Discover the Extensive Detail Library Collection
Construction detailing can be a tricky part of a construction project. There are many factors to consider as you move into technical design. Sometimes, having a base point to start from is just what you need.
In this post, we will introduce you to the detail library, explain the different types of details and other resources that are available, and how you can search and filter to find everything you need.
This website is absolutely amazing. Everything is presented so beautifully and is becoming very helpful in our practice.
Georgina, Architect
What You’ll Find in Our Library
The detail library contains hundreds of construction details. The library was started in 2021 with a small collection of around 100+ details taken from Emma Walshaw’s Understanding Architectural Details Books. Since launching the library, we have published new details every month. At the time of writing (August 2024), the library contains over 600 details and continues to grow every month.
At present the library is aimed at sole practitioners and small practices that focus on domestic and small scale residential construction. In the future we plan to expand into more commercial details.
The details cover different types of construction such as masonry, timber frame, steel frame, and other building assemblies related to small scale residential and domestic construction.
We have a strong focus on technical junctions, such as foundation to wall junctions, window details in sections and plans, floor junctions, and wall to roof junctions, along with the many other technical details in between.
In addition to the construction details, we also feature other useful elements. You can find electrical symbols, Part M bathroom layouts and hazard symbols. You can download our construction build up template that consists of all the different building assemblies featured on the library.
Technical Studies and Design Guides
To accompany many of the new details we publish technical studies that explore the best practices and key considerations for specific construction types or technical detailing. These guides provide insight and background to the details and help with an overall understanding to the approach of a specific junction, material or assembly.
All of our technical studies and guides can be found here.
Key Categories and Topics
Basements
Foundations
Floors
Walls
Windows and Doors
Roofs
Internal
Structural
Other / External
New Build
Extension
Retrofit
Passivhaus
Loft Conversion
Garage
ICF
CLT
Steel Frame
Masonry
Timber Frame
Some of our most popular Window and Door Details
Some of our most popular Roof Details
Other popular details
Our most downloaded symbols
How to Navigate and Use the Library
The details are all numbered with different prefixes. Some of these prefixes have come through from the Understanding Architectural Details books, and some are unique to the Detail Library.
You might find that some of our earlier details have been developed further, so similar details might be seen with a DL prefix to some other details seen in the library.
Given the number of details on the library, we have made sure there are multiple ways you can search to find the detail you are looking for.
Search
To search for something specific, click on the magnifying glass icon on the top right of the page to open the search box.
From here you can type your search query.
Browse
You can browse the library by clicking on the Details button at the top of the page. This will provide a selection of the categories to view. You can browse through the categories to see the types of details that are available.
Filtering
For more specified browsing, you can use the filtering function. Click on All Details from the drop down menu. This will present a sidebar with filtering options based on both construction type and building element. This search is useful if you are looking for a specific element, say a window, with a specific type of construction.
Blog
Our blog pages feature the technical studies and design guides, but they also showcase each new detail set every month. This can be a good place to discover the detail sets that are published and view them as a complete series, rather than finding one off details through the search.
All of our blog posts can be found here.
Spreadsheet
All members have access to our full detail spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is updated every month with new details and provides an at a glance overview of all the details. You can search the spreadsheet for any details you are looking for, or just browse the different category tags. To access the spreadsheet go to your account dashboard.
Detail Packs
Our detail packs provide members with a set of details on a similar theme, to easily download in one file. Detail packs are published according to the monthly sets, in addition to sets of details that may be useful to download together.
All of our detail packs can be found here.
Benefits of Using Our Construction Details
The technical design stage of any project can be time consuming and challenging. The Detail Library provides countless resources and construction details to produce a more streamlined workflow, a knowledge base, and more efficient execution of the project.
Having a library of details to start from saves countless hours of work and research, with every detail easily adaptable to suit your project requirements.
Our drawings are produced in line with the Building Regulations, British Standards using additional guidance from LABC best practice and NHBC best practice.
We encourage anyone using the details to ensure they carry out their own research and due diligence, but the details provide a great starting point for your project.
Our team of architects and architectural technologists have years of experience working in different sectors, specialising in many fields from high end residential to large scale commercial. We are constantly striving to improve our service to our members and customers, carrying out detailed research to ensure we produce the most useful content to help architects and designers with their workflow.
What Our Members Say
It’s a great service, saves a lot of time and research and gets the work done quicker than it would otherwise. All the information that I’ll ever need is there. The library is very comprehensive and even with having to make a few tweaks here and there, it’s a game changer.
Researching details is time-consuming. The presentation, in work and drawing, especially the flashing information included, is wonderful.
The quality of the details is excellent. They are well-made and practical to understand if you need to manipulate.
The Detail Library is exactly as we hoped it would be, we are very happy to be paying the subscription price for access to all the details.
The Detail Library is so easy to use, simple, no fuss. It gives us control to manipulate the details and present in a clear manner.
This website is absolutely amazing. Everything is presented so beautifully and is becoming very helpful in our practice.
How to Use the Details in Your Practice
Want to learn more about how the details are used in real life projects? Check out our recent case study that looks at the evolution of the details into a live project.
You can read our case study here.
Get Involved
Request Specific Details
If you would like to request a specific detail, please get in touch. We schedule the production of new details based on popular demand from our members. So if we have enough requests, we do our best to include the new details in one of our monthly updates.
Contribute to the Library
Interested in contributing to the library? We would love to share details and insights from other architects and practices with the Detail Library community. If you think you have a selection of details that our members might find useful, please get in touch.
Conclusion
The library offers a large selection of details within various categories from the residential and domestic field. The resources and details available can save huge amounts of time and improve general workflow in the design process.
Sign up now for annual membership and get unlimited access to all details, no restrictions.
Additional Resources
Below you can see a selection of our most popular content.
Most popular set
Most popular detail pack
Most read technical study
If you have any questions at all about the library or our details, please contact us on hello@detail-library.co.uk we would love to help.
