Design Guidelines

  • Design: To plan, create, or devise; may refer to the results of the planning, creating, and devising.

  • Design brief: Summary of a design project that includes brief descriptions of the following: initial problem, identification of needs to solve the problem, factors/constraints to be considered.

  • Design elements: Parts that make up an end-product that satisfies a set criteria or constraints.

  • Elements of art: The basic principles of art, such as design, color, symmetry, or proportion.

  • Balance: A principle of design dealing with the relationship between the various areas of a structure as they relate to an imaginary centerline; sometimes referred to as symmetrical or equally proportioned.

  • Aesthetics: Of or concerning how pleasing something is to the senses.
  • Environmentally Friendly: Designing and constructing buildings from renewable materials such as wood from managed forests, earthen materials, and recycled products.
  • Traffic flow: The route that people follow as they move from one area to another.
  • Restrictions: Constraints that limit what can be done

  • Codes: A body of laws regulating land use, development, and construction.

  • Deed restrictions: Limitations placed on the owner of property for its usage.

  • Building Codes:  Legal requirements designed to protect the public by providing guidelines for structural, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical areas of a structure.
  • Energy Codes: A set of rules that are intended to regulate the design and construction of an energy system.

  • Zoning Laws:  Clarifications for property development that govern the design and use of buildings, structures, and utilities within a municipality.
  • Covenants:  Binding agreements that list restrictions for the use of property by its owners.
  • Regulations:  Rules or ordinances that must be followed in the design of a structure or property development.
  • Space planning: The process of listing functions to be performed within a design and developing relationships as to their placement taking into consideration the design criteria.

  • Wind Orientation: Involves determining prevailing winds, which should be taken into account in the placement of a home or business.
  • View Orientation: A visualization of mountains, city lights, water, or even a developed site, such as a golf course; is optimized in the site orientation.
  • Sound Orientation: A way of indicating the exposure to sound. Sound orientation includes determining the sounds that the client will contend with and what other design components may be used to soften the sound impact, such as droning road noise.

  • Solar Orientation: A way of indicating the exposure to the sun. Solar orientation provides for excellent exposure to the sun. Solar access refers to the availability of direct sunlight to a structure or construction site.

  • Site Orientation: The placement of a structure on a property with certain environmental and physical factors taken into consideration.

  • Setback: The minimum legal distance from a property line or street where improvements to a site can be built or the minimum distance from the property lines to the front, rear, and sides of a structure.