In order to make reasonable decisions during the site-selection process, it helps to have general knowledge about:

• Land Use

• The size of blocks & Hierarchy of streets

• Style Considerations (Urbanism)

• The house is about 27'x50'.

• There is room for a driveway in the front.

For deciding how to site the building, it helps to know:

• Form-Based Codes: how much space is needed for a house, for a driveway/garage, for a yard, for a garden, how to shape a cluster, how to position a house for sunlight

• Dynamic Codes, such as privacy requirements like setbacks from the road and neighboring houses, what views tend to be important to people, rules about plants/trees

• Negotiated Rights: ways to negotiate shared space with neighbors

• The second-story porch has views up and down the street. It is more private being on the second story.

To determine the building's massing, it helps to know:

• Form-Based Codes: rules about density, rules about building types

• Massing Rules: rules about proportion/scale, 

• Style Considerations (Architecture): what elements are necessary to convey its style, its use, style compatibility, etc.

To lay out the house, it helps to know:

• Spatial Rules like general sizes for most activities, rules about circulation, rules about privacy, maximizing sunlight and views

• Programmatic Rules like important adjacencies, different user groups, what activities are prioritized given available space, how to combine uses, find equivalent uses, etc.

It helps to know about construction methods, materials, HVAC, structural rules of thumb, furniture layouts, technology and appliances, style details, etc. Style Renders offer a quick way to visualize ideas.