
What are Architectural Construction Drawings?
Architectural Construction Drawings are an extremely important part of a design and development process. These drawings represent the Architect’s perspective of a particular design and how the design can be built. The building designs need to be compliant with the building regulation code, standards etc. Based on these factors the design is then developed into compliant Architectural Construction Drawings Set that is used by the builder to construct the building. There are certain CAD Standards that make the drawing representation extremely structured. Such a representation helps in understanding the drawings in a better manner and makes construction faster. These Construction Drawings depending on the level of detailing can be used in all design and development phases. Architects can work on Design Drawings, Working Drawings and Presentation Drawings etc. depending on the requirements or purpose.
Architectural Construction Drawing set consists of drawings required to construct the entire set of buildings. These drawings provide complete detailing of the aesthetics, strength, and presentation of the building from an Architectural perspective. This will also consist of drawing sets providing a layout of MEP and Structural Disciplines. These construction drawing sets can be developed using the simple AutoCAD approach or BIM Approach.
Engineers working on site need to have a 2D Architectural Construction drawings in place to move ahead with the next phases of construction whether it is the BIM approach or CAD approach. Working on Architectural Construction Drawing using Revit or any other BIM software has its own advantages. We can create a 3D model and apply construction standards to the model and sheets are set up accordingly. These sheets can be exported to AutoCAD to add layers, annotations, dimensioning etc. Developing construction drawings using Revit can also help in easy modifications. Any modification on the plans automatically reflects in elevations and sections or another related part of the building structure.
Some of the important Drawings in an Architectural Construction Drawings Set
Setting out Plans: This plan basically defines the outline of a building. The construction is usually carried out based on the set-out plan. The location of the building is finalized based on this plan.
Elevations: An elevation in a layman’s terms define it as sides of any building structure. However, in an Architect’s language, the elevations represent the detailing present on the exterior sides of the building. The front side of the building “FAÇADE” is the most important of all the other elevations. The façade needs to be attractive and needs to be modeled or drawn with all details accurately.
Floor Plan: 2D Floor Plan represents the complete layout of the building from inside. This layout essentially shows how the general arrangement of a particular floor is designed. It presents the positioning of a floor with windows, walls, furniture, and overall space planning on a particular level. This drawing always is presented as a “top view” within any given building.
Sections: section views are developed by cutting any building structure horizontally or vertically. These lines are determined based on the client needs and standards. Sections basically help in determining the level of detailing present in a particular part of the building structure. Section lines are emboldened in the construction drawing set for the on-site Engineer to understand a building location. This is one of the most important drawings in the Architectural Construction Drawing Set.
Site Plan: Site plan presents the entire site in a layout form. The site plan can be viewed from a top view angle. The site plan consists of an entire building or group of buildings, adjoining roads, space visible from the actual building locations or another land mark.
The level of detailing varies based on the purpose with which the drawings are developed. For example, there is no need for a detailed drawing if the purpose is a presentation. Architects can develop Presentation Drawings with basic details, dimensions, area etc. They do not need to put in intricate details such as annotations, room tags, door types or window types etc. for mere presentation.
Conclusion: Architectural Construction Drawings need to be developed by Architects as it has a lot to do with compliances and design representation. CAD Drafters can assist in developing these CAD drawings under the supervision of an experienced Architect.