What are House Elevations | Definition & Advanced House Plans

House elevations are the two-dimensional orthogonal projections of a project, house, or building’s visible faces, using the well-known orthogonal point projection. These faces are projected in imaginary planes parallel to the front in question and can be represented by two-dimensional planes. Elevations also refer to the outer walls of the building with all accompanying architectural elements and decorative finishes. Today, many people tend to ask, what are house elevations? This question has been adequately elaborated on below.

What are House Elevations?

As earlier highlighted, these are external walls upon which the appearance of the house is usually dependent. The house elevation is responsible for the durability, strength, stability, and safety of the house, building, etc. It is also completely fire resistant, carries heat into your home, and is an essential part of the building. In each city, you can find its building architecture, various options for the design of house elevations, and a unique combination of cultural characteristics.

There are many options for finishing and any design of external walls in the modern world. Designers usually develop new ideas that will emphasize the house owner’s status, taste, originality, and, of course, the architecture of his native country. The buildings’ elevations make the cities of the world different from each other, although many are very similar in terms of organization. Thus, the house elevations become the original highlight and card of every city.

What are House Elevations for?

House elevations carry several primary tasks. These include:

Protection of the home

This includes precipitation, flood, ultraviolet radiation, temperature fluctuations, mechanical and biological (fungi, mold, insects, rodents) effects. Ignoring the considered uncertainties can drastically underestimate flooding probability by a factor of 5% too. (Fig the shaded red area indicates the 90% credible intervals of the considering-uncertainty assumption. Furthermore, flood risk management studies often use a prescriptive approach with a constant and perfectly known future rate, for example, 4% per year 10. Also, the shaded areas indicate the 90% credible interval of projected discount rates.

Thermal insulation

If you put insulation under the finishing, it will help to keep the heat inside the premises and at the same time help you save on heating.

Soundproofing

Modern materials used for external cladding allow a minimum amount of sounds from the street to pass through.

Extension of the service life of the house

It is essential that the house elevation cladding is durable to protect the house walls and is unpretentious in maintenance. It is possible to achieve the implementation of all these points only if you choose high-quality cladding.

Allows the house to “breathe” and remove excess moisture from the home to the outside. 

This also protects the room from attracting moisture from the street into the house. Here, finishing is necessary for the house elevation, as it plays an important role. Correct cladding insulates the house walls, keeps the room warm and cool in summer, and does not let the wind and frost in winter.

Historical Changes of House Elevations

The building’s exterior decor, proportions, and shapes are designed per a specific architectural style, while each building will have its design and, accordingly, its appearance. The skin of mammoths and other wild animals usually covered the first residential buildings set up by man – this is what the “house elevation material” was in the Paleolithic period. But already in the Mesolithic, their dwellings’ exterior was made of adobe or coated with clay.

During antiquity, there was a real take-off in architecture. The building has acquired sophistication, order, and a clear form. The architectural techniques used found an echo in the subsequent styles of the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Classicism.

Ancient masters created columns with luxurious capitals, stucco bas-relief, vignettes, and friezes, and now it is only being repeated using modern materials.

The peak of the flourishing of house elevation falls on the Baroque period. Elements of the exterior in this era were particularly complex; voluminous bas-reliefs with many small, well-worked details were often used. But unlike the Gothic, the buildings were rounded.

Now;

Gothic buildings stretched upward, and the decor itself was complex but depressing. Gothic architecture’s goal was to show the baseness of a person before God and the inevitable punishment after death.

Modernism, which appeared in the 19th century, partially departed from the canons of antiquity. The house elevation of most homes started becoming much more straightforward, but at the same time, they were not devoid of exciting decor – bizarre shapes, floral ornaments, and stained glass windows. Subsequent directions came up, which were more and more inclined towards simplicity and brevity.

The initial elevations of modern styles (high-tech, minimalism, and loft) were devoid of unique decor. The process also emphasized finishing materials and their smooth surface, devoid of excesses in them. This is unlike the Romanesque style. The exterior was represented by rough natural stone, strict geometry, and the latest materials reign in modern trends – metal siding, plastic, wood-composite panels, energy-saving double-glazed windows the size of a wall.

Today, the decoration of buildings’ elevation takes directions such as classic, postmodern and modern trends – high-tech, bio-tech, eco-style, minimalism, constructivism, and loft. It’s all dependent on the homeowner’s preferences, the architect’s ideas, and the city council’s permits for constructing new objects in a particular area and changes in old buildings’ exterior.

Variety of Modern House Elevations

The house elevation is the first thing your guests see, so it must look representative and neat. Besides the primary front side, other walls are also distinguished near the building, as seen from the above highlight. You can classify the modern house elevation according to its constructive quality. And this goes thus:

Stones

To carry out finishing work on the building’s elevation, it is most often customary to use stones due to their durability and pleasant appearance. Both artificial and natural materials are equally usedble. Among natural stones, professionals often use marble, limestone, gabbro, and granite. Concerning artificially made stone, special architectural concrete, which is also called a white stone, has long been in particular demand for decorative finishing of the front part. With its help, you can easily create elegant finishing elements for the home elevation.

Elevation cassettes

These are metal or composite elements that you can quickly install on the structure according to the house elevation principle. The pieces are geometrically correct and have curved edges to help create a solid finish.

They are also lightweight; therefore, you can use them to finish structures with long service life and controversial strength characteristics. Facade cassettes are a versatile material because they are suitable for cladding buildings for various purposes such as:

• offices;
• entertainment and shopping centers;
• sports complexes;
• Residential buildings.

Together with facade cassettes, glazing use, making the house elevation lighter and airier.

Sandwich panels

This is a modern way to decorate your home. This element consists of three layers:

• Back rigid sheet – can be smooth or have a relief surface.
• Insulation – both mineral and synthetic options are good.
• External rigid sheet: Usually, it is a metal coat with a polymer dye. Some manufacturers make imitations for natural stone, wood, or brickwork.

Sandwich panels solve two problems at once – insulation and cladding. There is no need to buy two different materials and deal with the installation first and then mount the other. Also, panels act as a barrier against negative factors and help reduce noise entering the house from the street.

Plaster 

This plaster method calls one of the oldest. Previously, the siding includes a “fur coat,” the mortar throws onto the outer walls and not leveled; thus, obtaining a layer of the same thickness with slight irregularities.

Now, using plaster, they create unique patterns of the type:

• Bark beetle
• Tiny fractions of natural stones in addition to the mosaic
• Smooth surface.
• Texture. 

To do this, use embossed rollers, special tools, or improvised materials.

As before, plaster protects the main structure from the destructive effects of the external environment. But today, formulations develop that support easy application to any surface. 

What are House Elevations: FAQs?

What does elevation mean in a house?

The house’s elevation (from antiquity – the face, attire of the building) is the outer or its front side. Architects and builders also refer to this as drawing an orthogonal projection of a building onto a vertical plane.

What are building elevations?

As earlier highlighted, building elevations entail the front side of a home.

How do I choose the elevation of my home?

When choosing the elevation of your home, diverse options exist. These include:

• Stones 
• Elevation cassettes 
• Sandwich panels 
• Plaster

Conclusion

In conclusion, house elevations come with great merits. Furthermore, if you desire to learn what are house elevations, and all their variants, the highlight above would be indispensable.