Site Assessment is possibly the most important stage in successful design, yet is often skipped or overlooked. Having a Site Assessment done before designing any structures on the site provides you or your architect or designer with useful information regarding solar gain for heating or minimizing heat, effective roof design and site-wide drainage design to maximize water harvesting for your use, greater likelihood of safety in case of wild fire, and other factors that improve the quality, comfort, safety and beauty of your site. Site Assessment can save you money and inconvenience down the road by discovering site conditions that need to be addressed in the design process, or finding beneficial features that you can make use of.
A Site Assessment informs you about the state of and needs of your land so that when you design, you are not simply imposing design decisions arbitrarily, but you are including your land as a “partner” in the process.
Included in Site Assessment:
Topographic information
Historical information
How the following affect your site (and structures):
- Sun
- Wind
- Water
- Wildlife Corridors
- Wildfire
- Views
Also included is information on soils, indigenous plants, neighborhood and code information, and other considerations that may play a role in creating an effective design for your site.
Site Assessment can be packaged with a full Site Design.