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A GLOSSARY OF ARCHITECTURAL TERMS
Axis: The primary north-south or east-west lines, either imagined or laid down
in the plans, etc., around which the rest of the house or building oor plan is
arranged. For example, in a symmetrical plan and design, the spaces on one side
of the axis are exactly like those on the other side.
Axonometric Drawing: a drawing in which a three-dimensional object is
represented with all axes drawn to exact scale, resulting in the optical distortion of
diagonals and curves.
Building Section: Any portion of a building, whether a single room, a group of
rooms, a oor, or a group of oors, that is within the limits of a re wall (a reresisting wall separating two parts of a building) or open space.
Axonometric Drawing

Cantilever: As a noun, cantilever is a long projecting beam or girder xed at only

one end. As a verb as in a cantilevered deck it means to support by a cantilever
or cantilevers.
Casework: Also called Millwork, casework refers to all cabinetry components.
Casework includes kitchen or other types of cabinets, desks, chests, bookcases,
display cases, etc.

Cantilever

Construction Administration: In this phase the project architect manages

the eld observation and documentation task and evaluates compliance with
construction documents and specications. The project manager (see below)
ensures that the contractor or builder is following all drawings and specications.
Construction Documents: Drawings and specications from an architect that
provide detailed requirements for the construction of a project. The builder or
contractor will use these documents to build the project, so they must be very
detailed.
Design Development: The phase in which the conceptual design is fully developed
with more specics in form, material, exact oor plans, etc. These decisions help
solidify design issues in preparation for the construction documents. Drawings
are typically larger and more accurately drafted than the conceptual drawing, and
cost and square footage are determined

Casework

Design phases: The primary elements of a designs timeline. Design phases

include Programming, Conceptual or Schematic Design, Design Development,
and Construction Documents, and Construction Administration.
Design Team: The design team is comprised of all professionals who inuence
the design of a home or building. Depending on the design and scope of a
project, that team might include the project architect, project manager, engineers
(electrical, mechanical, structural, etc.),interior designer, landscape architect,
exhibitions designer, etc.
Construction Administration

Elevation: A drawing of a face of a building with all the features shown, as if in a

single vertical plane.

Elevation

Engineering: Architectural engineering is the application of engineering principles

and technology to building design and construction. Architectural engineers
include structural, mechanical, electrical, construction, and other engineering
elds of building design and construction.
Fenestration: The arrangement, proportioning and design of windows in a
building.
Geothermal Heating and Cooling: Also called a Ground Source Heat Plump this
is a central heating and/or cooling system that pumps heat to or from the ground.
It uses the earth as a heat source in the winter or a heat sink (in the summer). This
design takes advantage of the moderate temperatures in the ground to boost
eciency and reduce the operational costs of heating and cooling systems.

Fenestration

Glazing: Architectural glazing is the installation of massive glass panels that cover
a majority of a building, wall, or house.
HVAC: The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design): an ecology-oriented
building certication program run under the auspices of the U.S. Green Building
Council. LEED concentrates on improving performance across ve key areas of
environmental and human health: energy eciency, indoor environmental quality,
materials selection, sustainable site development, and water savings.
Orthogonal

Orthogonal: Relating to, consisting of, or involving right angles. Orthogonal

architecture is divided into two dierent parts.
Photovoltaic Panels: Also called PV panels, photovoltaic panels are interconnected
solar cells that generate electrical power by converting solar radiation (sunlight)
into direct current electricity using semiconductors. Theyre usually attached
to roofs. Due to the increased demand for renewable energy sources, the solar
cell and photovoltaic arrays manufacturing has advanced considerably in recent
years.

Photovoltaic Panels

Programming: This design phase is the process of discovery. Needs and desires for
a project are set in written and graphical form. In this phase the scope, objectives,
limitations, and criteria are established. This includes an examination of who the
users will be, what rooms they need, where those rooms will be located, which
spaces will be private or public, etc. It also includes an examination of constraints,
such as cost, zoning, building code restrictions, and available materials.
Project Architect: In an architectural rm, the project architect is the primary
designer of a specic project.
Project Manager: The member of the design team who handles the Construction
Administration phase.

Project Architect

RCP or Reflected Ceiling Plan: An RCP is a drawing that shows the items located
on the ceiling of a room or space. It is referred to as a reected ceiling plan since
it is drawn to display a view of the ceiling as if it were reected onto a mirror on
the oor. This way the RCP has the same orientation as the oor plan associated
with it.

Reflected Ceiling Plan

Schematic Design: A design concepta drawing or other graphic representation

--that denes the overall concept, or scheme, of a home or building. These
drawings may be an architects sketch with just enough drawn information to
allow for analysis and evaluation of the concept, or idea. In general, conceptual/
schematic design is the development of graphic and written design solutions to
the program (see program below) for the clients approval.
Section Drawing: A drawing representing a vertical plane cut through the
structure.
Sidelight: A vertically framed area of xed glass, often subdivided into panes,
anking a door.

Schematic Design

Sight line drawing: A drawing representing an uninterrupted view from eye

level.
Site: As a noun, it means the area of ground on which a home, building, monument,
park, or other structure is construction. As a verb, to site refers to the process
of determining precisely where on the property the house or building will be
constructed.

Site Plan

Site plan: A site plan is an architectural plan, landscape architecture document,

and a detailed engineering drawing of proposed improvements to a given lot. A
site plan usually shows a building footprint, driveways, sidewalks, parking, drainage
facilities, sewer and water lines, trails, lighting, and landscaping elements.
Solar gain: How much heat from the sun is collected in a house or building
through glass walls or windows. This is particularly important to know if the home
or building will include photovoltaic panels (see denition above).
Survey: A survey (noun) determines the boundaries, area, or elevations of land or
structures on the earths surface by means of measuring angles and distances, using
the techniques of geometry and trigonometry; a plan showing the measurements,
boundaries, area, and contours of a space.

Sustainable Design

Sustainable Design: Also known as green design, environmental design,

environmentally sustainable design, environmentally conscious design, etc., it is
the philosophy of designing the built environment to comply with the principles
of social, economic, and ecological sustainability. The intention of sustainable
design is to eliminate buildings negative environmental impact.
Vernacular architecture: Architecture based on the specic needs and
construction materials of a specic place or region, often reecting local traditions.
Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reect the environmental,
cultural, technological, and historical context in which it exists.

Survey

Vignette: A specic scene, view, or composition.

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