Site Plan Essentials
Turn a 3D SketchUp model of Fallingwater into a polished site plan presentation. You'll organise model layers by building and terrain, generate topo lines at 250mm, 1m, and 5m intervals, export to Layout and AutoCAD for line weight control, then composite everything in Photoshop with custom textures, entourage, and grunge overlays.
- 2+ hours of premium content
- 5 step-by-step video lessons
- Future updates included
About this course
This course takes you from a SketchUp model to a finished site plan presentation using Photoshop. You'll start by understanding site plan purposes—orientation, zoning compliance, circulation, landscaping—and scales from 1:200 detail drawings to 1:2000 regional context. Using Fallingwater as the project, you'll organise SketchUp tags for the main house, guest house, and terrain, then generate topo lines at 250mm, 1m, and 5m intervals. Export to Layout and AutoCAD for line weight control, then composite in Photoshop at 300 DPI. The final lessons cover creating tileable textures for grass and paving, adding entourage (trees, vehicles, people), and finishing with grunge overlays and colour adjustments.
This specialized site plan course develops your expertise in creating compelling architectural presentations that effectively communicate building-to-site relationships. Through comprehensive exploration of composition principles and digital enhancement techniques, you'll master the art of transforming technical drawings into powerful visual communications.
The curriculum emphasizes advanced Photoshop compositing techniques that elevate site plans from purely technical documentation to compelling architectural presentations. You'll learn texture application, entourage integration, and graphic refinement strategies that maintain technical accuracy while achieving visual impact.
Advanced presentation techniques include layer organization strategies, drawing setup methodologies, and professional enhancement workflows that serve multiple purposes from client presentations to planning submissions. The course covers both technical accuracy requirements and visual communication principles.
These specialized skills position you to create site plans that distinguish your architectural presentations in competitive markets where compelling visual communication can determine project success and client satisfaction.
What will you learn?
Loading lesson previews...
This course will turn you into:
A layer organisation specialist
Set up SketchUp tags for buildings, terrain, and topo lines. Generate contours using the intersection technique. Export to Layout and AutoCAD for line weight control.
A Photoshop compositor
Import PDFs at 300 DPI, organise into layer groups, and use multiply blend modes. Apply layer masks with colour range selection to isolate zones.
A texture and entourage artist
Create tileable patterns for grass, paving, and water. Add trees, vehicles, and people with blend modes and shadows. Polish with grunge overlays.
Syllabus
Site plans communicate orientation, property boundaries, zoning compliance, and circulation patterns. Scales range from 1:200-1:500 for building detail, 1:500-1:2000 for neighbourhood context, and 1:2000+ for regional overview. Review precedent examples to inform your graphic style before starting the Fallingwater project.
Using a detailed SketchUp model of Fallingwater with main house, guest house, and terrain. Organise tags to control visibility of each element separately. Generate topo lines at 250mm, 1m, and 5m intervals using the intersection technique. Create scenes for each layer combination, then export to Layout and AutoCAD for line weight control and plot style setup.
Create an A2 document at 300 DPI in landscape orientation. Import the AutoCAD PDFs using Place Linked or Place Embedded—linked keeps file size down but requires sending all references together. Organise layers into groups, rotate any portrait exports, and align everything at 100% scale. Set blend modes to multiply so linework overlaps correctly.
Photoshop's default patterns won't cut it—create custom tileable textures for grass, paving, and water. Compare regular photographs (visible tiling edges) versus specialised seamless textures designed for architectural visualisation. Define patterns via Edit > Define Pattern, then apply as fill layers with adjustable scale. Use layer masks and colour range selection to confine textures to specific material zones.
Add trees, vehicles, and people using blend modes and drop shadows for natural integration. Apply grunge overlays to add texture and age to the drawing. Make global brightness and contrast adjustments to unify the composition. The result is a presentation-quality site plan that clearly communicates building-to-site relationships.
Meet your instructor
Radu Fulgheci
Architect
BDP
Hi, I'm Radu. I'm an architect with over ten years of experience using many architectural design and modelling applications, for both professional and academic purposes. Working on challenging, high-profile projects, and international competitions, I've continually sought ways to optimise my workflow, from single to multiple applications, in order to achieve the best results in the shortest time. I believe in constant learning, so regardless of what knowledge level you may be, there is always something new that can help you improve. I want to teach you how to do the same.
What our members are saying
Frequently Asked Questions
ArchAdemia Support
How can we help?