What diagrams does a site analysis include?
Usually a location map, figure-ground, streets and movement, land use, green and water, sun, wind and noise, plus nearby amenities and views.
Site analysis tutorial
How to make site analysis diagrams, in 8 steps
Site analysis is the first step of every architecture project, and the slowest: finding a base map, tracing, colouring, laying out. This guide walks through the sheets a site analysis set needs, what each one shows and how to make it look good, with a real example for every step, then shows how to generate the whole set in minutes.
8 stepsReal example per stepBy hand or with a toolFour diagrams free
8 steps
How a site analysis set is built
These eight steps follow the order most studios and competitions expect. The first six are about what to draw; the last is about making it look good.
STEP 01
Fix the site and the study radius
Drop a pin on the site, then set the radius: 300 to 600 m for a building, 1 to 3 km for urban design. One radius means every sheet shares the same scale and north arrow.
- A common studio convention: one circle around the site, reused on every diagram.
- In MapToNap the radius runs from 200 m to 3 km and every sheet uses it.
STEP 02
Location map
Show where the site sits in the country and the city: one macro map, one city map, then the site.
- Macro: the country or region. Meso: the city. Micro: 500 m around the site.
- Keep it to two or three panels.
STEP 03
Figure-ground
Buildings black, everything else white. It shows grain, block size and open space, and is the first drawing of nearly every site analysis.
- Historic cores read fine and dense; newer districts show large, loose plots.
- No street lines: keep it purely black and white.
STEP 04
Streets and movement
Rank arterials, collectors, local streets and paths to show access and the main flows, then add metro and bus stops.
- Use line weight and tone, three or four levels at most.
- A five-minute walking radius around stops is more convincing than dots alone.
STEP 05
Land use
Colour housing, retail, public, industrial and religious uses to see what the area lacks, which grounds the programme.
- Six colours at most; related uses share one family.
- Add a small breakdown (how much is housing, how much retail).
STEP 06
Green and water
Parks, gardens, woodland and water on their own sheet, with the distance to the nearest park.
- Two greens (parks, woodland) and one consistent water blue.
- The key sheet for landscape-led projects.
STEP 07
Sun, wind and noise
The environmental trio: sun path and hours, prevailing wind, road noise. They drive orientation, openings and massing.
- Winter and summer solstice are enough to make the case.
- A wind rose for wind; noise fades out from the main roads.
STEP 08
One palette, one board
The step that makes it look refined: one palette, one typeface, one scale and north arrow across every sheet, laid out on an A1 or A3 board.
- Copy HEX codes from the palette guide.
- MapToNap lays several sheets out as a board and exports editable SVG or PDF.
FAQ
Before you start
What software is used for site analysis diagrams?
Traditionally a CAD or map base traced and coloured in Illustrator or Photoshop. A site analysis tool such as MapToNap generates editable SVG and PDF from an address, which you can refine in Illustrator.
Where does the base map come from?
OpenStreetMap, national mapping or a CAD survey. MapToNap uses OpenStreetMap buildings, streets and land use directly.
How do I make site analysis diagrams look refined?
One low-saturation palette, one accent colour, one typeface and one scale across the set. See the 25 palettes in the colour guide.
Which diagrams are free?
Figure-ground, streets, land use and green and water, with no sign-up. Sun, wind, noise, 3D and more need Pro or Max.
Related
Keep reading
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, licensed under the ODbL. Images are drawings generated with MapToNap.