Notes from Baruch and Grad Students

Hey everyone,

I took some notes during crits on Wednesday about small things to do with technical aspects and building code that Baruch and the grad students mentioned. Thought they might be of use...

- residential floor heights approximately 9-10'
- mechanical penthouses for elevators needed
- separate loading and passenger elevators are usually a good idea - if not, passenger elevators should accommodate loading requirements
- flexible units are good for student residences - Schroeder House is a good precedent
- make sure your 3rd space is more than a lounge or a cafe - it must reflect the programming of the building (aka DMZ)
- try and keep your vertical transportation systems together (stairs and elevators)
- all living spaces and bedrooms require windows/ventilation
- minimum of 200 sq. ft. for residential living spaces
- kitchen and washroom spaces should be located along the same walls (wet walls) - keep plumbing grouped
- fan coil units should be located on the exterior wall and become part of window wall system - if not make sure to include duct work to bring to exterior
- duct work needs to be included for air supply and exchanges
- minimum residential bathroom size (1.5m x 2.5m)
- minimum bedroom size (2.5m x 3m)
- minimum barrier free bathroom size (4.5 m sq.)
- accessibility requires 1.5m diameter - aside from this, don't just design to meet this requirement - mentally put yourself in the space and design for convenience
            - space beside toilet for wheelchair
            - sink without cabinet under
            - doors swing IN to bathrooms/other rooms
            - consider addressing other needs for occupants such as those hard of hearing and blind
            - kitchen - lower fridge and counters, counter top stove, etc.)
            - 600mm needed between door and wall on side of in-swing
            - 2' clearance beside door on side of out-swing
- consider things like parapet, roof drains, mechanical penthouse, stairs for roof access (at least one)
- elevator shafts have pits - these extend to the basement
- basements need TWO exits
- mech. unit 30-40% of roof area (this includes chiller, mech. and elevator shafts, etc)
- 40% of roof as green roof
- plumbing wall (wet wall) 150mm thickness
- for residential units - 2' depth for closets is all that is needed (610mm)
- for people using steel construction - don't forget that any construction at and below grade will still be concrete
- drawing conventions:
                - draw dotted lines to show what is happening above and below spaces that are open
                - property line on your ground floor plan should be shown dotted
                - rather than drawing an "X" through "open to below" conditions, sometimes it is better to
                  write "open to below" if there are walls and other lines to show in the space - avoid
                  confusion
- dead end hallways: to put it simply - a hallway where you can step out of your unit and see only ONE  fire exit. In this case:
                - distance between the unit door and exit can be no greater than 6m for residential
                - distance between door and exit can be no greater than 9m for commercial
- remember railings on your staircases

Hope this helps!