Elevation Treatment

A well-proportioned elevation will be aesthetically pleasing, bring legibilityThe degree to which a person understands and recognises characteristics about an area or building which help them to navigate around an area, or understand a building. and harmony to the building or series of buildings, and animate the street.

The building elevations help to express the characterCharacter includes all of the elements that go to make a place, how it looks and feels, its geography and landscape, its noises and smells, activity, people and businesses. This character should be understood as a starting point for all development. Character can be understood at three levels; the area type in which the site sits, its surroundings and the features of the site. and style of the development and should be designed as a response to the contextThe context includes the immediate surroundings of the site, the neighbourhood in which it sits and the wider setting.  The context may include the physical surroundings of topography, movement patterns and infrastructure, built form and uses.  An understanding of the context, history and character of an area must influence the siting and design of new development.. The principal building elevation should always face the street and include an active frontageMaking frontages ‘active’ adds interest, life and vitality to the public realm. This means:
•  frequent doors and windows, with few blank walls;
• narrow frontage buildings, giving vertical rhythm to the street scene;
• articulation of facades, with projections such as bays and porches incorporated, providing a welcoming feeling; and, on occasion,
• lively internal uses visible from the outside, or spilling onto the street.
.

Alongside the building form, scale and massing, the inclusion of an appropriate facade treatment is integral to animating building elevations. Elevations should be visually interesting with rhythm and articulationArchitectural composition in which elements and parts of the building are expressed logically, distinctly, and consistently., using fenestration and recessed and projecting elements to break up the mass of larger elevations.

Variation in facade treatment, materials and detailingThe details of a building are the individual components and how they are put together. Some are a deliberate part of the appearance of a building, including doors, windows and their surrounds, porches, decorative features and ironmongery. Others are functional, although they can also contribute to the appearance of a building. These include lighting, flues and ventilation, gutters, pipes and other rainwater details. Detailing affects the appearance of a building or space and how it is experienced. It also affects how well it weathers and lasts over time. should be used to provide visual breaks in the form and animate elements of the building effectively from all aspects.