Architecture Glossary: Design, Zoning and Rendering Terms

A

Accessibility: The quality of buildings and public spaces that lets everyone, including disabled and older people, use them independently and safely.
Acoustics: Acoustics is the design of how sound travels, reflects and fades within a space, aimed at clear hearing and protection from unwanted noise.
AI rendering: Producing images with generative AI models from a text prompt or from a starting image such as a sketch, a model screenshot or a clay render.
Algorithmic design: An approach in which a design is generated by step-by-step rules, code or visual programming, so the form emerges from a process.
Aluminium composite panel: A light, flat cladding sheet made of two thin aluminium skins bonded to a core, widely used on modern facades and signage.
Arch: An arch is a curved structural element that spans an opening and carries the load above it in compression down to the supports on either side.
Architectural brief (space programme): A pre-design document that sets out which spaces a building needs, how large they are and how they should relate to each other.
Architectural competition: A way of choosing a design in which several designers submit proposals for a building or site and an independent jury judges them.
Architectural plan: An architectural plan is a drawing made by cutting a building horizontally and looking down, showing walls, openings and room layout.
Area light: An area light emits light from a surface, such as a rectangle or disc, rather than a single point, producing soft, natural shadows.
Atrium: An atrium is a multi-storey open space inside a building, usually lit from above, that connects the floors visually around a shared void.
Attic: An attic is the space between a pitched roof and the ceiling of the top floor, used for storage, services or, with enough height, as a living room.

B

Balcony: A balcony is an open platform on an upper floor, projecting from or set into the facade, enclosed by a railing and reached from inside.
Base map: A surveyed map showing an area as it currently exists, with buildings, roads, levels and plot boundaries drawn to scale.
Basement: A basement is a storey below the ground floor, wholly or partly below ground level, typically used for storage, parking, plant rooms or living space.
Bay window (oriel): A bay window, or oriel, is an enclosed projection on an upper floor, glazed on several sides, that adds light, views and floor space to a room.
Beam: A beam is a mostly horizontal structural member that carries loads from slabs and walls and transfers them to columns or load-bearing walls.
BIM (Building Information Modeling): A way of working where a building is designed as one shared model of information-rich objects, from which drawings, quantities and coordination come.
Biophilic design: Biophilic design brings people's need for contact with nature into buildings through daylight, plants, water, views and natural materials.
Block and plot: In Turkish land registry, the ada is the block bounded by roads and the parsel is the registered plot within it.
Brise-soleil (sun shading): A brise-soleil is an external shading device of horizontal or vertical fins on a facade that blocks direct sunlight and prevents overheating.
Building coverage ratio: In Turkish zoning, TAKS is the ratio limiting a building's ground footprint relative to the area of its plot.
Building inspection: In Turkish construction, the system that checks a building against its permit, approved drawings and standards from design to handover.

C

Cantilever: A structural member supported at only one end, with the other end free, used for balconies, canopies and projecting floors.
Circulation: The way people move horizontally and vertically through a building, shaped by its corridors, halls, stairs, ramps and lifts.
Column: A column is the vertical structural member of a frame that collects loads from beams and slabs and carries them down to the foundations.
Component: An object defined once and used as many copies in a model; editing one copy updates every other copy linked to the same definition.
Concept design: The early design stage that first sets out a project's main idea: its massing, spatial organisation and character.
Condominium ownership: In Turkish property law, ownership of individual units such as flats or shops in a completed building, together with a land share.
Conservation area: An area protected together with its setting because of cultural or natural value, where new building is subject to special rules.
Construction detail: A construction detail is a large-scale drawing showing the layers, dimensions and assembly of a building element or junction.
Construction documents: Construction documents are the detailed drawing set that gives contractors every dimension, material and detail needed to build.
Construction servitude (floor easement): In Turkish property law, a right registered on the land for each future unit of a building not yet completed, tied to a land share.
Construction site: The working area where a building is constructed, holding materials, machinery and crews, and secured by safety measures.
Cost estimate: An estimate of what a building or job will cost, found by multiplying take-off quantities by their unit prices.
Courtyard: A courtyard is an open-air space enclosed by buildings or walls, giving the surrounding rooms light, air and a shared centre for daily life.
CPU rendering: Rendering that runs its calculations on the computer's main processor, using system memory so that very large scenes stay stable.
Curtain wall: A curtain wall is a non-structural facade hung from the floors that wraps a building in a continuous skin, usually of aluminium framing and glass.

D

Daylighting: Daylighting is the deliberate use of windows, rooflights and reflective surfaces to bring controlled natural light into a building.
Deconstructivism: Deconstructivism is a contemporary architectural movement that challenges order and unity through fragmented forms, tilted planes and broken geometry.
Density: In planning, the amount of population or building per unit of land; one of the core decisions of a zoning plan.
Dimensioning: Adding sizes, distances and levels to an architectural drawing with dimension lines, extension lines and text so it can be built.
Dome: A curved roof formed by rotating an arch around its vertical axis, spanning a space from above without internal columns.
Double-skin facade: A double-skin facade is a facade made of two glazed layers with a ventilated cavity between them, used to manage heat, noise and solar gain.
Drawing sheet: The standard sheet on which architectural and technical drawings are laid out at a set size and then printed or submitted.

E

Eaves: The part of a roof that projects beyond the outer wall, keeping rain off the facade and shading windows from high summer sun.
Elevation: An elevation is a drawing of one face of a building in orthographic projection, without perspective, showing it at true proportion.
Energy performance certificate: A certificate rating a building's energy use and carbon emissions on a letter scale; in Turkey it is called the Enerji kimlik belgesi.
Entourage: Entourage is the set of supporting elements, such as people, trees, cars and props, used in architectural images to give scale and life.
Entrance hall: An entrance hall is the space just inside the front door of a home or unit, where people arrive and from which the other rooms are reached.
Ergonomics: Ergonomics is the design of spaces, furniture and fittings around the dimensions and movements of the human body, for comfortable and safe use.
Expansion joint: An expansion joint is a structural gap that splits a large building into independent blocks, letting them move with heat, shrinkage, settlement and earthquakes.
Exposed concrete (béton brut): Exposed concrete is concrete left as it comes out of the formwork, without plaster or cladding, so its texture and form marks become the finish.

F

Facade: A facade is any outward-facing side of a building; it shapes the building's character, how it handles climate and how it reads in the street.
Feasibility study
Fire regulations: Turkey's building fire code: design and construction rules that limit fire spread and make sure people can leave a building safely.
Flat roof (roof terrace): A roof that looks flat but has a slight fall to carry water to drains, built up in insulated layers and often usable on top.
Floor area ratio (FAR): In Turkish zoning, the ratio of total buildable floor area to plot area; known as emsal or KAKS, the floor area coefficient.
Floor plan: A floor plan is the plan drawing for one storey of a building, showing its walls, openings, rooms and dimensions.
Floor slab: A floor slab is the horizontal structural element that separates storeys and carries loads to the beams, columns or walls supporting it.
Floor-to-floor height: Floor-to-floor height is the vertical distance from the top of one floor slab to the top of the next; it is not the same as clear ceiling height.
Foundation: The lowest part of a building’s structure, which safely transfers all of its loads into the ground beneath it.
Frame structure: A frame structure carries loads through a framework of columns, beams and slabs, freeing walls from load-bearing so plans can be laid out freely.
Functionalism: Functionalism is the architectural approach holding that a building's form should arise first from its function and the needs of its users.
Furniture layout plan: A scaled plan showing where furniture, fittings and equipment sit in each room, with their real sizes and the space needed to use them.

G

Geotechnical survey: An engineering investigation of the ground at a building site, using boreholes, sampling and tests to inform foundation design.
GPU rendering: Rendering that runs its light calculations on the many parallel cores of a graphics card, which makes interactive previews especially fast.
Green building: A building designed and run with care for energy, water, materials and indoor quality, often documented through certification.
Green roof: A roof built up with root barrier, drainage and growing medium layers so that plants can grow across its surface.
Grid line (axis): A grid line is a named reference line, lettered in one direction and numbered in the other, that fixes where columns and walls sit on a drawing.
Gross floor area: The total area of a building or unit measured to the outer faces of its walls, including the space the walls themselves occupy.
Ground floor: The ground floor is the storey that sits closest to natural or finished grade, usually holding the main entrance of the building.

H

Human scale: How the dimensions of spaces and building elements relate to the human body, making a place feel comfortable and legible.

I

IES light profile: An IES light profile is a file of measured data describing how a real light fitting spreads light in each direction, used in renders.
Integrated design: Integrated design is a process in which architects, engineers and other specialists work together from day one and make key decisions jointly.

L

Legend: The key on a drawing or map that explains the symbols, colours, hatches and line types used on it.
Level (elevation datum): A height value showing how far a point or surface sits above or below the project datum, usually marked as ±0.00.
Level of detail (LOD): A measure of how detailed a model is: in BIM it describes model maturity, in visualization it means simpler versions of objects for distant views.
Light gauge steel: Light gauge steel framing uses cold-formed galvanized steel C and U sections, screwed together, as a lightweight structural system.
Light portal: A light portal is an invisible helper placed over windows in interior renders, telling the engine where sky light enters the room.
Lintel: A horizontal member placed over a door or window opening that carries the wall above and passes its load to each side.
Listed building: A building officially registered as a protected cultural asset for its historic, architectural or cultural value, so changes need approval.

M

Masonry construction: Masonry construction relies on load-bearing walls built from stone, brick or block units to carry a building's loads to the ground.
Maximum building height: In Turkish zoning, Hmax is the maximum building height allowed on a plot; how it is measured is set by regulation and plan notes.
Measured survey: A measured survey records the current state of an existing building or site by measuring it and drawing it as plans, sections and elevations.
Mechanical (HVAC and plumbing) project
Mesh: A network of vertices, edges and faces connected into a surface that defines the shape of a 3D object.
Mezzanine: A mezzanine is an intermediate floor built over part of a tall space, staying partly open to the room below instead of dividing it fully.
Minimalism: A design approach that reduces a space to its essentials, relying on plain surfaces, few materials and generous emptiness.
Modernism: A 20th-century architectural movement that rejected historical ornament in favour of function, new technology and plain geometry.
Modular coordination: A system that sizes a building and its components as multiples of a common basic module so that parts fit without cutting.

N

Net floor area: The actual usable area of a space, measured to the inner faces of its walls, leaving out walls, columns and similar elements.
North arrow: The symbol on plans and maps that shows which way is north, so a building's position relative to sun, wind and context can be read.
NURBS: A modeling method that defines curves and surfaces mathematically through control points and weights, giving perfectly smooth curves at any scale.

O

Open plan: An open plan combines functions such as cooking, dining and living in one continuous space instead of separating them with walls and doors.
Organic architecture: An approach that treats a building as part of its site and nature, deriving form from landscape, materials and the way it is used.
Orientation: Orientation is the direction a building and its rooms face on the site, relative to sun, wind, views and access.

P

Parametric design: An approach where form is defined by linked parameters and rules instead of fixed lines, so changing one value updates the whole design.
Parapet: A low wall rising above the edge of a roof, terrace or balcony; in Turkey the term also covers the wall below a window.
Parcellation: In Turkish zoning, reshaping cadastral plots according to the implementation plan into plots that can be built on.
Parking regulations: Turkey's parking regulation: how many parking spaces a building must provide for its use, and how those spaces should be laid out.
Passive house: A building standard that cuts heating demand to a minimum through heavy insulation, airtightness and heat-recovery ventilation.
Penthouse floor: A penthouse floor is the top storey of a building, set under the roof or stepped back on a flat roof, often with terraces and the best views.
Pergola: A light, open structure of posts and spaced beams that shades gardens and terraces, often covered with climbing plants.
Plasterboard (drywall): Plasterboard is a lightweight building board of gypsum pressed between two paper faces, used for partitions, suspended ceilings and wall linings.
Plot amalgamation: In Turkish zoning, tevhit is merging two or more adjoining plots into a single plot in line with the zoning plan.
Plot subdivision: In Turkish zoning, ifraz is dividing one plot into two or more new plots in line with the zoning plan and regulations.
Polygon: A flat face bounded by vertices and edges; every surface in a 3D model, curved ones included, is built from many polygons.
Postmodernism: A movement that reacted against modernist austerity by bringing historical references, colour, irony and symbolism back to architecture.
Prefabricated building: A prefabricated building is made from components or modules produced in a factory and then transported and assembled on site.
Preliminary design: Preliminary design is the stage after sketching where the scheme is fixed at scale in plans, sections and elevations, before detailed drawings.
Progress payment: In Turkish contracting, the document that measures work done in a period and prices it under the contract so the contractor is paid.
Proportion: The relationship of a building’s parts to each other and to the whole; a core source of harmony and balance in architecture.

Q

Quantity take-off: Measuring the quantity of every work item from the drawings and listing it with its unit; the basis of any cost estimate.

R

Railing (balustrade): A protective barrier along stairs, balconies, terraces and galleries that prevents falls and often provides a handhold.
Ramp: An inclined surface that connects two levels without steps, used by wheelchairs, pushchairs, trolleys and vehicles.
Reconstruction: Reconstruction is the rebuilding of a structure that has been wholly or largely lost, based on reliable documentary evidence.
Reinforced concrete: Reinforced concrete combines concrete, strong in compression, with steel bars that carry tension, making the most widely used structural material.
Render farm: A network of computers that shares out rendering work, finishing animation frames or large stills far faster than a single machine could.
Renovation project: A renovation project defines changes to an existing building, such as layout, facade, structural or use changes, and is submitted for approval where needed.
Resolution: The number of pixels across the width and height of a rendered image, which sets how much detail it can carry and how long it takes.
Restitution: Restitution is the reconstruction on paper of a historic building's original or earlier state, based on physical traces and documents.
Restoration: Restoration is the repair of a building of historic or cultural value in a way that preserves its authentic qualities and extends its life.
Roof plan: A roof plan shows a building's roof from above, defining slopes, ridges and valleys, and the positions of gutters, downpipes and flues.
Room (space): In Turkish project language, any room or defined space in a building, identified on drawings by its name, number and area.

S

Scale: Scale is the ratio between lengths on a drawing and lengths in reality; at 1:100, one centimetre on paper equals one metre on site.
Scatter (object scattering): Scatter is a modeling and rendering technique that spreads large numbers of objects such as trees, grass or stones over a surface by set rules.
Section: A section is a drawing made by slicing a building vertically, showing floor heights, slabs and how spaces relate in height.
Setback: In Turkish zoning, the distance a building must keep from plot boundaries and the street, set by the plan and regulations.
Setting out: Setting out is the process of transferring a design to the ground by marking plot corners, building grid lines and levels on site.
Shear wall: A long, slender reinforced concrete wall that resists horizontal forces such as earthquakes and wind in a building’s structure.
Site plan: A site plan shows a building's position on its plot in relation to roads, neighbouring plots, setbacks, levels and landscaping.
Sketch: A sketch is a quick freehand drawing that captures a design idea on paper or screen, conveying intention rather than precise detail.
Stair landing: A flat platform at the top, bottom or between flights of a stair, used for resting, turning and safe access to doors.
Stair riser: The vertical face between two treads of a stair; its height largely decides how comfortable and safe the stair is.
Stair tread: The horizontal surface of a step that the foot rests on; its depth, nosing and finish decide comfort and slip resistance.
Staircase: A vertical circulation element made of a series of steps that connects floors or areas set at different levels.
Standing seam roof: A standing seam roof is a metal roof whose panel edges are raised and folded together into seams, leaving no exposed fixings.
Steel structure: A steel structure is a building frame whose columns, beams and connections are made of steel sections; it is light, quick to erect and spans far.
Structural project: A structural project sizes a building's load-bearing system by calculation and defines it in formwork and reinforcement drawings.
Sun and sky system: A render engine lighting setup that calculates direct sunlight and diffuse skylight together, both driven by the position of the sun in the sky.
Suspended ceiling: A suspended ceiling is a secondary ceiling hung below the structural slab, hiding services and making room for lighting and acoustic treatment.
Sustainable architecture: An approach that designs buildings to reduce their impact on energy, water, materials and the environment across their whole life.

T

Terrace: A wide, open, level outdoor area at ground level or over a lower floor, set aside for sitting and living outdoors.
Thermal insulation: Thermal insulation is the set of materials and measures applied to walls, roofs and floors to reduce heat loss and heat gain through a building's envelope.
Timber frame: Timber frame construction carries loads on a light skeleton of timber studs and joists, braced by sheet sheathing.
Title block: The information box on a drawing sheet listing the project name, designers, scale, date and sheet number.
Topography: The shape of the land, its heights, slopes and surface features, and also the work of measuring and mapping them.

U

Universal design: Universal design aims for spaces and products that everyone can use, regardless of age, size or ability, without needing special adaptation.
Urban design: The design of the public realm between buildings: streets, squares, parks and the way buildings meet the city around them.
Urban regeneration: In Turkey, the renewal of disaster-prone or run-down buildings and districts through demolition and rebuilding or upgrading.

V

Vault: A curved roof or ceiling formed by extending an arch along a line, spanning the space between two walls.
Ventilated facade: A ventilated facade leaves an air cavity between the insulation and the outer cladding, letting moisture escape and shielding the wall from weather.

W

Waterproofing: The layers that protect a building from rain, groundwater and water in use, applied to foundations, basements, roofs and wet rooms.
Window and door frames (joinery): Window and door joinery is the system of frames, sashes, glazing and hardware fitted into wall openings, made from uPVC, aluminium or timber.

0–9

3D modeling: Building an accurate three-dimensional digital version of a building, space or object; the shared basis for rendering, analysis and fabrication.

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Who is this glossary for?