Floor plan

A floor plan is a horizontal cut through a building, usually taken about 1 to 1.5 meters above the floor, viewed from above. Everything cut by that plane, mainly walls and columns, is drawn heavier; things below it, such as furniture, floor finishes and stairs, are drawn lighter. Plans are drawn to scale, commonly 1:100 or 1:50 in metric practice and 1/4 inch to the foot in US practice, and they are the main drawing for organizing a building: how rooms connect, where people enter and how much area each use gets.

How it shows up in a project

• At concept design stage the plan is often a diagram of zones and circulation rather than a measured drawing.
• Plans are read together with the section and the elevation, since a plan alone does not show heights.
• Clients without drawing experience often struggle to read a plan, which is why furnished or rendered plans are common in sales and presentations.
• Areas and scale must stay accurate when a plan is presented, so check the scale converter when moving between drawing scales.

In Rendair

Floor Plan to Render turns a plan drawing into a furnished, colored top view or an interior view, which helps clients understand layout and furniture fit. The walls and openings come from your drawing, so a clean plan with clear lines gives the most reliable result.