Architecture Docs
Architecture should communicate like useful technical documentation: clear enough for the person who must act on it, organized around the decisions they need to make, and explicit about versions and assumptions.
Take one small room written up as three spec lines, the way reference docs list the parameters of a call. Each line names a parameter, its rule, the section it cites and the trade that acts on it, and each points at the one element of the plan it governs. The 24 in casework is an owner standard, stated as an assumption rather than checked. Spec v1 pins ICC A117.1-2009: the 66 in room has 6 in to spare around a 60 in turning circle, and 2 of 2 checks pass.
Open the door line and it reads from requirement to installation: at least 32 in clear (§404.2.3), a single leaf that swings out, measured with the door open 90° from the leaf face to the stop. The 34 in opening has 2 in to spare. The line is written for the installer, the person who has to act on it.
An example shows how the rule is used. A 30 in clear opening is 2 in short, and the door line and the door on the plan fail together: 1 of 2 checks pass.
A specification might connect a performance requirement to an applicable assembly and installation guidance, with examples that clarify how to use it. Versioned references also make it possible to identify which standard or code edition a project relied on. The audience is the designer, contractor, or trade implementing the work, not only the person who wrote the document.
Re-pin the spec to ICC A117.1-2017 and one line changes: in a new building the turning circle is 67 in (§304.3.1.1). The changelog records the change, and the same 66 in room is now 1 in short.
Widening the room to 72 in fits the 67 in circle with 5 in to spare, and 2 of 2 checks pass on v2. The drawing stays at one scale, so the wider room reads as wider.
The same edition keeps a 60 in circle for existing buildings (§304.3.1.2). There the 66 in room passes with 6 in to spare.
Documentation can make requirements easier to find and apply; project conditions and professional judgment still determine what is appropriate.