At the National Design Academy, our students quickly discover that mastering plans, elevations, and sections is essential. These drawing types are the foundation of both interior design and architectural design without them, you really can’t communicate your ideas clearly to clients, tutors, or contractors.
This blog expands on our original video to show you exactly how these drawing views work, using simplified diagrams and examples from learning resources available on our Virtual Learning Studio (VLS). You’ll also see how these skills connect to our courses and the kind of student work they inspire.
We’ll use the orange analogy throughout: where slicing the fruit horizontally shows a plan, looking at its peel from the side shows an elevation, and cutting through the middle reveals a section. This simple comparison will help you quickly differentiate the three views.
What is a Plan?
Imagine lifting the roof off a building and looking straight down. That’s a plan view: a map-like drawing showing how walls, doors, and furniture sit in relation to each other.
In simple terms: a plan is a top-down drawing that shows the layout of a space from above.
Key features of a plan:
- Cut around 1.2m above the finished floor to capture doors, walls, and furniture.
- Shows dimensions and spatial relationships.
- Essential for planning room flow, layouts, and proportions.
What is an Elevation?
Now imagine standing inside the room and facing one wall directly – that’s an elevation. It shows vertical details like finishes, cabinetry, tile layouts, and lighting.
In simple terms: an elevation is a straight-on drawing of a wall or façade, used to show finishes and fittings.
Key features of an elevation:
- 2D side-on view of a room or building façade.
- Highlights the look and feel of surfaces.
- Ideal for testing finishes, proportions, and built-in features.
What is a Section?
A section slices through a building, like cutting a cake to reveal the layers inside. It shows ceiling heights, stairs, split levels, and other structural details.
In simple terms: a section is a cut-through drawing that shows interior details, ceiling heights, and structural relationships.
Key features of a section:
- Vertical cut exposing internal structure.
- Reveals proportions, heights, and construction details.
- Essential for understanding how spaces connect vertically.
Watch the Video
Senior Tutor Amy takes us through the orange analogy in this video below – showing how plans, elevations, and sections can be explained in a simple, memorable way. This is the same style of teaching students receive in the Virtual Learning Studio (VLS), where concepts are broken down with visuals and examples to make technical drawing clear and approachable.
Plans, elevations, and sections are three perspectives on the same story. Learning how to use them means you can explain your design ideas clearly, whether to a tutor, client, or contractor.
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