Chapter 13 Visual Communication: Drawings, Renderings, and Models 461 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. D E S I G N E R M A T H S K I L L S Writing Measurements Accurately As a project moves through the design process, the designer develops various design drawings. The rough draft sketches, the preliminary fl oor plan, and the furniture plan are all important steps leading up to the fi nal detailed architectural plan. The goal of each stage is to troubleshoot the details, eliminating costly errors and disappointment later. When the designer sketches ideas on paper, the client’s dreams start to become a reality. Even though the sketch can be as simple as a drawing on a napkin, the rough draft develops over time to refl ect specifi c details for a pantry, front coat closet, and the locations of the stairwell and doors. The sketches go through numerous changes as the designer focuses on function, storage, existing furnishings, and circulation. To determine whether the plan will actually work, the rough draft must progress forward to a scaled fl oor plan which focuses on the actual square footage. The common scale for a residential drawing is 1/4” = 1’-0” which the designer writes below the drawing. The client’s wish list for the dream home greatly determines the size of the structure as does the lot size and budget. Once the fl oor plan is fi nal, the outside shape of the home, or the footprint, becomes clarifi ed. The use of outside dimensions refl ects the overall measurement of the fl oor plan. These horizontal and vertical lines always have arrows (or tick marks) placed precisely where the dimension begins and ends. The designer draws dimensional lines indicating ■ width of a structure outside the footprint which are readable from the bottom of the plan ■ height of the structure vertically outside the footprint which are readable from the right side of the plan Designers always write measurements above the dimensional line as 59’-6” with a dash between the feet and inches. The middle dimensions indicate measurements of a space or an object. For example, each room is labeled and underlined with the dimensions written below the line. Directional lines or arrows are excluded. DINING ROOM 11’-10” × 15’-3” While developing fl oor plans, the designer also creates a scaled furniture plan document. Unlike fl oor plans, dimensions are not included on a furniture plan because this makes it cluttered and diffi cult to read. Since the furnishings are drawn to scale, the person reading the furniture plan can easily measure to determine if the clearances are adequate. It is critical to draw furnishings on the furniture plan to scale of the actual size of the furnishings specifi ed. There are unfortunate tales of furniture that would not fi t through the door or could not make the turn on a stair landing on delivery because measurements were inaccurate. Standardized sizing for furnishings on electronic or plastic templates are only a general measurement. They are not accurate depictions of all furnishings. Again, it is imperative to use actual furniture measurements when creating a furniture plan. Many people have a diffi cult time visualizing space and furnishings. Creating scaled templates for each specifi c piece of furniture allows the designer to experiment with furniture arrangements. For example, suppose your client owns a grand piano. Taking accurate measurements of the piano and creating a scaled template, allows you to put the piano in different locations in the room before actually moving the piano. Today, many furniture manufacturers and design centers offer interactive space planning on their websites. You can select scaled furnishings from the website and paste them onto a custom-made 1/4” grid to check the fi t. A furniture plan does not appear on the fi nal detailed design documents the builder or contractor uses.