Integrative Systems: Examples of Student Work
A primary element of the course is a series of exercises designed to supplement each series of Lessons and provide students with first-hand experience in integrating building systems into a holistic design methodology in support of their ongoing work in studio. Each exercise is carefully constructed to prompt students to consider a range of regulatory, material and construction topics and to provide provisional solutions to inform and stimulate their work and discussions in design studio.
What follows are a range of examples of student work prompted by these exercises which demonstrate the effectiveness of the course format which builds core knowledge of building systems topics through weekly Lessons, combining working experience with building system design and integration within the broad spectrum of studio design pedagogy.
Code Review
The goal of this exercise is to review important concepts on the subject of the how the building code relates Allowable Building Height and Area to Occupancy Groups and Construction Types. The exercise is designed to provide experience working with the code to better understand how the relations between three topics directly impact to early Schematic Design decision making.
Follow this link to the exercise introduction.
Follow this link to see examples of student Code Review exercises.
Site Environmental Design
The goal of this exercise is to inform and empower your work in studio in incorporating sustainable design strategies during the early schematic design phase.
Follow this link to the exercise introduction.
Follow this link to see examples of student Site Environmental Design exercises.
Egress Systems Design
The goal of this exercise is to review some key egress design concepts and code requirement so that students are empowered to efficiently and effectively incorporate a credible egress system into an overall building plan and section design work in studio.
Follow this link to the exercise introduction.
Follow this link to see examples of student Egress System Design exercises.
Structural Systems Selection
In this exercise student teams are tasked with developing strategies for proposing and evaluating structural system options for their studio projects.
Using structural guidelines and member performance tables presented in course lessons, teams will evaluate select structural systems based on material, geometry and assembly processes to match their individual project opportunities and constraints.
Follow this link to the exercise introduction.
Follow this link to see examples of student Structural Systems Selection exercises.
Structural Systems Organization and Member Sizing
In the development of structural systems and their integration with housing design the cross section of buildings and given spaces become crucial design documents. Understanding the depth of spanning members is a key piece of coordination between the architect and engineer.
This exercise asks student teams to determine the cross sectional dimensions of representative structural members using their chosen system materials to achieve a desired support and stiffness. These structural members form is chosen to balance material and performance.
Follow this link to the exercise introduction.
Follow this link to see examples of student work with this exercise.
Active Environmental Systems Selection and Organization
This exercise gives student teams the experience in evaluating and selecting all components of the active system for energy distribution, heating, cooling, air handling, warm water heating and renewable energy. Following the instructions given in the video lesson and the PDF handout teams will develop an overall Energy Concept of their building diagramming the major components of the active systems. The exercise the asks teams to develop their Energy Distribution system (the system that delivers the heat/cold into the room) overlaid on the floor plan and the section of one of the residential units of their project. These developed drawings indicate all components of the energy distribution system including all connections, location of heating/cooling unit, areas of dropped ceiling (for mechanical ventilation.) Video lessons and handouts are provided in support of the exercise.
Facade Design: Composition, Material Selection and Assembly
The goal of this exercise is to develop and test of facade compositional strategies as well as test material and assembly choices for the building envelope system and for the eventual development of your integrated facade and wall section drawings for studio.
Wall Section Development
This exercise asks student teams to develop a holistic wall section drawing bringing which documents the integration of their structural, active environmental and facade systems.
Specifications
In this exercise, students teams developed an overall specification outline for their studio projects. In conjunction with their wall section exercise, teams selected three materials / assembly and explicitly develop the three constituent CSI Parts of the related specification sections.
Building Costs
Student teams developed outline cost estimates for their studio projects, utilizing the National Building Costs Manual based on square foot costs, construction and material standards, as well as location pricing factors. Additional costs for line item components such as elevator systems and plumbing were included to demonstrate the relationship between initial broad brush cost estimating and that from full component and material take-offs.
Follow this link to the exercise instructions.
