Architectural Drawing

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

General Architectural drafting principles are based on time tested practices based on standards set forth by The American Standards Institute (ANSI), The American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the U.S. National CAD Standard. Architectural drawing technique refers to a style or quality of a drawing imparted by the individual drafter to the work. It is characterized by crisp black line work, lettering, consistency, and uniformity. Architectural drawings should reflect the rigid line control of a mechanically produced drawing combined with the artistic expression conveyed through architecture. Students should develop a stylized drawing technique that conforms to the rigid conventions of line drafting with added variations of artistic techniques to produce a very individualized finished drawing. An architect plans a structure to its relationship to its environment. To present the design in its proper context, the drawings must be done with a high degree of skill to convey the quality of the design of the structure and its surroundings. If the drawings are done well it will generally mean acceptance of the project by the client. If they are done poorly, the client may reject the total project even though the design may be good. Therefore it is imperative that the architectural drafter develop good drawing techniques.

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Titles All entities on a drawing must have a title whether it is a plan view, elevation, section, detail, note column, symbols legend, etc. Titles are lettered large enough catch the viewers eye. Generally the lettering is between 3/16" and 1/2" high. To accent the titles even more they are underlined. Underlining can consist of a single line, a double line, or a combination of thick and thin lines. The underlining can be centered with the lettering, be flush, or be broken as shown when using circle call-outs. A few examples of titles and underlining are shown below.

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

North Arrows The purpose of a north arrow is to indicate the north direction and therefore the orientation of the building in relation to the sun. North arrows are drafted with drawing tools, never drawn freehand. Lettering will always have guidelines no matter how simple the letters. The north arrow itself should be drawn with a minimal amount of time, therefore it should be simple in design. The circle for the north arrow should be about 1 inch diameter. Use the BASE command and place a base point in the center of the circle. Color can also be used to enhance the north arrow by shading in the arrow itself or shading in the area surrounding the arrow.

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Section Marks Section marks are used to indicate where sections are being taken or cut. Architectural practices are very similar to that used in engineering drawing. Because of the complexity of architectural drawings cutting plane lines are generally omitted and only the arrow indicating the direction of sight of the section view is shown. The section call-out consists of a 1/2" diameter circle, an arrow indication the direction of sight, and two numbers. The upper number/letter indicates the name of the section on the sheet and the lower number refers to the sheet where the section view is drawn. The lettering in the section call-out circle is always horizontal regardless of the direction of the arrow. The arrow is a 45 degree line, tangent to the circle.
Name of the section view

B A-5

B A-5
Sheet reference

A-5

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Section Marks The arrow can be left open or colored in. The short line segments extending from the circle represent the cutting plane line. They can be single lines, double lines, or alternating thick and thin lines to conform to the overall drawing style.
B A-5 B A-5 B A-5 B A-5 B A-5

B A-5

Generally a section call-out consists of two circles, one on each end of the cutting plane line. It is permissible to omit one of the circles and replace it with a simple arrow. These arrows are simple and can be left open or colored in.

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Title Blocks Title blocks are a very important part of the overall drawing. They contain information not given directly on the drawing with dimensions or notes. The following information is generally provided in the title block: Title of the project/name of the drawing Name and address of the client. Name and address of the architectural company. Date of the completion of the drawing package. Scale of the drawing. Drawing Number. Architect's professional stamp.

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Title Blocks Lettering should be simple and conform to the overall lettering style of the drawing. Lettering can be produced with templates, stencils, appliqu, lettering instruments, or simply freehand with guidelines. The heights of the lettering should follow in accordance with their relative importance. The drawing number should receive the greatest emphasis and have a height greater than 1/4". The drawing name, title of the project, clients name, and the name of the architectural company should follow with a letter height of 3/16". The addresses, the date, and the scale should have a letter height of 1/8". Incidental words like DATE and SCALE should receive the least emphasis and have a letter height of 1/16".
The lettering in the title block should be either centered or have a flush margin. Variations in the lettering heights adds an overall pleasing affect to the drawing and breaks up the monotony of a line drawing and the margins tie in with overall style of the drawing adding continuity and consistency to the drawing.

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

General Notes Notes are classified as general notes and as local notes. Notes are lettered horizontally on a sheet with guidelines and arranged in a systematic manner. Abbreviations in general notes should be avoided as much as possible. Proper grammar, sentence structure and punctuation are used in constructing a note. Note columns are titled to make them distinguishable from other parts of the drawing. The lettering heights are larger than the lettering height use for general lettering and should be the same height as other titles on the sheet. Each note is referenced with a number. Margins are used to align the note numbers and the notes. Use a minimum space of 1/2 inch between the number and the note. The spacing between lines in a note should be one-half of the actual letter height. Spacing between notes should be such that each note is distinguished from the other notes. This space should be at least equal to one letter height.

Remember, uniformity and consistency play an important role in the construction of the note column.

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Sheet Layout The drawing paper need to be framed with a border line. A 1/2 inch border line is drawn around the paper. This line is a very thick line. The border line can be a single line or a double line and should conform to the overall style of the drawing. Title blocks are added and placed along the bottom and/or the right side of the drawing paper. A north arrow (if applicable) is placed in the upper left corner of the sheet. In general all of the drawing area should be filled. The main drawing should be the dominate picture on the sheet with detail drawings and general notes related to the main drawing placed around it. All drawings, details, and notes should be titled. Titles are placed beneath the picture.

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Architectural Drafting Line Work Lines used in architectural drafting will conform to the recommended ANSI drafting standards. Visible Object lines are the most important lines on the drawing, therefore they are made thick and dense black. Border lines are made thicker than visible object lines to contrast strongly with all other lines on the drawing. Hidden lines are dashed lines with 1/8" dashes and 1/16" spaces. These lines are made dense black but thin. Center lines are thin, dense black lines. There are two types of center lines used in architectural drawing. The first type is the traditional long line-dash-long line center line. This type of line is used wherever possible. Sometimes the spacing requirements are to small to allow for the small dash in the center line. To avoid confusion in reading the drawing a thin, dense black solid line is used in place of the traditional center line. Lines used for dimensioning, crosshatching lines. match lines, and conventional break lines are drawn as thin, dense black lines.

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Architectural Drafting Line Work Arrowheads are drawn freehand. The length of an arrowhead is the same dimension used for the height of lettering. The proportion of the length of the arrowhead to the width is 3:1 respectively. Arrowheads can be either open, closed, solid, or the traditional slash as shown. Other types of symbols can be used in place of the arrowhead or slash. These include triangles, perpendicular lines, and dots. In all cases, the style of arrowheads should not be mixed on a drawing. Consistency is the key to good drafting.
OPEN CLOSED SOLID SLASH

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Dimensioning The dimension line is a continuous, unbroken line with the dimension figure placed above the line. Never place the dimension figure below the dimension line. The Aligned system is used as opposed to the unidirectional system of dimensioning. In spacing the dimension lines, the first dimension line should be a minimum of 1/2" away from the object. All successive dimension lines should be spaced a minimum of 3/8" away from each other. Text heights for notes, dimensions and general drafting is 3/32.

16'-0"

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Buildings in Plan The plan view of a building should emphasize the horizontal dimensions of the structure and therefore the edges should be drawn bold, sharp, and accurately. A thin line drawing has week spatial edges and results in a very drab, plain picture. There are several methods to highlight and emphasize the structure on a drawing. A thick profile line with a thin inside line gives the building a more massive appearance. By overlapping lines you can also give the illusion of depth to an otherwise flat drawing.

Architectural Symbols and Conventions

Buildings in Plan A building with a pitched roof should be textured to increase the three-dimensional quality. The direction of the lines can emphasize the actual building materials and the direction in which they were laid or emphasize the slop of pitched surfaces. The sun side of the roof should have a lighter texture than the shaded side or simply left white.

The simplest way to highlight a structure is to crosshatch the entire building area or hatch around the perimeter of the structure. The overall representation of the structure should conform to the overall style of the drawing and the other symbols used.