How are buildings communicated through architectural drawings, and what do plans, elevations, sections and site plans each show?
Produce and interpret architectural drawings, including floor plans, elevations, sections and site plans, using appropriate symbols, scale and conventions, and describe their use in building communication
A focused guide to architectural drawing for HSC Industrial Technology Graphics Technologies. Floor plans, elevations, sections and site plans, architectural symbols and conventions, scale, and physical and digital architectural modelling.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
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What this dot point is asking
Architectural drawing applies graphics skills to buildings, and it is a common area of practice and projects in the Graphics Technologies focus area. NESA expects you to produce and interpret the standard architectural drawings, floor plans, elevations, sections and site plans, using the correct symbols, scale and conventions, and to describe how they communicate a building to builders and clients. This appears in the written paper and is often the subject of a graphics Major Project.
The architectural drawing set
A building is too complex for a single drawing, so it is communicated through a coordinated set, each view doing a particular job:
- Floor plan: a horizontal section taken about a metre above the floor, looking down. It shows the layout of rooms, walls, doors, windows and fixtures, with dimensions, and is the most-used drawing on site.
- Elevations: straight-on views of each external face of the building, showing its appearance, the position of windows and doors, materials and heights.
- Sections: vertical cuts through the building that reveal how it is constructed, floor-to-ceiling heights, roof structure and the relationship between levels.
- Site plan: a view of the whole block from above, showing the building's position, boundaries, setbacks, access, levels and landscaping.
Together these views let a builder construct the building and a client understand it.
Symbols and conventions
Architectural drawings use a standard library of symbols so they can be read consistently: conventions for walls, doors and their swing, windows, stairs, plumbing fixtures, electrical points and north points. Materials are shown by standard hatching and poche, and notes and dimensions follow set conventions. Learning this visual language is essential, because an architectural drawing is dense with coded information that only makes sense if you know the symbols.
Scale
Buildings are far larger than the page, so architectural drawings are always to a reduced scale, such as one to one hundred for a floor plan or one to two hundred for a site plan, with details drawn at larger scales. The scale is always stated, and a scale bar is often included so the drawing can be read even when reduced in printing. Choosing the right scale for each drawing balances fitting the page against showing enough detail.
Architectural modelling
Beyond flat drawings, buildings are communicated through models:
- Physical scale models built from card, foam or timber let a client and designer see the form, massing and relationship of spaces in three dimensions, which drawings alone cannot convey.
- Digital 3D models built in CAD or building modelling software allow the building to be viewed from any angle, rendered realistically, walked through and tested before construction.
Models are powerful presentation and design-checking tools, and a graphics Major Project on a building commonly includes both drawings and a model.
Using this in your project
If your Major Project is architectural, produce a complete, coordinated set of drawings to consistent scale and conventions, supported by a model or 3D visualisation. In your folio, explain what each drawing communicates and why the set together fully describes the building. Accurate use of symbols, scale and conventions is exactly what the markers look for in architectural graphics.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of NESA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
2021 HSC1 marksWhich of the following is included on a site plan? A. Room dimensions B. Boundary dimensions C. The location of windows D. The location of the soft landscapingShow worked answer →
The correct answer is B: boundary dimensions.
A site plan shows the whole block and how the building sits on it: the property boundaries and their dimensions, the position and setbacks of the building, north point, contours, driveways and services. Boundary dimensions are a defining feature of a site plan.
Room dimensions and the location of windows (A, C) belong on the floor plan, which is drawn at a larger scale. Soft landscaping (D) is detailed on a separate landscape plan. So B is correct.
2021 HSC1 marksWhich architectural style immediately followed the Federation style of the early 1900s in Australia? A. Art Deco B. Victorian C. Art Nouveau D. Post ModernismShow worked answer →
The correct answer is A: Art Deco.
In Australian residential architecture the Federation style (roughly 1890 to 1915) was followed by the Inter-War period, in which Art Deco was the prominent style of the 1920s and 1930s, known for geometric forms, stepped profiles and decorative detailing.
The Victorian style (B) came before Federation, not after. Art Nouveau (C) overlapped with the Federation era rather than following it, and Post Modernism (D) is a late twentieth century movement. So A is correct.
2021 HSC3 marksAn office in a brick veneer building needs a cupboard. The internal size of the office is 15 m x 9 m and the storage cupboard is 3 m x 2 m. Draw a floor plan of the office using a scale of 1:100. A door 820 mm wide is on one of the short walls and a window 2400 mm wide is on the other short wall. Position the storage cupboard in a convenient location.Show worked answer →
This is a scaled architectural drawing; marks are for correct scaling, conventions and the required features.
Scale the room. At 1:100, every 1 m becomes 10 mm on paper, so the 15 m x 9 m office is drawn 150 mm x 90 mm. The 3 m x 2 m cupboard is 30 mm x 20 mm.
Walls. Draw the walls as a double line to AS 1100 to represent brick veneer thickness, and show the internal dimensions.
Door and window. On one short wall draw the 820 mm door (8.2 mm) using the door symbol with its swing arc; on the opposite short wall draw the 2400 mm window (24 mm) using the window symbol.
Cupboard and labels. Place the cupboard against a wall in a sensible, accessible position, then add dimensions and labels.
Full marks require the correct 1:100 scaling, proper door and window symbols, and the cupboard shown to scale in a convenient spot.