Site Research

• The owner of the property should obtain a site survey by a registered land surveyor, which shows the correct site boundaries, site features, trees and land contours. In addition to the site survey, the owner should obtain a soils report prepared by a geotechnical engineer. This report will contain key information on the qualities of the soil on the site for structural engineering and foundation design purposes.
  
  The architect should research the specific city requirements for the site, including planning requirements and the process for obtaining planning approvals. Online city research should be followed up with a conversation with a building department official. Speaking with the local building and planning departments is one of the best ways to obtain information about a specific site and may also alert you to other requirements that a city may have with regards to development, permits and approvals.
  
  

Physical Characteristics

• If possible, plan to make at least one visit to the site to make observations of the location and its surroundings. Take photos of the site and any distinguishing features, including any existing buildings and note any key observations about the site. It is important know about local climatic conditions throughout the year and natural characteristics of the site, then assess these features with the owner's project requirements.
  
  Other physical characteristics of a site you should be aware of include transportation links, roads and previous uses for the site. Buildings that have had previous industrial uses such as gas stations may have subsurface pollution that will need to be remedied or removed as part of the project work.
  
  

Project Program

• Work with your client on developing a specific list of project requirements. If the project is a house, then the project requirements will include a space planning program, number of rooms, interior and exterior features, rough sizes of different rooms and initial understanding of how the client intends to live in the house. The larger and more complex a building becomes, the more important there be a thorough project program.
  
  

Design

• Begin your site planning with sketches over the site survey. Work to scale, using block diagrams and hand drawing techniques to design quickly and focus on overall design functions rather than detail. Orient key rooms for the desired views, natural day lighting and adjacent space functions. With commercial developments, pay close attention to parking requirements and vehicle access roads on the site. If there are existing buildings or site features to be retained as part of the project, evaluate how best to connect them to new project work in a coherent way.