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Showing posts from November, 2021

Building Codes and Regulations

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There are many details to think about when you are an Interior Designer.  We do not just create a floor plan or choose the colors and furniture without taking into consideration the codes and regulations that we have to pass.  There is a process to a project: programming, schematic design, design development, contract documents, construction administration, and post-occupancy evaluation.   Building codes are not just for architects, but also for designers.  Codes have been used in the world since ancient times near 2000 BC.  They did not reach the United States until 1875, and codes change within each state.  Building codes are constantly changing every year and even changes in each state's counties.  There is the International Residential Code which regulates all residential construction types, except singe-family residential designs.   Building codes can prevent many designers from certain layout choices, but the reason there are codes is to hel...

Week 11: Indoor Air control and Acoustics

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Acoustics in a room are important, and how we as interior designers are going to address it.  We need to deal with the noise, but also not make it an unappealing solution.  Noise can be the simple sound of footsteps or it can be addressing how conversations will carry through the space.  Just like light, noise can refracted, reflected, diffracted, and diffused. As a designer our goal in a room is to be able to achieve some speech privacy for whoever is occupying the room at the moment.  We can do many different things to help control the acoustics.  It always depends on the type of room as well. Partitions are a great way of absorbing sound in a room.  They can reach from the ground all the way up to the ceiling creating not only a privacy wall, but it prevents the noise from the entering the other room.    A partition that also act as walls separating space visually and through acoustics. Indoor Air Quality is a huge topic to talk about ever sinc...