Blog
How to Write a Professional Email
​How to Write a Professional Email Email Etiquette for Everyone!  In the architecture profession, a great portion of our work is communication. We are communicating design ideas to clients, communicating design intent to builders and so on. Therefore, we must always...
A Quick and Easy Guide to U-Values
Understanding and measuring U-values has become increasingly important as we aim to improve the sustainability and performance of our buildings. What is a U-Value? U-Value - is the measure of the overall rate of heat transfer, by all mechanisms under standard...
Detail Post: Foundation Details
The following post includes excerpts from our book Understanding Architectural Details - Residential and Understanding Architectural Details - Commercial. Introduction to Foundation Details The main role of foundations is to structurally support the building by...
Metric Data 08 – Standard Furniture Sizes
Metric Data 08 - Standard Furniture Sizes  Living Room, Dining Room, Bedroom In metric data 08 we will be looking at standard furniture sizes. To make it more useful, we have put together a reference PDF with all of the sizes that you can download for free. On...
Best Books for Architectural Concepts and Design Process
​Here I have put together a list of my best books for architectural concepts and the design process. I hope that some of these books will be useful to you as you develop your designs and your architectural concept thinking.  If you are interested in purchasing any of...
Metric Data 07 – Wheelchair accessible living areas
Wheelchair accessible living areas In this post, we will explore the necessary requirements to design a wheelchair accessible living area. We will look at living spaces that will enable a wheelchair user to enjoy the spaces and be able to socialise with their friends...
Architectural Line Weights and Plotstyles
Architectural Lineweights and Plotstyles  Over the years I have written a couple of items about line weights, plotstyles and the like, and somewhere in the depths of YouTube there is a video tutorial too, with terrible sound. I continue to get so many questions about...
How to calculate slopes and gradients
How to calculate slopes, and gradients You can download a pdf of this guide by clicking on the button below.As an architect you will need to know how to calculate slopes and gradients in differing situations. The most common occurrence of this is working with ramped...
CAD Blocks Trees CT02
This set of CAD blocks features trees in elevation. We have put together a set of tree cad blocks that include beech, silver birch and more. Hopefully they will be useful to you, and keep checking back as our collection continues to grow. Â This set of tree cad blocks...
Ideas for Architectural Concepts
Ideas for Architectural Concepts To develop an architectural concept we must first gather a set of information before we can start any sort of design process. We can categorise these initial findings into three distinct areas: Site Building Requirements Building Type...
Site Analysis Site Visit
Site Analysis Site Visit Prior to carrying out your site analysis site visit you will have undertaken your site analysis desktop study. It is important you go to site prepared, so make sure you check out that blog post before you continue with this one. The...
CP04 Dining Room Furniture CAD Blocks
This set of dining room furniture cad blocks from the First In Architecture Cad Block database. IÂ hope you find them useful. This set of dining room furniture cad blocks includes: dining tables dining chairs sideboard shelving unit accessories Blocks are in AutoCAD...