Section 3a - Design Concept Development
Use the boundary map and contour map as your starting point to focus on the following:
Water
Without water, there is no life. Conserving, pacifying, and controlling water is the lifeblood of our design work, and even where water is not a dire concern it deserves due consideration and care.
Water can be caught on hard surfaces, we can direct runoff water, waterlogged and saturated soils may need adjustment, sudden or seasonal floods may be an issue. Our aim is to recognise the treatment of water which will best serve the site, and provide the highest (and least wasteful) use of this valuable resource.
Looking at your contour map, identify the following:
The longest contour in linear feet on site.
The highest contour in elevation on the site.
Between these two extremes, there will be a contour which is sufficiently elevated, and sufficiently long to provide the best position to begin influencing water on site. What contour elevation is this? This would be the ideal position for your primary swale (if appropriate for the site).
It is worth noting that on some sites multiple portions of the site will require this assessment because of a dividing ridge or other feature prevents a single contour from addressing the whole area. Start with the most relevant area first (probably the one that affects your zone 1) to record here.
Record those contours/elevations here:
Is a (or are several) swale(s) appropriate on this site? (Yes or No)
If yes, provide the results of your calculations for the following:
Catchment area that the primary swale will need to control.
Total volume that this swale will be able to hold (based on width and depth) before discharge begins.
The required discharge rates during extreme rain events.
The size of the spillway(s) needed to handle the worst case scenario precipitation event for your site.
If yes, describe the following:
Will this single swale be the only one in your design or will there be more?
How will your swales interact and interface with each other? This is to accompany what you will illustrate on your map.
How will your discharge from your swale(s) be handled, where will it go? If there is more than one, these details should be describe for each.
If no swales are intended in your design, do consider: except for the smallest sites some control of water is nearly always needed: How are you planning to address this in the design? Paint us a clear and descriptive picture of the details.
Are there ponds, dams, or other bodies of water on site or designated by the design? (Yes or No) This includes what is there and what the design wishes to place there.
If Yes, Describe the following:
Location of the site.
Total volume held for each.
Required discharge rates during extreme rain events for each
Required spillway size to handle extreme rain events for each
How will each body of water fit into your site water plan?
Connections and interactions between different water elements is a key facet of design.
Understanding the connections between these elements will at this stage enhance your explanation of water flows around your site when you create the W.A.S. map, and when you are writing about this as the FDE form requests later.
Describe the potable rainwater catchment opportunities which are presented on the site and the systems the design includes to take advantage of these.
What portion of household water needs will this system supply?
When the system overflows, how is this addressed by the design?
When this system is exhausted what alternatives does the design include?
Access
Often, access on the site is inherited and not always ideally placed. Sometimes this can be mitigated by addressing the existing problem the right way, other times major intervention may be needed to put things right. As a great amount of time spent on site will be spent coming and going, efficiency and proper placement of access pays great dividends in time, especially over the life of a system we hope to measure in decades if not longer.
Describe proposed new access on site.
List the access that is being added as part of the design.
Explain the benefits and purpose of each in the larger context of the site.
How does the new access address issues with the old?
Describe the existing access on site.
List the access that is present.
Explain the good, and the bad, about each in terms of the design.
Identify which issues can be fully fixed, partly fixed, or may need a complete reinstallation to fix.
Provide examples of how the access (new and existing) in the design will harmonise with the water plans.
List examples as appropriate
Explain the positive interactions and connections between the two.
Describe your experience fitting the water elements into the design constrained by the existing access and creating new access that harmonised with the larger water plan. (1-2 paragraphs)
Structures
Like access, many sites start with a structure or two present already. We look at structures third in the W.A.S. process to ensure the imperative water considerations and important access considerations are given due precedence. Siting your house on the best dam site, or placing a road in an area where water needs to be able to pass easily can generate much more complicated and expensive "solutions" to problems that could have been avoided.
Are there existing structures on the site? (Yes or No)
If yes, Describe the existing structures on the site.
Location on site
Their type (and use)
Aspect/Orientation
Explain the benefits and purpose of each in the larger context of the design.
Provide examples of how the structures (new and existing) in the design fit within the context of the water and access to the benefit of the design.
List examples as appropriate
Explain the positive interactions and connections between them.
Describe your approach to fitting the structures into the context imposed by your Water and Access plans (1-2 paragraphs)
WAS Maps Guidelines
Files should be in JPEG format and ideally less than 4MB in size.
Water Map
This should clearly illustrate and legibly label the water elements within the design. As part of making this map a useful tool, for some sites addressing portions of the site may be a superior presentation compared to a single map only. A single site map, scaled to handle the whole site can be used to provide the "key" to where each more detailed sub-map fits into the larger whole, and each sub-map can be at a different scale appropriate to the area and details being covered.
It is also worth noting that a water map like we are asking for can depict any "flow" paths very easily so that one need not imagine where a drop of water will go. Starting at the top of your site one could follow the flow of water all the way from source to sink because you have included on the map indicators for where water enters, leaves, or flows through the different water elements in the design.
Be sure to include any:
Bodies of water.
Water harvesting systems
Water storage or control systems
Water discharge, diversion, and dissipation systems
Earthworks or other installations whose purpose covers any of the above.
Do not include:
Contour data
Site design details which have their own dedicated map
Anything that makes it harder to read, find, or see, the details required for this map as described above.
This map is the place where you may include extra details about the water interactions and systems within the design that will not appear on other maps.
Access Map
This image should clearly illustrate and legibly label the access elements within the design.
As part of making this map a useful tool, for some sites addressing portions of the site with additional maps (detail drawings) which allow for the appropriate amount of detail may be a superior presentation compared to a single map only. A single site map, scaled to handle the whole site can be used to provide the "key" to where each more detailed sub-map fits into the larger whole, and each sub-map can be at a different scale appropriate to the area and details being covered.
It may be useful to indicate existing access and new access differently on the map as well for easy differentiation.
Be sure to include any:
Roads
Tracks
Paths
Laneways
Driveways
Earthworks or other installations whose purpose serves any of the above.
Temporary, seasonal, or "equipment only" access, if applicable.
Do not include:
Contour data
This map is the place where you may include extra details about the access, access interactions, or access systems within the design that will not appear on other maps.
Structure Map
This image should clearly illustrate and legibly label the structure elements within the design.
As part of making this map a useful tool, clear labels and legends are a must. If necessary, a separate page with an ideally sized and detailed legend is preferable to trying to fit too much information in too little space on a single page.
Be sure to include any:
Homes
Outbuildings
Fences
Gates
Greenhouses
Temporary structures
Do not include:
Contour data
This map is the place where you may include extra details about the structures, and structure interactions within the design that will not appear on other maps.
This map is the place to include extra details about these elements and interactions within the design that may not appear on other maps.
W.A.S. Map
This image should combine, summarise, and elegantly present only relevant details from each about the Water, Access, and Structure maps you have already prepared. As such, it is a place to balance the most important details from those 3 maps in a way that creates a tool to explain where each of the aspects of the mainframe interact with each other. When explaining the design to a client, or going over the design with a colleague, this map is likely where you would start, switching to a more specific map only when delving into more specifics is necessary.
Be sure to favour the inclusion of details that make it clear how the different aspects of our three mainframe design legs harmonise with each other and promote our goals for the site.
For example on this map:
Should show major access, and not show intricate micropaths through the garden.
Should show bodies of water and main supply lines or flows, and not show every irrigation pipe in the greenhouse.
Should show clearly the zone 0 structure, and major structures likely to be of use but not show every utility shed or lean-to on the site.
The better you strike the balance between details on this combined map, the more useful it will be in conversations with your clients and in moving forward with your design.
This map is the place to depict the high notes and interactions between the mainframe design points, even if that excludes some details that will appear on other maps.