Sami Ford-Week 2

The different systems or divisions that make up a bulding are structural systems, Mechanical, plumbing, and Electrical systems (MPE), enclosure systems, and interior systems.  

Interior designers must be very conscious about the site that their project is built on. Some things that that must be aware of are the sun, wind, cold, and rain, views, and outdoor rooms. A few different considerations that affect the decisions concerning the site are regulations, aesthetic, and Environmental, which includes both natural and manmade.  

The sun impacts the interior of buildings. The sun path is important, certain rooms want the most amount of daylight possible. One thing to avoid is glare, “Glare is unwanted, disruptive light coming from given source” This is something that can reflect off of electronic screens and cause annoyances. This can be prevented by interior designers by implementing window treatments, light shelves, or space planning solutions. Breezes can be optimized with ventilation implements for thermal comfort. “Airlock allows people to enter into a conditioned vestibule prior to entering the main lobby of the space” and prevents cold, wind, and rain from entering the building.  

When a site has prime views, interior designers want to take advantage of this. The earlier in the process that an interior designer is brought in the better. Ideal window placement is key, along with furniture placement. 

Some shallow foundations are a slab on grade, crawl space, and a basement. Some deep foundation systems are piles and caissons. A pile system is mechanically driven into the soil. A caisson system is reinforced cast in place concrete.  

There are several different roof shapes that a building can have, their names are” shed, gable, folded plate, flat with parapet, gambrel, hip, tent-inflated, dome, mansard, and shell. Some materials that are used for roof framing are wood, metal, and concrete. On top of those are roofing materials such as asphalt, wood shake, tile, or slate.  

 

 

The Harm A Weber Academic Center has many different sustainable systems. The exterior walls are stick framed extensions made from pre-cast concrete walls. The primary building material that was also used for the interior structure system is concrete. One example of a sustainable feature in HAWAC is the Hybrid Natural Ventilation Design. It draws cooler air from the lower levels circulating the air throughout the rest of the building. Another way is harvesting daylight. Thick wall cavities help to reduce direct sunlight, while also directing the light to ceilings. Additionally, there is sustainable landscaping and ecological elements including: down lighting, storm water flow, control infiltration through retention and permeable surfaces, with resultant evapo-transpiration.