Architectural Documentation Pdf

[Fidel Genereux]

Architectural documentation is the most detailed type of recordation. At this level, walls are thoroughly photographed, every stone is mapped, and all construction attributes and features are recorded on field forms. The purpose of this type of documentation is to record and analyze architectural details in order to answer specific research questions. Also, this type of documentation is completed when certain areas of sites are recommended for stabilization. In cases where it is necessary to alter original fabric in order to preserve the wall, architectural documentation ensures that original features and construction methods are recorded before treatments are applied.

Architectural documentation records specific details and features, such as building stone shaping techniques, mortar application, doorways, hearths, and vents to name a few. This is done by creating detailed drawings or scaled digital photographs of each wall within a site. To date, architectural documentation projects have been completed at Cliff Palace, Spruce Tree House, Oak Tree House and several smaller alcove sites located in the backcountry of Mesa Verde National Park.

Recording architectural features can help us determine how the structures were originally constructed and what alterations might have taken place over time. The use, reuse, and function of each structure, as well as the spatial relationships between rooms and kivas can also be determined. Features and details can also tell us how individual rooms may have been used, and also help to determine the size and composition of Ancestral Puebloan households. This in turn helps archeologists determine population size not only within certain sites, but in the Mesa Verde region.

The Architectural documentation process serves as a roadmap for a building project. Architectural construction documentation includes a set of documents that need to be followed at each stage of construction and referred to in case of doubts.

Construction documentation ensures that everyone involved in the project is on the same platform, right from the start. It includes specifics pertaining to every detail of the building project and ensures that it proceeds smoothly.

The general idea for an architectural project begins with the schematic design. Design development further refines and develops it. Construction documents add all the details and serve two primary purposes: to help construct the building, and to obtain a building permit from the local authority.

While the actual design does not change for the permit or construction, one nonetheless prepares two sets of drawings for them: The permit set and the issue for construction set. This is done so that unnecessary information is not provided to either party.

Other documents such as contract documents, bidding documents, cost estimates, interior design proposals, and so on, are not considered to be construction documents. They are not required for a construction set or building permit set.

One option is to contact a qualified person who specializes in making architectural construction documents. This person is hired as part of the construction team and given the responsibility of preparing the architectural drawings.

Another option is outsourcing. This entails giving the work of preparing the construction documents to a professional company. If you are unsure about opting for this process, you can read this piece on it to get a clearer idea.

The architect needs to coordinate with the engineer and the contractor and they further need to coordinate with the electricians, plumbers, masons, carpenters and various other people who are working on the project.

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Finding the right balance between documentation and implementation is part of an architect's job. But what do you do if your culture values implementation a little too much? How can you provide documentation that both your immediate internal users and eventual external users need to be successful?

Here is the funny thing about documentation: Even in environments where it's considered a nonessential task, no one will complain once it's done, so long as your "technical tasks" are also complete. In fact, I've found that the right documentation can receive a lot of recognition in code-focused cultures from folks of all seniorities. And public praise of documentation can begin to turn the tide on the culture as a whole because leaders can point to your team's or product's documentation and say, "I want that too."

Start with this nominal approach because not writing docs is the status quo. If there is a specific deliverable that your peers or leadership are waiting for you to complete, it won't be acceptable to hold this up before you've cracked open the culture. This is true for both new team members who haven't built up street cred and senior contributors responsible for a high-value task. Be cognizant of the amount of slack you have in the current assignment.

Answering questions with written documentation or quick illustrations is my definition of just-in-time documentation and my favorite way to start creating documentation organically. If you're answering a question from a colleague or customer, it won't take very long to add a little formatting, double-check grammar, and post it somewhere your team can access. Just don't spend too much time toying with your medium's macros and advanced formatting at this point. When you're done, post it in chat or email it to colleagues who might have, or have to answer, the same question.

There's some time between the last step and the next one. In step 3, you build out a useful but reactive documentation resource. To get to a proactive documentation resource that can preempt an inquiry, you have to understand how your users navigate your product (and, therefore, where they get stumped) and how they approach the documentation. Listen to the feedback. If you receive a question you've already answered in the docs, why couldn't they find it? Would adding tags help? Hierarchy? Do the section headers match your users' jargon? Are they just looking for snippets to copy and paste?

It can be frustrating when you spend time on a written solution that no one reads or sequence diagrams that no one reviews, but don't take it personally. Remember, you are introducing a new variable into the ecosystem. Consider your new documentation an experiment. Measure the response and course-correct as necessary. Don't proceed until you see some traction with the FAQ.

Keep your experiment going and iterate on your documentation as you would iterate on your architecture. Share your insights with teams who want or need to bootstrap their docs. Can architects write docs in your organization without feeling anxiety? Are they expected to? Do they want to? Hopefully, you will begin to see movement on this spectrum.

Finally, remember that some of your teammates and leaders started out in that code-focused culture. In stressful situations, they may revert back to a comfortable known state where code resumes its role as the only accepted currency. That means they have little to no patience for time spent on the docs. Read the room, and deliver what your team needs now.

Evan Stoner is a Senior Specialist Solutions Architect with Red Hat's North America Public Sector organization, where he provides subject matter expertise on Ansible, OpenShift, and all things DevOps. More about me

The opinions expressed on this website are those of each author, not of the author's employer or of Red Hat. The content published on this site are community contributions and are for informational purpose only AND ARE NOT, AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO BE, RED HAT DOCUMENTATION, SUPPORT, OR ADVICE.

We need some good tools for architectural documentation and output. Construction drawings in a vector format.

Section tools is far from there, but maybe this could become the first building block. Needs a lot of work though.

Basically it would be great to have a 3d model that is a working model and then have all 2d drawings automatically generated from the 3d. So the drawings are always up to date based on the model.

Some of these features are available through the VisualArq plug-in but it would be nice to have the basics integrated in Rhino.

Can you clarify? Is it not possible to do that now? One option that might be useful here is with stViewSections>SetCPlane=Yes. This can help you orient the active construction plane to your sections, you can then easily add notes, etc.

Also, if you create a dynamic 2D layout, result go into a new layer that you can use to add notes, etc. in the layout layer.

Again, as the purpose is to create details on layouts, would it be an idea to automatically place the dynamic 2D layout on a layout instead of in the modeling environment? It would then live on the layout itself, not in a detail.

Hatch properties based on object/layer/parent might be a new feature that needs implementing in Rhino.

This would enable hatches in sections to be set per individual layer so walls would be solid hatch, furniture a line hatch etc. Right now I can only chose one hatch style for the whole section.

Vector 2D:

Can you explain why you need your drawing to be vector based?

Right now, you can also use stMake2D to extract the 2D outlines. Extracting the 2D outline dynamically can be time consuming process, but I can add that as an option when creating the 2D layout if you think it is essential.

Hatch Property Per-Layer

Please see the response above. I will add a wish to Rhino to add a HatchStyle to layers and curve-objects. However, hatches can also apply to regions (collection of curves), and therefore HatchStyle is not quite a one object property like color or material.

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