Buildings are much larger than the drawings we use to represent them. So how do we accurately communicate the true sizes of a building's parts? Architectural drawings are made to scale, meaning that a given length on a drawing corresponds to a specific length in reality. For example, a floor plan could be drawn at a scale of 1/4" = 1'-0", meaning that each quarter inch on the drawing represents one foot of the floor plan's actual size. So, at this scale, a doorway that is 3'-0" wide would be 3/4" wide in the drawing.
A drawing's scale often corresponds with what type of information the drawing is intended to communicate. For example, a site plan, which typically shows not only a building but a large portion of its surroundings, is usually drawn at a much smaller scale (i.e. 1" = 20'-0") than something like the interior plan of a single bedroom (i.e. 1/4" = 1'-0" or 1/2" = 1'-0"), which is in turn smaller than the scale used to depict the joint between a window and its frame (i.e. 1/4" = 1"). In other words, the scale of a drawing is usually related to the level of detail that you want to show.
Below are some resources that introduce how to a) produce a scaled drawing or b) scale an existing drawing to fit your needs.
320 Newbury Street
6th Floor
Boston, MA 02115
T: 617.585.0155
F: 617.585.0151
E: library@the-bac.edu
320 Newbury Street
5th Floor, RM 511
Boston, MA 02115
T: 617.585.0257
E: vrlib@the-bac.edu
951 Boylston Street
RM G6
Boston, MA 02115
T: 617.585.0133
