Richards
Medical Research Laboratories – Louis I. Kahn, Architect. The brick shafts on
the periphery of the Richards labs hold stairwells and HVAC ducts, providing an
effect reminiscent of the ancient towers of San Gimignano, Italy that Kahn admired.
(photo by Smallbones)
Consistent
throughout Bill Kleinsasser’s many iterations of his self-published
textbook SYNTHESIS are his reminders about how the architects’ work reveals
what they have considered and whether they have accounted for everything
necessary to create good places for people. Certainly, the successful
integration of the technical systems that support a building’s purpose is essential
to a thorough consideration of its design.
Neglecting to
adequately account for and integrate these systems can lead to inefficient and
problematic buildings. This neglect can be a result of a misalignment of
priorities, poor communication among the members of the design team (architects
and their engineers too often work in separate silos), or simply a lack of
knowledge and experience on the part of the architects.
In the following,
somewhat wanting excerpt from SYNTHESIS, Bill strove to succinctly express the
importance of considering the needs of a building’s technical systems. In my
opinion, Bill could and should have written more to expand upon the necessity
of aligning aesthetics, spatial design, and fundamentally the project’s organizational
structure with the technical demands of a building’s service and environmental
control systems. He certainly could have utilized a case study to illustrate how
exemplary projects successfully integrated a myriad of technical systems. Nevertheless,
his fundamental premise is clear: Design synthesis requires consideration of
many essential concerns if a building’s design is to be unified, eloquent, and
complete.
Technical Systems
Select and design environmental control and other systems that will appropriately serve required spaces without waste or confusion by:
Select and design environmental control and other systems that will appropriately serve required spaces without waste or confusion by:
- Determining spatial intent and the kind of services needed.
- Selecting appropriate systems.
- Diagramming the essential disciplines of each system; that is, diagramming their controlling characteristics vis-à-vis organization of spaces.
- Integrating the requirements of the spatial system with the essential disciplines of the service/environmental control systems. Service/environmental control systems may include those for heating, cooling, ventilating, lighting, water supply, waste disposal, drainage, electrical service, communication (television, radio, TV, computer), special circulation (elevator, escalator), fire protection (sprinklers, smoke detection), and special laboratory services.
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