Kōkiri Learn

Background reading · Mathematics and Statistics

Reading a site before you design

How designers read the sun, water, wind and slope of a place, and draw it to scale before they build anything.

Good designers don't start with a drawing of what they want. They start by reading the place as it really is. A garden bed in deep shade, a tank at the bottom of a slope that floods, or a play space in a howling wind are all mistakes that careful measuring and observing would have caught.

Sun, wind and water

  • Sun: in Aotearoa, the sun is in the northern part of the sky, so north-facing spots get the most sun and warmth. Shadows are longest in winter, when the sun is low.
  • Wind: find out which way the strongest winds usually come from, and look for trees bent by it. Shelter can make a garden or a seating area much more usable.
  • Water: water always flows downhill. Watch your site in heavy rain: where does water run, where does it pool, and where does it soak in? Cold air flows downhill too, and settles in low spots on frosty nights.

    • Measuring slope

    Slope tells you how steep the ground is. Stretch a level string from a high point to a stake further down, and measure the gap between the string and the ground: that is the rise. Divide the rise by the distance (the run) and multiply by 100 to get a percentage. A 15 cm drop over 3 m is a 5% slope. Topographic maps show slope with contour lines: where they crowd together, the land is steep.

    Drawing to scale

    A base map is a scale drawing of a site as it is now. The scale is a ratio: 1 : 100 means 1 cm on the map is 100 cm (1 m) on the ground. Every base map needs a title, a north arrow, a scale bar and a key. Designers then draw ideas on top, so everything fits the real space.

    Learning from those before us

    People in Aotearoa have read and shaped land for centuries. On Maungakiekie in Tāmaki Makaurau, tūpuna Māori built terraces into the slopes for houses, gardens and kūmara storage pits, choosing sunny, well-drained places and working with the shape of the land. Those terraces are still visible today, and they are protected, so visitors stay on the paths.

    Sources and further reading

    Written for Kōkiri Learn students in our own words. Check facts against the sources.

    Used in: Measure Up: Designing Spaces