SPACE PLANNING

DIMENSIONS OF HUMAN FIGURE

The study of human figures as to physical proportion is an
important aspect in planning. All structures intended for human use
are planned according to human scale. Even furniture, cabinets,
cars etc. were also patterned after human dimensions.
SPACE PLANNING
THE LIVING ROOM
The kind of furniture, furnishings and the manner how they were
arranged in the living room, offers that feeling of grandeur and an
inviting atmosphere. Furniture arrangement in the living room
however, can be developed to suit any particular choice a designer may
be confronted.
Furniture may vary from what will be presented depending upon the taste
and preferences of the individual user. In any furniture groupings, a
minimum space distance should be considered and established for
convenience as to :
a) Space allocation
b) Lanes and pathways between furniture arrangement
SPACE PLANNING
THE DINING ROOM
Dining room is the space or room where the family seat together, pray
before meals, talk about the family affairs and other matters.
Dining area should accommodate furnitures of either portable or built-in
for eating, sitting, serving and possible storage.
SPACE PLANNING
PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS:
a) Determine the number of persons to be seated.
b) Compute the required space occupied by the table.
c) Compute the space for the chair.
d) The space required behind the chairs.
e) The seating arrangement.
f) The size and type of furnitures.
g) Space for the storage of china glassware, silverware, and linen.
SPACE PLANNING
COMBINED LIVING DINING SPACES
The combination of Living and Dining in a
single room or space has the following
advantages:
1. Less space required, but could be used
intensively.
2. Its function could be changed making
it more flexible serviceable space.
3. Adoptable to varied furniture
arrangements.
4. The room could be made more
interesting.
SPACE PLANNING
COMBINED DINING-KITCHEN AREA
This type of combination is most
preferred by occupants more particularly
small houses and apartments due to the
following advantages:
1. It minimizes housekeeping chores.
2. Provides a space for the family’s daily
activities.
3. The kitchen provides a place for
informal family breakfast, snacks or
just serving tea to visitors.
SPACE PLANNING
THE BEDROOM
The size of the area of a residential house could be visualized imaginarily
by anyone based from the number of bedrooms it has, and the size could
be determined under the following considerations:
1. The likes and preferences of the owner whether large, medium or
small room with or without comfort room.
2. The type and number of bed including other items that the owner
would want to place inside the room.
SPACE PLANNING
THE KITCHEN
A kitchen is the place or area where:
1. Meals are prepared and cooked.
2. Foods are preserved.
3. Foods and utensils are stored.
4. Place for eating.
5. Place for laundering.
6. Place for entertaining.
7. Place for child care.
SPACE PLANNING
MINIMUM CLEARANCES IN THE KITCHEN
SPACE PLANNING
TYPE OF KITCHEN FLOOR PLAN AND ITS ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
1. U-SHAPED. It is the most compact area but has problem of the door
on one side of the three walls.
SPACE PLANNING
TYPE OF KITCHEN FLOOR PLAN AND ITS ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
2. L-SHAPED. The L shaped type has the advantage of
concentrating work area in one corner minimizing travel. The
longer travel to the extremities is one disadvantage of this type.
SPACE PLANNING
TYPE OF KITCHEN FLOOR PLAN AND ITS ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
3. CORRIDOR TYPE. The corridor type is satisfactory where the
doors are located at each end of the space. The greater distance
along corridor is its advantage.
SPACE PLANNING
TYPE OF KITCHEN FLOOR PLAN AND ITS ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
BROKEN U-SHAPED KITCHEN
SPACE PLANNING
BATHROOM
In planning bathroom, the designer must know the various activities
commonly performed in the room such as:
1. Washing of hands, face and hair.
2. Elimination and grooming.
3. Hand laundering and infant care
4. Often used as dressing room.
SPACE PLANNING
BATHROOM DOORS AND WINDOWS
Bathroom door could be as small as 55 to 60 centimeters, except for
utility bathroom that requires no less than 70 centimeters wide, to permit
passage of equipment as required. In general, bathroom wall contain only
one door.
SPACE PLANNING
LAUNDRY ROOM
Laundering includes the collection and sorting of dirty clothes, pre-
treating, washing, drying, sprinkling and ironing. This requires a lot of
stooping, lifting and carrying.

ARRANGEMENT
Calls for proper planning and distribution of the space and facilities
including the placement and location of the various laundering equipment.
SPACE PLANNING
EQUIPMENT AND FACILITIES
The laundry center must be accessible to both working area of the house
and outdoor drying area provided with:
1. Sorting table
2. Heating surface and storage facilities for soiled clothes
3. Washing supplies and basket
4. Washing machine and dryer
5. Ironing board
6. Laundry tray with 30 centimeters deep for pre-washing soaking or
stretching some items.
SPACE PLANNING
CLOSET
A modern closet is designed for the storage of particular clothing or
things of an individual or a group using the space.
Modern closets accommodate much more clothing and materials if
efficiently arranged. It replaces piece of furniture providing a greater
amount of free uncluttered space in the room. Much could be stored in a
small space if properly planned but many closets have unused and
unusable space due to poor planning. An allowance of about 25%
capacity is incorporated for the additional belongings.
CALCULATIONS
The design of a building involves many disciplines, and each of them
contributes an important element to the process.
Architects give your building the appearance of your choice and make it
function the way you want.
Mechanical, Electrical, and Sanitary Engineers and Master
Plumbers design the systems that let your occupants enjoy comfortable
temperatures, fresh air, the convenience of electricity, potable water, and
sanitation services.
CALCULATIONS
Structural Engineers make your building stand. They design structures
to defy gravity, withstand heavy winds, and continue standing even as
the ground beneath them starts to shake. Engineers support their design
with structural calculations - a complex, little-known tool that lacks the
glory of architectural design.
They are the math behind your building’s ability to stay upright.
Engineers use them to determine the loads that a building must
withstand and the properties of members that comprise its structure. In
the permitting process, the accuracy of structural calculations plays a
critical part. Building department officials examine them for compliance
with all applicable local codes; non-compliant calculations are sent back
for revisions to the engineering team, thus delaying the permit process
and your scheduled construction date.
How Structural Calculations
Fit Into the Design Process
Architectural planning is the first stage of the design process. This
phase give the client a chance to share his vision with the architect, and
communicate your intentions regarding the building’s appearance,
function, and cost. The architect then interpolates your conceptions into
the design and lays them out in a set of drawings.
The next step is to design a structure that can support the
building’s architectural features. The engineers in charge of this
process will perform several calculations during this process.
How Structural Calculations
Fit Into the Design Process
First, Engineers must predict what loads they expect to act on the
building. Referred to as specified loads, these include:
Live loads, which are imposed by the occupants, furniture, vehicles,
and equipment
Dead loads, caused by the weight of the building itself
Loads inflicted by the forces of nature, such as wind, and
earthquakes
How Structural Calculations
Fit Into the Design Process
Next, Engineers must work out the design loads - the loads they
intend the structure to handle. These are higher than specified loads,
as buildings are typically designed to withstand more loads than they are
likely to bear.
With loads established, engineers can design the structure. At this stage,
building code dimension tables will be used to find out the appropriate
sizes of structural members.
ELECTRICAL CALCULATIONS
Design calculations establish minimum guidelines and requirements for
generating electrical calculations on projects. Electrical calculations should
be made for all projects that include electrical components and should be
filed in the project notebook.
Electrical Design Analysis
Design calculations may be made either manually or by computer
programs. This is a computation or selection of the following:
A. Size/type/number of wires and size/type of conduits for branch circuits,
sub-feeders, feeders, busways and service entrance.
B. Type, rating and trip setting of overload protective devices
C. Short circuit current and interrupting capacity of overcurrent protection
device
D. Voltage drop
Schedule of Loads
This is a load tabulation which indicates the following:
a) Branch circuit for each load or combination of loads
b) Rating of each load and the corresponding computations
c) Source of electric power and rating of service equipment protective
device and disconnect
d) Number of phases, type and size of wiring
e) Service entrance, feeder, subfeeder, etc.
Mechanical Load Calculations
Mechanical systems have a very important role in buildings, keeping
indoor conditions that are healthy, comfortable and safe for humans.
Some examples of mechanical equipment are boilers, furnaces, air
conditioners, chillers, air handlers, cooling towers, fan coils, water
heaters, booster pumps, fire pumps and automatic sprinklers.
Building mechanical systems use large amounts of energy and
water, especially if they are oversized or lacking smart controls.
Mechanical engineers do not recommend undersized equipment either,
since this can create unsuitable or dangerous conditions. More is not
better in mechanical design, and the best performance is achieved when
equipment capacity is optimized for the building.
Mechanical Load Calculations
Mechanical load calculation is a very important step of the building design
process. When the capacity of all mechanical installations is optimized for
the needs of your building, you can achieve high performance at an
optimal cost.
Consider that many mechanical components are heavy and
bulky, and modifications can be expensive and difficult.
By working with qualified mechanical engineers during the
design phase, you can avoid expensive change orders during
construction.
The entire mechanical design process depends on load calculations. Even
if you use the highest quality equipment, performance will be poor if
mechanical load calculations were inaccurate.
Plumbing and Sanitary Design
The classification of plumbing fixtures for water supply and
drainage refers to fixtures found in:
Residences including houses and apartments.
Toilets in the rooms of hotels and motels used by guests.
Similar installations in other buildings where fixtures are
intended for the use of individuals or families.
Eight steps to determine plumbing
system requirements
1: Available water pressure
2: Determine the pressure requirements
3: Water supply demand
4: Pressure losses through building supply systems
5: Longest developed pipe length
6: Allowable friction loss
7: Pipe size and flow requirements
SPECIFICATIONS
Construction specifications, also known technical
specifications or simply specifications, detail the work
and workmanship needed to complete a construction
project. As required documents during the design phase,
they’re part of a formal process.
According to the Dictionary of Architecture and Construction,
specification is, “a written document describing in detail
the scope of work, materials to be used, methods of
installation, and quality of workmanship for a parcel of
work to be placed under contract; usually utilized in
conjunction with working (contract) drawings in building
construction.”
SPECIFICATIONS
Furthermore, according to The Construction
Specifier, “specification sections are customized in order to
accurately describe the intended materials, and then
these sections are used by the team to identify the type of
products that should be used onsite.”
As mentioned, construction specifications are prepared
before construction begins, in the design phase as part of
the contract documents. Although their structure varies
project-by-project, typically they reflect packages to be given
to subcontractors from contractors. Specifically, this is
extremely helpful in the tender process.
USE OF SPECIFICATIONS
Specification is an integral part of a building plan. It is a
requirement in securing building permit in the Philippines. It is
a precise, explicit statement or enumeration of
particulars as to size, shape, equality, color, manner
and procedures of making things right. It is presented in
a short, simple, concise and direct language easily understood.
A good engineering specification, by itself, does not necessarily
imply that all parts of construction specification actually meet
the listed targets and tolerances. Actual result of construction
or service involves inherent variation of output.
Who Handles
Construction Specifications?
Typically, specifications are prepared by the architect or
designers. Generally, architects will delegate them but
oftentimes project engineers will be involved due to their
breadth of technical knowledge. Sometimes, on large-scale
projects, companies will even call for specialized and
professional specification writers to ensure all details are
covered.
Although they are separate from design drawings themselves,
specifications should be complementary to these documents
and prepared in tandem. So, if the design advances, so should
the specifications, with more and more details being added as
plans get more complex.
Why Are Specifications Important?
If you’ve been around the construction industry for more than
a minute, you know the more details, the better.
THE CLEARER A DESCRIPTION IS, THE MORE LIKELY IT
WILL BE EXECUTED CORRECTLY.
Without access to the right and an abundance of data, projects
can easily fail.

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Why Are Specifications Important?
As construction projects become more complex and budgets
become scrutinized, access to ample data is critical to making
the right decisions when building. Most importantly, if
specifications are done correctly, they reduce risk. In
construction, controlling risk is essential to managing end-to-
end project lifecycle.
Furthermore, specifications are particularly important during
the tender process for pricing. With solid specifications, the
contractor should have no doubt about pricing during this
process.

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Main Types of
Construction Specifications
Each project is unique and will need a different set of
specifications and most likely corresponding packages.
However, there are three main types of construction
specifications commonly used on projects:
Prescriptive Specifications
Of the three types of construction specifications, prescriptive
specifications focus on the details for the types of materials used
and the installation of said materials.
Architects or engineers tend to take over the job of project design in
prescriptive specifications. Prescriptive specifications give a better image
of what the final product will look like compared to other specifications.

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Prescriptive Specifications
Prescriptive specifications can be broken up into three separate parts:
general, products, and execution.
GENERAL consists of information such as national quality standards,
product handling, design requirements, and keeping quality control.
The PRODUCTS phase will go over the different products necessary for
each task as well as the individual performance levels of each product.
The EXECUTION phase will go over how to prepare materials and go
through with installing them. This process also involves testing the quality
of the materials and checking if they were installed correctly.

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Performance Specifications
Performance specifications discuss the operational
requirements of a project. It details what the final installed
product has to be capable of doing.
In this phase, the owner or general contractor doesn’t give a
subcontractor specifications detailing how to finish the
job. Instead, designers and architects give contractors
details on how the final product has to work in this
phase. For example, a contract asks the team to make a
pump that pumps 300 gallons per minute. There are no
directions on how to make the pumping system go that fast, so
it is up to the contractor to figure it out.
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Performance Specifications
Of the three types of construction specifications, this phase
involves most of the testing to make sure a project
meets all of its operational requirements.
The architect or engineer describes the project outcome, and
trusts the trade contractor’s experience to get there. Since the
contractor has to figure out what to do, decisions about
materials and strategy move away from the architect and
engineers and shift towards the contractor.

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Proprietary Specifications
Proprietary specifications are used when you need to use a
single type of product for any kind of installation. These
are the least common of the three types of construction
specifications, but they are for jobs involving existing
equipment and already completed installations.
When the owner or client wants to be consistent with their
materials or just prefers a specific type of material, use
proprietary specifications.

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Proprietary Specifications
Contractors use proprietary specifications when their section of
the project is dependent upon the performance of a specific
product.
Architects and engineers tend to try and avoid
proprietary specifications because it can lead to
promoting a specific manufacturer.
Favoring a manufacturer can discourage competition during
the bid phase of the project, which may increase the total cost
of the project. Architects and engineers will give the contractor
a list of reliable suppliers to choose from to stop this.

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How Can Specifications Be Improved?
Construction specifications will no doubt need dedicated time
and resources to get them right. In general, the design phase is
critical to setting up the success of a project and specifications
should be taken seriously.
In the past, specifications were one of the last items to be written
before tender. However, this is changing. As the industry faces
increased competition and technology like BIM provides a better
analysis of what needs to be done before construction begins,
specifications have increased in importance. A natural first step in
creating valuable specifications is not waiting until the last minute.
Be Specific, Be Really Specific
Construction specifications, although time-consuming and sometimes part
of a tedious process, are a necessary step in a successful project.
If you’re a designer or architect, spend the time to get these documents
right so your vision for the project is executed correctly.
If you’re an owner or contractor, ensure you have all the information you
and your team needs to carry out the details of your project on time and
budget.
And just remember, being overly specific never hurt anyone in a
construction process.