Revealing cohort-scale patterns of siting transforms tacit studio heuristics into teachable material and clarifies architectural siting patterns. In a second-year studio (N = 22) on a complex coastal site, we foreground an architectural reading and operationalize it with cohort-scale visual analytics to make evidence comparable and auditable. We introduce a lightweight, reproducible protocol—neutral-grid remapping of plans, B/P encoding, cohort heatmaps paired with exact permutation alignment to a site-led expert prior, and a local-salience lens—that generalizes across studios and sites. Three interpretable descriptors—focus, spread, breadth—summarize placement; the expert prior (defended edge, upper-terrace elevation, ocean prospect) formalizes a classical siting heuristic. The cohort converges on a nucleus along the upper terrace with a contour-parallel circulation spine, leaving roughly half the admissible field unused. Alignment with the prior is well above chance by exact permutation tests, supported by mass-overlap measures and effect sizes. The outcome is an architectural analysis systematically applied at the cohort level, providing a consistent foundation for evidence-based critique and education, offering quantitative support for recurring heuristics, and presenting a concise, understandable set of siting solutions. These solutions support early briefing and option evaluation without dictating specific formulations.