Architectural Design and Practice
Architectural Design and Practice
This domain tests whether you can carry a design from client brief to certified completion: reading site and planning constraints, developing a defensible design, assembling the professional appointment, and administering the contract. SLIA Part II expects integrated answers, not isolated design theory or office procedure.
Core rules and concepts
- Begin with a written brief and site appraisal: boundaries, levels, access, drainage, solar orientation, monsoon exposure, neighbours, services, and title/planning status.
- Confirm the statutory path early. In Sri Lanka, planning and building approval generally sits with the local authority (Municipal Council, Urban Council or Pradeshiya Sabha); within a declared UDA area, UDA planning clearance and zoning/plot-coverage rules apply. Fire, environmental and accessibility clearances may be separate.
- Design against measurable limits: setbacks, plot coverage, floor area ratio, height, parking, fire access, and universal access. Record each check.
- Practice follows a clear appointment: scope, deliverables, fee, timeline, and limitation of liability. Avoid conflicts such as accepting work from a contractor on a project you administer.
- Contract administration requires contemporaneous records: instructions, variations, valuations, interim certificates, practical completion and defects liability.
Worked example
A client proposes a four-storey apartment building on a 10-perch Colombo lot. First identify zoning and UDA/local-authority limits; calculate permitted coverage and floor area before sketching. Check setbacks, parking, fire tender access, and the accessible route. If the brief exceeds the envelope, issue a written feasibility note with options-reduce units, revise massing, or seek a planning variance-rather than designing an unapprovable scheme. Then confirm the appointment fee and scope for additional approval work.
Traps
Treating planning clearance as building approval; ignoring UDA zoning because the local authority accepts the file; designing before checking coverage; certifying work without site records; and letting a contractor’s “free” design service create a conflict. Marks are lost for unsupported assertions-cite the rule, the check, and the consequence.