground shapes as represented by contour lines and site sections
• contour lines spaced far apart indicate a flat surface
• contour lines spaced evenly describe a constant slope
• contour lines spaced close together designate a steep rise/fall in elevation

16. Without the elevation numbers you could not tell these forms apart!
Contour lines & Topography

17. Contours must match existing grades at property lines.
existing
new
•Each contour line is placed with an elevation marker.
states the height of the contour relative to the
site.
•Elevation markers are documented in intervals
depending on the size of the plat.
•Smaller sites or sites having gradual slopes may
show 1, 2 or 5 feet markers,
•Larger or steeper sites may show markers in
10’, 20 or 50 feet markers.

19. Geographic factors
SOIL
The soil type affects:
 the type and size of a building’s foundation
system
 the drainage of ground and surface water
 the types of plant material able to grow on a site
All buildingsrely on soil for their ultimatesupport.
Theunderlying foundation iseffected by thesoil’sstrength.

20. Geographic factors
VEGETATION
The types and locations of plant materials affect:
 the site’s micro-climate
 Solar radiation, wind, humidity, air temperature
 the definition or visual screening or exterior spaces
 the absorption or dispersion of sound

21. Plant Material

22. Plant Material

23. Plant Material

24. Plant Material

25. Climatic Factors

26. The light shelf is an extremely useful tool.
This mechanism, a horizontal surface at or above eye level,
serves to reflect light falling above the vision window up
onto the ceiling and therefore deeper into the room. At the
same time, it reduces illumination immediately adjacent to
the window, where illumination levels are typically too great
to work comfortably.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.afcee.brooks.af.mil/ldg/s01LandscapeDesign/graphics