As you evaluate the design against the site you will learn a lot about what will work. Your architect should have tools for evaluating solar exposures and will have a great deal of good advise to offer. Evaluating architect drawings Eventually, after lots of discussions and brainstorms the architect will come back with the first design ideas on paper. It can be really hard to visualize structures from drawings. Ask for elevation drawings.
Elevations show three dimensions.
You will need to figure out a process for evaluating a good plan from a not so good plan. Remember that this is a design concept and it is OK to have some rough edges here. Depending on your architect your concept may be very rough, with only circles or other rough sketches, or it may be more refined. Your goal is to get all the elements on the site, in roughly the places you want them to go, with the relationships between the elements factored in. It is common that the group may generate several designs, of each of which has some proponent.