What to Find out during site analysis

01. Location

a. Location of the city in the state including relationship to roads, cities, etc.

b. Location of the site neighborhood in the city.

c. Location of the site in the neighborhood.

d. Distances and travel times between the site and locations of other related functions in the city.

02. Neighborhood Context

a. Map of the neighborhood indicating existing and projected property zoning.

b. Existing and projected building uses in the neighborhood.

c. Age or condition of the neighborhood buildings.

d. Present and future uses of exterior spaces in the neighborhood.

e. Any strong vehicular or pedestrian traffic generating functions in the neighborhood.

f. Existing and projected vehicular movement patterns. Major and minor streets, routes of service vehicles such as trash, bus routes and stops.

g. Solid-void space relationships.

h. Street lighting patterns.

i. Architectural patterns such as roof forms, fenestration, materials, color, landscaping, formal porosity, relationship to street, car storage strategies, building height, sculptural vigor, etc.

j. Neighborhood classifications that might place special restrictions or responsibilities on our design work such as "historic district".

k. Nearby buildings of particular value or significance.

l. Fragile images or situations that should be preserved.

m. Sun and shade patterns at different times of the year.

n. Major contour and drainage patterns.

03. Size and Zoning

a. Dimensions of the boundaries of our site.

b. Dimensions of the street rights of way around our site.

c. Location and dimensions of easements.

d. Present site zoning classification.

e. Front, back and side yard setbacks required by zoning classification.

f. Square meter of buildable area inside setbacks (should also subtract easements).

g. Building height restrictions required by zoning classification.

h. Zoning formula for determining required parking based on the type of building to occupy the site.

i. The number of parking spaces required (if we know the building area).

j. Any conflicts between what the present zoning classification allows and the functions we are planning for the site.

k. Zoning classifications that the site would need to be changed to in order to accommodate all the planned functions.

l. Any projected changes that would alter the dimensional characteristics of the site such as street widening or purchase of additional property.

04. Legal

a. Legal description of the property.

b. Covenants and restrictions (site area usage allowed, height restrictions, screening of mechanical equipment or service yards, restrictions on rooftop elements, architectural character, design requirements in historic districts, etc.).

c. Name of the property owner.

d. Name of the governmental levels or agencies which have jurisdiction over the property.

e. Any projected or potential changes in any of the above categories.

05. Natural Physical Features

a. Topographic contours.

b. Major topographic features such as high points, low points, ridges and valleys, slopes and flat areas.

c. Drainage patterns on the site including directions of surface drainage (perpendicular to contours), major and minor arteries of water collection (ditches, arroyos, riverbeds, creeks, etc.), major drainage patterns onto the site from adjacent property and from the site onto adjacent property and any neighborhood water-related patterns such as viaduct systems or storm sewers.

d. Existing natural features on the site and their value in terms of preservation and reinforcement versus alteration or removal. This would also include opinions regarding permanency in terms of difficulty or expense to remove features. On site features might include trees (type and size), ground cover, rock outcroppings, ground surface texture, holes or ditches, mounds, on site water (pools, ponds, lakes, rivers) and stable or unstable areas of the site (site scars versus virgin areas).

e. Type of soil at different levels below surface and bearing capacity of the soil. Soil type distribution over site area.

06. Man-Made Features

a. Size, shape, height and location of any on site buildings. If these are to remain, the exterior character and interior layout should also be documented. If the buildings are to be part of our project, we must do a detailed building analysis of each facility.

b. Location and type of walls, retaining walls, ramadas or fences.

c. Location, size and character of exterior play fields, courts, patios, plazas, drives, walks or service areas.

d. Where it may be important to our design we should record the paving patterns of man-made surfaces.

e. Location and size of curb cuts, power poles, fire hydrants or bus stop shelters.

f. Off site man-made features may include any of the on site items listed above and/or may involve a detailed analysis of the existing architectural character surrounding our site. This is particularly important where the architectural character will be a factor in the design of our facility (historic district, etc.). Some factors to consider in analyzing surrounding architectural character include scale, proportion, roof forms, window and door patterns, setbacks, materials, colors, textures, open space versus built space, visual axes, landscaping materials and patterns, paving textures and patterns, porosity (extent of openness) and assertiveness (ins and outs) of wall forms, connections, details and accessories, exterior lighting, outdoor furniture and car storage methods.

07. Circulation

a. On site sidewalks, paths and other pedestrian movement patterns including users, purposes, schedule of use and volume of use.

b. Off site pedestrian movement patterns using the same characteristics mentioned for on site movement.

c. If a pedestrian movement pattern is considered valuable and to be preserved or reinforced, our analysis should also include an evaluation of how the existing pattern could be improved.

d. On site or adjacent vehicular movement patterns including type of traffic, origins and destinations, schedule, volume of traffic and peak loads. Also included should be intermittent traffic such as parades, festivals, concerts, fire truck routes, service truck fleets, etc.

e. Off site or neighborhood vehicular movement issues such as traffic generators (buildings or uses that are significant destinations or origins of vehicular traffic) as well as the other traffic characteristics outlined under on site traffic. Adjacent or nearby parking areas that may be used for off site car storage in our project. Off site traffic patterns should also include the relation of our site to the public transportation routes, stops at or near our site, probable directions of approach to our site by the users of the new building and directions of dispersal of traffic from our building. Traffic analysis should document future projections to the extent they can be made.

f. Locations of probable or optimum access to our site for each type of pedestrian and vehicular traffic that will use the new building or move through the site.

g. Travel time to walk across our site, to drive across the site or by the site where these times may be important to our design (time it takes to walk between classes at a school). It may also be useful to record the time it takes to drive to or from related locations in the city (from our site to downtown, the university, the shopping center, etc.).

08. Utilities

a. Location, capacity and conveyance form (type of pipe, etc.) of power, gas, sewer telephone and water utilities. This should involve the depth of each utility underground and, in the case of power, whether it is above or below grade. Location of power poles.

b. Where utility lines stop short of our site boundaries, their distances from our site should be given.

c. Where there are multiple opportunities to connect to utilities that are adjacent to our site, we should record those locations or edges on our site that seem to offer the best connection opportunities. This may be due to the capacities of the utility lines, contour conditions on our site in relation to sewer, the need to minimize on site utility runs, being able to collect utility runs, bringing utilities in at the "back" of the site or dealing with site barriers or difficult soil conditions.

09. Sensory

a. Views from the site including positions on the site where the views are not blocked, what the views are of, whether the views are positive or negative, the angles within which the views can be found, whether the views change over time and the likelihood of view continuance for the long term.

b. Views to points of interest on the site from within the site boundaries. Includes what the views are of, whether the views are positive or negative, positions on the site where the views are best arid where they are blocked, the angles within which the views can be found and whether the object of the views changes over time.

c. Views to the site from areas outside the site boundaries, including streets, walks, other buildings and vistas. Includes when the site is first seen, angles within which it is seen, most dramatic views of the property, best views of the site and areas that are viewable, particular points of interest that may be objects of views from outside our site and potential for these views to continue or be blocked by development outside our site over the long term.

d. Views through our site from positions outside the property. Involves the objects of the views and the various positions where the views occur, whether the views are positive or negative, the angles within which the views can be found, and the likelihood of the view targets as well as the view paths remaining open over the long term.

e. Locations, generators, schedules, and intensities of any significant noise on or around the site. This analysis should include likelihood of continuance over the tong term.

f. Locations, generators, schedules and intensities of any significant odors, smoke or other airborne pollution on or around our site. This analysis should include likelihood of continuance over time.

10. Human and Cultural

a. Documentation of neighborhood cultural, psychological, behavioral and sociological aspects. Potential information includes population density, age, family size, ethnic patterns, employment patterns, income, recreational preferences and informal activities or events such as festivals, parades or fairs.

b. Negative neighborhood patterns such as vandalism and other criminal activities.

c. Neighborhood attitudes about the project that is about to be designed and built on our site.

d. Neighborhood attitudes about what is positive and what is negative in the neighborhood.

e. Relative permanence of the neighborhood population.

f. Neighborhood trends in terms of all the factors mentioned above.

11.Climate

a. Temperature variation over the months of the year including the maximum highs and lows and the maximum and average day-night temperature swing for the days of each month.

b. Humidity variation over the months of the year including maximums, minimums, and averages for each month and for a typical day of each month.

c. Rainfall variation over the months of the year in millimeters. Should include the maximum rainfall that can be expected in any one day.

d. Snowfall variation over the months of the year in millimeters. Should include the maximum snowfall that can be expected in any one day (if any).

e. Prevailing wind directions for the months of the year including velocity in meters per minute or Kilometers per hour and variations that can be expected over the course of the day and night. Should also include the maximum wind velocity that can be expected.

f. Sun path at the summer and winter solstice (high point and low point) including altitude and azimuth at particular times of the day for summer and winter (sunrise and sunset, position at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m.).

g. Energy related data such as degree days or BTU's of sunlight falling on our site.

h. Potential natural catastrophes such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tornados. May include documentation of earthquake zone that our site lies within and history of natural catastrophes in the area.