Architectural Jargon

ARCHITECTURE & URBAN DESIGN
A
Access audit: A review of how well the building will meet the needs of people with any type of disability – hearing, sight or mental impairment, as well as wheelchairusers. The audit is often done by considering a movement sequence: the journey to, entrance into and movement round the building.
Architect: Architects design buildings and must be registered withthe Architects Registration Board (ARB) in the UK in order to use this term. They are expected to understand the importance of user requirements and may have specialist skills, eg historic buildings,refurbishment or particular building types. In traditional contracting the architect often leads the design team, although bigger projects also use project managers who work directly for the client.Architecture: The art of designing and constructing buildings (structures), and other environmental features.
Axonometric projection: A three-dimensional drawing to combine the plan and elevations. Theaccurate plan is drawn at a convenient angle and verticals from suitable points create the elevations. All horizontal and vertical dimensions are to scale, but diagonals and curves on a verticalplane are distorted. The result is similar to a perspective.
B
Best value (see also Value for money – the central government terminology): The value that is represented by considering quality andlifetime costs, rather than construction costs alone. Central and local government clients are charged with obtaining best value for their construction projects, as for all other aspects of government,rather than seeking lowest price.
Bill of quantities: A list of the costs – usually a contract document – which is calculated by a quantity surveyor (see below) from the architect’s drawings andspecifications using a ‘standard method of measurement’. If planned works are changed they are re-measured to calculate the change in cost.
BREEAM: Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment...