Partial Checklist for Architectural Design

Here are some issues to check for your design.

• 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 50’ (if building is sprinkled) 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

Assignment 1 Comments

Assignment 1 seemed to go fairly smoothly overall with only a few groups having minor hiccups. As it's the beginning of term, we'd like to remind you all that you should review the rubric before you finalize your website. You can see exactly what we'll be giving you points for, so completing everything on the rubric will go a long way towards getting a good grade.

Another point we'd like to emphasize is that you all need to complete the teamwork assessments after every assignment. They're easy to complete and have a noticeable impact on your final grade.

Finally, we just wanted to note that you should all try to put a good effort into the class this term. These assignments mirror what you'll be doing in senior design fairly closely, especially if any of you have Professor Mitchell as your adviser. Paying attention now and making a real effort in this class is a great start towards preparing yourself for the senior design process.

Keep up the excellent work throughout the term.

Best,

The Graders

Steve and Brad