Before discussing some of the most common forms of technical drawing in interior design, it is worth emphasising that technical drawing is used throughout the design process. It is simply because this is the first point in the design process at which technical drawing is encountered that the following exposition of drawing is placed here. It could equally well have come at other points of this book, and indeed drawing is referenced in Chapter 8, when presentation drawings are examined in more detail.
The three most basic technical drawings that we might use are plans, elevations and sections. All three are scale drawings, and are therefore accurate representations of the proportions of spaces in either the horizontal or the vertical plane.
Only occasionally do we draw the subject of a technical drawing at its full size. For interior designers this might be feasible when showing details of part of a scheme (for example, how two different materials are treated at their junction), but clearly it will never be possible to show a complete interior at full size. Most drawings, therefore, represent their subject at some fraction of their true size. The ‘scale’ of the drawing indicates the ratio between a single unit of length on the drawing and the equivalent ‘real-life’ measurement. It is most usually expressed on the drawing as that ratio – for example, 1 : 25, where one centimeter on the drawing represents 25 cm in the actual space. Less commonly it might be expressed as a fraction – 1/ 25, where each unit of measurement on the drawing is shown at one twenty-fifth of its actual size (though essentially these are two different ways of saying the same thing). Scale is sometimes represented graphically on the drawing as a ‘scale bar’. Because it is so easy to casually photocopy drawings and either reduce or enlarge them in size at the same time (and therefore change the scale), the scale bar can be very useful as there is always a visual representation of the scale on the paper.
Scale rules are used to facilitate accurate plotting and measuring at scale. The rule comes ready marked with a linear representation of distance at various scales, so no calculations need to be made to change real-life size to paper size, or vice versa.
Rules can be marked in metric units (millimetres or metres, as appropriate), or in feet and inches. In this latter case the scale ratio will be expressed as ‘x inches to the foot’ (for example ½” = 1’ 0”, which is a ratio of 1 : 24).
There is no right or wrong scale to use for a drawing. The aim is to show the maximum amount of detail possible in the space, and therefore the most appropriate scale will usually be the one that neatly fills the space available on the drawing paper that is being used. A quick comparison of the overall dimensions of the space at typical scales will show which scale is the most appropriate for a particular drawing. When drawing manually, the scale needs to be decided before drafting begins. When drafting with CAD, the drawing scale can usually be changed prior to printing the finished drawing on to paper. Whatever scale is ultimately chosen, it should be clearly stated on the drawing, and because of the possibility of uncontrolled enlargements or reductions being made outside of the drawing office, it is good practice to state paper size in addition to the scale, for example 1 : 25 at A3.
This list shows some metric and inch / foot scales used for interior design drawings. It is clear that common inch / foot scales are similar to, but not precisely the same as, common metric scales.
The largest scale shown (1 : 10 ) might be used for showing construction details or similar. The other scales could all be used for drawing plans, elevations and sections to describe spaces from small rooms to entire floors of large buildings.
When it is necessary to show construction details for bespoke work, it might be appropriate to draw at full size, or a scale of 1 : 1. In some instances, details might be enlarged to show clearly how they are to be constructed. A scale of twice full size would be written as 2 : 1.
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