In our reading this week, we talked about site considerations and building enclosures. The site of a building is picked by an architect, but where it is located will impact the job of the interior designer. The process is broken down into divisions: Structural systems, Mechanical, plumbing, electrical systems (MPE), Enclosure systems, and Interior systems. When an architect is choosing a site they have to take into consideration the building's relationship to sun, prevailing winds, and site additions impact energy use and natural daylight that enters the interior.
The sun is the biggest thing that impacts the interior design of a building. The angle is constantly changing depending on the time of day and the month. We live in the North, and during the winter the sun exposure on our buildings is more harsh. So when building in the North the architect needs to take into mind that the South side of the building will get plenty of sun exposure. The sun affects an interior designer in the way that we have to fix the problem with how we set up the inside. A light shelf is a great way to redirect the rays of the sun and aim it towards the ceiling. Sunlight is also an advantage because it brings natural lighting into a room.
Another big part of our reading was talking about roofing. Each roofing type does something
different. The goal of the roof is to shed water away from the roof framing and the interior.
Most roof framing is made from wood, metal, or concrete. Most residential houses have wood framing where concrete and steel framing is used more for commercial buildings. Another part of roof framing are the trusses. Trusses can be exposed or boxed. Having exposed trusses is a part of the ascetic and it helps with the ventilations system in the attic. If there are boxed trusses there has to be another way of ventilation. By not ventilating the attic, the heat will stay up there and mold will start to grow when moisture starts to creep in. Low pitched roofs have a 3:12 ratio and a high pitched roof has to be 4:12 ratio or above.
The summary of the chapter is important for interior designers to understand how a building is sited and the possible ramifications of siting on interior considerations such as natural light, heat gain, and views.
Case Study: HAWAC
HAWAC is a LEED gold certified building that sustains itself. It is an 88,000 sq ft. building. “The building’s custom-fabricated wall panels look like copper, but are actually flat metal sheets coated with Valspar’s signature Fluropon Copper Penny coating.” (Building Design and Construction) These metal sheets reflect the light so that the building does not heat up as much. Instead the building sustains itself through reducing solar consumption and emissions and it utilizes natural ventilation systems.
I really liked the graphic you used to depict the difference the seasons make on the path of the sun and how important it is to take that into consideration. I also liked how specific you got on the materials used on the HWAC building, although it might have been nice to read a little more detail on the systems in the design and how they are used.
ReplyDeleteEmmaline,
ReplyDeleteThis is a good first Blogging entry. Your summary of the sun's effect on the building site was great. I like how you also summarized the specific roofing systems and materials. It looked like you tried to add images but they are not showing. Please add more images to compliment what you are describing. Also site any information you are pulling from the textbook...ie( Tucker pg 23).
Your summary of HAWAC started out very detailed concerning the custom paneled wall sections. This is what I am looking for but you need to add a lot more information on other aspects of the site, window location and other issues of sustainability.
Your whole Blog entry will take you at least one- two hours to create.