Snow Day–Staying Productive

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.

• Site

• How do vehicles access the site – and exit from it?

• Employees

• Visitors

• Service vehicles

• Emergency vehicles

• How important is pedestrian access?

• Where do they come from and go to?  Make assumptions if necessary.

• Is it important for your building to be visible from the roads?  If so:

• What aspect of the building should be emphasized?

• Does this mean the building should be right at the corner or somewhere else on the site?

• Building Plans

• Circulation

• Where is the main employee entrance?

• Where is the main service entrance?

• Should the visitor entrance be separate?

• Does every occupant have two separate protected exit paths to the exterior within 20’ of leaving their room/suite?

• Is there a need for a passenger and/or freight elevator?

• Adjacency

• Are the rooms/spaces of the building that need to be together in fact together

• Check what the building program said about this.

• Views

• Are there exterior views from the building that you should be taking advantage of?

• Energy Use

• Is the form or orientation of your building going to make it particularly costly or economical to occupy.

• 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.

• Space Provision

• Have you checked the sizes of the spaces against what the program required?

• If there are differences can you explain why you made the changes?

• Building Elevations

• Are your elevations important for aesthetic impact?

• if so, what are their characteristics that address that impact?

• Are those elevations (and potentially roof skylights) going to help or hinder the building’s energy use?

• Related to this is the question of what are the materials of which the exterior envelope is made?

• Provision for Engineering Systems

• What’s the longest span in your building?

• Have you allowed enough depth for that span and HVAC and electrical systems?

• Will it be possible to address lateral loads with your design?

• Are their provisions for HVAC and plumbing equipment?

• Space in the floor plan that allows good duct runs, outside air and exhaust air, equipment servicing

• Is their sufficient space above the ceiling (or below the floor) for HVAC duct runs?

• These issues are often best considered via building sections.

• Are there vertical shafts sufficient for HVAC ducts (supply and return)

• Acoustic Issues

• Have you separated noisy spaces (e.g. mechanical rooms) from quiet spaces?

• Are there any special acoustic requirements that might affect the floor plan