A structural engineer once told me at a CSI meeting that he wished architects would just give them the space, let the engineer design the building then let the architect tack on all their flu-flu crap. Though the statement got a lot of agreement from most of the contractors, subs and even MEP’S, the architect’s in the room were silent.
Why? It speaks to the general resistence in the design community to others in the design path to design build, or even design assist. The structural engineer is in a position in the design chain that their work really stands higher on the food chain of a project than the other consultants. Their requirements take precedence over the rest of the elements. Everybody else works around them. This is where collaboration with knowledgeable builder is valuable.
Most designs start by space planning. Unfortunately most space planning is done in 2D. The client thinks in terms of floor square footage, not vertical square footage and the architect goes along. This method works fine in some environments, such as office, retail, even medical but in others it can be a disaster.
Religious facilities, hospitality, meeting/convention and theatrical facilities require upward planning. All to often a church with a requirement of higher ceilings in the nave gets stuck with a narthex of the same ceiling space in a room of 1/8th the floor space. You end up with a room that feels like you’re standing in an elevator shaft.
To think vertical you have to start with the minimum requirements of elevation. In a theater stage you have inherent height requirements. A stage with a fly-space can require great heights depending on the sophistication of the performance. On the other hand a church’s highest furnishing or fixture is usually the corpus and cross (For western religions). Of course in many of the older churches, especially Eastern churches the Iconostasis is the highest interior structure. This is particularly found in Byzantine design. The key to designing to these elements is to grow the structure from them, not build it to them.
In any case volume spatiality is taught in design school. At least it was when I was there. Unfortunately this gets forgotten during the space planning phase. When the horizontal plane, the vertical spaces added-then the space leading up to them is complete the building is ready for the structural elements and MEP.
Lighting and mechanical can be a challenge in difficult spaces. When you need to depend on chases and soffits most often filled with other components such as fire suppression, early planning can make all of the difference. The standard thought on soffits is to make them as small as possible since they are only there because of necessity. They’re viewed much the same as mechanical chases. Unrentable space (Non-income producing) needs to be minimized as best possible. Before BIM or 3D was developed, chases just meant the subcontractors raced to get there first. With good planning, there can be room for everyone. Elements like this is where team collaboration is important. It is also where the contractor’s and subcontractor input is invaluable.
In many cases soffits and chases are really forgotten elements of the project. Though they are necessary, they’re really just a bane on design. The architect draws the space, the structural engineer may included it in his plan IF there are structural elements in it. For the most part, details are forgotten and all to often the architects plans refer to structural details that are non existent. In a Revit model this is also where you’ll see the use of “standard 4″ wall” or similar. In other words, nobody has taken it seriously enough to think of things such as how far the 2″ ceiling joists can span without support. If you fill the space with a large supply or return duct, can lighting or fire sprinklers be installed under it? If so, how will they be supported? These are the nuts and bolt items that the contractors input is necessary. We’re also finding more and more contractors are turning to modeling solutions such as Revit, Bentley Systems or ArchiCAD. For the contractor you need to look at what the designers in your area and that you work with are using.
