A town-centre building with shops and a restaurant at street level, converted into seventeen self-contained flats on the floors above, with the commercial units kept in use. This is the set a contractor prices, a building control officer checks, and the trades build from.
Not just a drawing — a controlled document. Every sheet carries the same furniture: a ruled border, a title block, a materials key running existing / demolition / new brick / new stud / new roof, a drawn scale bar, and its number in one continuous series.
The set moves in three movements: survey what is there, set out what replaces it, then specify every junction and system.
Every drawing below is from the real issued set. Anything identifying the building or the people involved has been removed: the address and street name, the client and job number, the site location and aerial sheets, and the names of neighbouring businesses. Personal contact details have been stripped too. What remains is the drawing craft and the construction content, which is what this is about.
The set opens with a sheet index and a wall of specification organised by trade — general requirements and site preparation through concrete, masonry, steel and carpentry, roofing, glazing, plastering, finishes, drainage, heating, ventilation and electrics. These clauses set the standards the drawings then apply: U-values, fire ratings, product references, tolerances, and who supplies what.
The set records the building as found, floor by floor and in section, so new work can be set out against real dimensions and building control can see what is kept, altered or removed.
One level at a time. Walls are drawn in the key’s hatches, so it is immediately clear what is existing fabric, what is demolished, and what is new brick or new timber stud. Flats are colour-coded and scheduled with floor areas; rooms are labelled and sized.
Elevations show the building’s faces, what changes and what is kept, with finished floor levels marked. Sections cut through to show storey heights, the relationship between old and new floors, and where each construction detail applies — the dashed key tags point back to the detail sheet.
Every wall, floor, roof and terrace type is drawn at 1:20 as a labelled build-up: layer by layer, product by product, with the target U-value noted. On site, the letters on this sheet are what the plans and sections refer back to.
Three more layers run over the same plans. Structure marks which existing steel is kept, which comes out once load is transferred, and where new columns and beams carry the new layouts — deferring to the structural engineer for sizing. Fire strategy tags every flat entrance and every window onto the escape route with its rating. Services place every fitting, socket, switch, radiator and extract fan at a set mounting height.
A special facilities plan tracing kitchen and bathroom hot and cold supplies and drainage runs, including drops to and from the floor below, and a matching lighting and services plan. This is what the plumber and the electrician work from, flat by flat.
The set finishes with the external structures the conversion needs: a covered cycle stand in steel with a translucent roof, its final length set on site, and a timber-clad refuse enclosure sized for three communal bins.
→ The construction approach, in brief
To keep this about the work rather than about a specific building or its owners, the following were removed from every image: the property address, postcode, street name and neighbouring house numbers; the client and project name and the job number; the site location plan, ordnance survey extract and aerial photograph, which are not shown at all; the names of neighbouring businesses on the front elevation; and the practice’s personal contact details and office suite address.
Tell us what the building is and what you want it to become. You will get a straight view on the route, the drawings it needs, and what it takes to get there.