We won’t see each other till next Monday thanks to the snow. Here are some suggestions of questions to consider to keep you productive in the meantime.
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Site
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How do vehicles access the site – and exit from it?
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Employees
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Visitors
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Service vehicles
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Emergency vehicles
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How important is pedestrian access?
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Where do they come from and go to? Make assumptions if necessary.
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Is it important for your building to be visible from the roads? If so:
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What aspect of the building should be emphasized?
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Does this mean the building should be right at the corner or somewhere else on the site?
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Building Plans
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Circulation
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Where is the main employee entrance?
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Where is the main service entrance?
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Should the visitor entrance be separate?
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Does every occupant have two separate protected exit paths to the exterior within 20’ of leaving their room/suite?
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Is there a need for a passenger and/or freight elevator?
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Adjacency
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Are the rooms/spaces of the building that need to be together in fact together
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Check what the building program said about this.
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Views
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Are there exterior views from the building that you should be taking advantage of?
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Energy Use
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Is the form or orientation of your building going to make it particularly costly or economical to occupy.
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e.g. In northern climates taking advantage of solar energy for heating often means relatively “skinny” buildings with their long axis east-west to capture sun for both heating and daylighting.
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Space Provision
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Have you checked the sizes of the spaces against what the program required?
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If there are differences can you explain why you made the changes?
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Building Elevations
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Are your elevations important for aesthetic impact?
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if so, what are their characteristics that address that impact?
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Are those elevations (and potentially roof skylights) going to help or hinder the building’s energy use?
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Related to this is the question of what are the materials of which the exterior envelope is made?
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Provision for Engineering Systems
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What’s the longest span in your building?
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Have you allowed enough depth for that span and HVAC and electrical systems?
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Will it be possible to address lateral loads with your design?
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Are their provisions for HVAC and plumbing equipment?
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Space in the floor plan that allows good duct runs, outside air and exhaust air, equipment servicing
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Is their sufficient space above the ceiling (or below the floor) for HVAC duct runs?
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These issues are often best considered via building sections.
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Are there vertical shafts sufficient for HVAC ducts (supply and return)
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Acoustic Issues
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Have you separated noisy spaces (e.g. mechanical rooms) from quiet spaces?
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Are there any special acoustic requirements that might affect the floor plan
