What is a North Elevation (when outside a Building)? 

Explanation with Words:

• Imagine you are standing north of a building, outside the building, but facing the building in a Southerly direction.
• What direction are you facing? You are facing south.
• The view of the building that you are seeing is called the “north elevation”. It is basically what you see while looking South, when you are standing North of a particular building. A little tricky hey? It’s simple enough, but it’s extremely important that you get this distinction right. Here is a plan drawing.

Pop Quiz:

What is the north Elevation in the drawing below?

Here is the answer:

Diagrammatic Explanation of What a North Elevation (outside a building) is:

What are East, West and South Elevations?

Well, you’d basically have to face the opposite of the respective directions, and look at the building from there. For an East elevation, see the building while looking in a Westerly direction. For a West elevation, look at the building while facing East. All of this applies when outside the building.

Hope that’s clear/helps. Any questions? Just post a comment.