An elevation drawing is a scaled 2D view that shows one side of a building or room straight on. Unlike a floor plan, which looks down from above, an elevation drawing shows a wall or exterior surface as it would appear when viewed directly from the front. Elevations typically include vertical dimensions, spacing, materials, and other construction details used in architecture, construction, remodeling, and interior design.
Elevation drawings help builders, contractors, and designers clearly communicate ideas with clients and construction teams. They show important vertical details that cannot be understood from a top-down floor plan alone. Elevations can represent an entire house or commercial building, or focus on a specific areas such as a kitchen, bathroom, or a single wall of cabinetry.
You can make any of these types of elevation drawings with SmartDraw:
Elevation drawings are important because they help visualize a house or space better than a top down view. For example, a kitchen elevation can show the upper and lower cabinets together, appliance placement, shelving heights, materials, colors, and finishes all in one view. This makes it easier to understand how the space will both look and function before construction begins.
Elevation drawings help:
Builders rely on elevations to understand:
Interior designers use interior elevations to plan:
Homeowners often use elevation drawings during:
Retail planners use elevations for:
Elevation drawings include technical symbols and annotations such as:
These help contractors and designers interpret the drawing consistently.
SmartDraw can help anyone create elevation drawings easily without a lot of technical training.
The best way to understand elevation drawings is to look at some examples of them. Click on any of these elevation drawings included in SmartDraw and edit them:
Discover why SmartDraw is the easiest elevation drawing creator.