Topography
Consider all the angles of your home's site to make the most of interior and outdoor spaces
Your home sits on the surface of a piece of land, and the character of that surface — whether it's flat, hilly, mountainous or some combination — is the land's topography. The topography of the land influences how the residents enter the home and access the outside spaces.
A slightly sloping piece of land has a gentle topography. This doesn't mean the land is flat. In fact, different levels of the home can access different outside spaces if the site is gently sloping and the home's design takes advantage of that.
In the design phase, topography is often expressed as a series of steps in a model. Each step represents a vertical distance, such as a foot or a half foot. These types of models can help you visualize the slope of the land and how that affects the home's design.
A site's topography can also be expressed in a drawing, represented by lines that almost parallel one another. Where the lines are close together, the site rises or falls sharply. Where the lines are farther apart, the site is flatter. Changes to the topography created from constructing the home as well as the driveway, walks etc. are shown by solid, darker lines connecting the existing topographic lines.