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1.0 Programming
INTRODUCTION
Today, we define architectural programming as
the research and decision-making process that identifies the scope of work to be
designed. Synonyms include "facility programming," "functional and operational
requirements," and "scoping." In the early 1960s, William Peña, John Focke, and
Bill Caudill of Caudill, Rowlett, and Scott (CRS) developed a process for
organizing programming efforts. Their work was documented in Problem Seeking,
the text that guided many architects and clients who sought to identify the
scope of a design problem prior to beginning the design, which would be a
solution to the problem. Basic services provides, very limited programming which
will generally makeup less than one percent of the entire project effort or
fee. Whereas, Programming as an optional service will generally run from 5
to 10% percent of a projects fee.
Architectural programming offers the
following advantages:
1. Involvement of interested parties in the
definition of the scope of work prior to the design effort.
2.
Emphasis on gathering and analyzing data early in the process so that the design
is based upon sound decisions.
3.
Efficiencies gained by avoiding redesign and more redesign as requirements
emerge during architectural design.
The most cost-effective time to make changes
is during programming. This phase of a project is the best time for interested
parties to influence the outcome of a project.
The whole building approach is intended "to
create a successful high-performance building." To achieve that goal, we must
apply the integrated design approach to the project during the planning and
programming phases.
It is necessary for the people involved in the building
design to interact closely throughout the design process. The owner, building
occupants, and operation and maintenance personnel should be involved to
contribute their understanding of how the building and its systems will work for
them once they occupy it. The fundamental challenge of "whole building" design
is to understand that all building systems are interdependent.
DESCRIPTION
Architectural Programming Process
It is imperative that the major decision-maker—the client-owner—allows
participation of all of the stakeholders, or the client-users, who are affected
by the design. Experience has shown that client-users' involvement in the
programming process results in designs that can be optimized more efficiently.
Organizing for the Programming Effort
Prior to the beginning of the process of programming a project, the programmer
and the client-owner develop a list of the stakeholders to be involved. One
organizational method is to form a Project Programming Committee with
representatives from the stakeholder
groups. For example, if the project is to
be an office/classroom building for the humanities department at an institution
of higher education, the Project Programming Committee could include
representatives from the college's facilities department, humanities
administration, faculty, students, and building maintenance department.
Design programming should involve the parties that are affected by the design
solution.
Lines of communication must be established to determine how and when meetings
will be called, what the agenda will be, how contacts will be made, and how
records of the meetings will be kept. The authority of the committee must be
made clear. In the example above, the committee's authority will be to make
recommendations to the college authorities. Within that framework, the committee
must decide how it will make decisions as a committee (by consensus? majority
rule? other means?).
A SIX-STEP PROCESS
Many different programming formats incorporate the same essential elements. In
all cases, the design programming fits within a larger context of planning
efforts which can also be programmed. For design programming for a building, a
six-step process can be utilized as follows:
1. Research
the project type
2. Establish
goals and objectives
3. Gather
relevant information
4. Identify
strategies
5. Determine
quantitative requirements
6. Summarize
the program
• 1) Research the Project Type
This step is necessary if the programmer is working on a project type for the
first time. The programmer should become familiar with some of the following
relevant information:
The types of spaces frequently included in the building type
The space criteria (number of square feet per person or unit) for those spaces
Typical relationships of spaces for these functions
Typical ratios of Net Assignable Square Footage (NASF - areas that are assigned
to a function) to Gross Square Footage (GSF - total area to the outside walls)
for this building type
Typical costs per square foot for this building type
Typical site requirements for the project type
Regional issues that might alter the accuracy of the data above in the case of
this project.
This information can be obtained from literature on the building type, analysis
of plans of existing projects, expert consultants familiar with the building
type, and/or cost estimating services.
• 2) Establish Goals and Objectives
Working with the committee, the programmer solicits and suggests broad goal
statements that will guide the remainder of the programming process. It is
recommended that each of the following categories of goals be addressed:
Organizational Goals: What are the goals of the owners? Where do they see their
organization headed? How does this architectural project fit into this broad
picture?
Form and Image Goals: What should be the aesthetic and psychological impact of
the design? How should it relate to the surroundings? Should its image be
similar to or distinct from its neighbors? From other buildings belonging to the
owner that are located elsewhere? Are there historic, cultural, and/or context
implications?
Function Goals: What major functions will take place in the building? How many
people are to be accommodated?
Economic Goals: What is the total project budget? What is the attitude toward
initial costs versus long-range operating and maintenance costs? What level of
quality is desired (often stated in relation to other existing projects)? What
is the attitude toward conservation of resources and sustainability (energy,
water, etc.)?
Time Goals: When is the project to be occupied? What types of changes are
expected over the next 5, 10, 15, and 20 years?
Management Goals: These goals are not so much an issue of the nature of the
project as they are the circumstances of the owner, clients, programmer, or
architect. For example, perhaps the schematic design must be completed in time
for a legislative request application deadline.
The goals and objectives may include:
• Accessibility
• 24x7 facility reliability
• Adaptability
• Building pressurization control
• Energy efficiency goals
• Flexibility in audio visual systems
• Functionality
• Maintainability
• Redundant and resilient HVAC systems for climate control
• Reliability
• Scalability
• Security/Safety
• Serviceability
• Sophisticated detection and fire suppression systems
• Space and organizational process functionality
• Structured raceways for flexible cabling installations
• Sustainability
• Survivability
• 3) Gather Relevant Information
Based upon the goals, the categories of relevant information can be determined
and researched. Typical categories include:
Facility users, activities, and schedules: Who is doing what, how many people
are doing each activity, and when are they doing it?
What equipment is necessary for activities to function properly?
What is the
size of the equipment?
What aspects of the project need to be projected into the future?
What is the
history of growth of each aspect that requires projection?
What are the space criteria (square feet per person or unit) for the functions
to take place?
Are there licensing or policy standards for minimum area for various functions?
What are these standards?
What are the energy usage and requirements?
What code information may affect programming decisions?
Site analysis: the site is always a major aspect of the design problem and
therefore should be included in the program.
Site analysis components that often
affect design include:
Legal description,
Zoning, design guidelines, and deed restrictions and requirements
Traffic (bus, automobile, and pedestrian) considerations
Utility availability (a potentially high cost item)
Topography
Views
Built features
Climate (if not familiar to the designer)
Vegetation and wildlife
Client's existing facility as a resource
If the client is already participating in the activities to be housed in the new
facility, make use of information at hand.
If a floor plan exists, do a square foot take-off of the areas for various
functions. Determine the existing net-to-gross area ratio.
Use the existing square footages for comparison when you propose future amounts
of space. People can relate to what they already have. (See illustration below
in Step 5, Determine Quantitative Requirements.)
If the client is a repeat builder (school districts, public library, public
office building, etc.), obtain plans and do area take-offs; determine typical
net-to-gross area ratios.
• 4) Identify
Strategies
Programmatic strategies suggest a way to accomplish the goals given what one now
knows about the opportunities and constraints. A familiar example of a
programmatic strategy is the relationship or "bubble" diagram. These diagrams
indicate what functions should be near each other in order for the project to
function smoothly. Relationship diagrams can also indicate the desired
circulation connections between spaces, what spaces require security or audio
privacy, or other aspects of special relationships.
Other types of strategies recur in programs for many different types of
projects. Some examples of common categories of programmatic strategies include:
Centralization and Decentralization: What function components are grouped
together and which are segregated? For example, in some offices the copying
function is centralized, while in others there are copiers for each department.
Flexibility: What types of changes are expected for various functions?
Do facilities need to change over a period of a few hours, a few days, a summer
recess? Or is an addition what is really needed?
Flow: What goods, services, and people move through the project? What is needed
at each step of the way to accommodate that flow?
Priorities and Phasing: What are the most important functions of the project?
What could be added later? Are there ongoing existing operations that must be
maintained?
Levels of Access: Who is allowed where?
What security levels are there?
Ideally, each of the goals and objectives identified in Step 2 will have some
sort of strategy for addressing that goal. Otherwise, either the goal is not
very important, or more discussion is required to address how to achieve that
goal or objective.
• 5) Determine Quantitative Requirements
In this step, one must reconcile the available budget with the amount of
improvements desired within the project time frame. First, a list of spaces is
developed to accommodate all of the activities desired (see Exhibit A). The
space criteria researched in Step 3 are the basis of this list of space
requirements. The space requirements are listed as net assignable square feet (NASF),
referring to the space assigned to an activity, not including circulation to
that space.
Cost, schedule, and affordable area are interdependent. Costs are affected by
inflation through time. Affordable area is determined by available budgets.
A percentage for "tare" space is added to the total NASF. Tare space is the area
needed for circulation, walls, mechanical, electrical and telephone equipment,
wall thickness, and public toilets. Building efficiency is the ratio of NASF to
gross square feet (GSF), the total area including the NASF and tare areas.
Building efficiency equals NASF/GSF. The building efficiency for a building type
was researched in Step 1 and possibly Step 3. See Exhibit A for an example of
space requirements.
The building efficiency of an existing space used by a client can inform the
selection of the net-to-gross ratio. The example below of an office suite within
an office building illustrates the areas of net assignable square feet and tare
area. Notice that some space within an office is considered circulation, even
though it is not delineated with walls. We call this circulation, "phantom
corridor."
In the case of a tenant improvement within a larger building, one establishes
the "internal gross" of the leased space. Additional support space or tare area
such as mechanical rooms and public toilets would not be included in the
calculation for this project type.
The desired GSF is then tested against the available budget (see Exhibit B). In
drafting the total project cost, the programmer uses the cost per square foot
amount researched in Step 1. Factors for inflation should be included, based
upon the project schedule. It is recommended that costs be projected to the date
of the mid-point of construction because bidders calculate estimates on the
assumption that costs could change from the time of the bid date.
The total project cost includes the construction cost (for building and site
work), plus amounts for architect's fees, furniture and equipment,
communications, contingency, printing for bid sets, contingency, soils tests,
topological surveys, and any other costs that must come from the owner's budget.
The intention is to help the owner prepare for all the project costs, not just
those costs assigned to construction.
If the bottom line for the project costs is more than the budget, three things
can happen: 1) space can be trimmed back or delegated to a later phase (a
reduction in quantity); 2) the cost per square foot can be reduced (a reduction
in quality); or 3) both. This reconciliation of the desired space and the
available budget is critical to defining a realistic scope of work.
• 6) Summarize the Program
Finally, once all of the preceding steps are executed, summary statements can be
written defining "in a nut shell" the results of the programming effort. All of
the pertinent information included above can be documented for the owner,
committee members, and the design team as well. The decision-makers should
sign-off on the scope of work as described in the program.
Once a program is completed and approved by the client, the information must be
integrated into the design process. Some clients want the programmer to stay
involved after the programming phase to insure that the requirements defined in
the program are realized in the design work.
EMERGING ISSUES
Some of the emerging issues in the discipline of architectural programming
include:
1. Development of standards and guidelines for owners that build similar
facilities frequently. These efforts include:
a. Formalizing (computerizing) building facility requirements for Web-based consumption—for example, the National Park Service has developed Facility
Planning Model Web-based software to assist park superintendents and other staff
in the development of space and cost predictions for legislative requests. The
intention is to make budget requests more realistic and more comprehensive.
b. Facility programming to make early predictions to aid in early capital
budgeting
2. Client-owners are increasingly requiring verification that the design
complies with the program.
3. New technologies are generating a need for types of space which have no
precedents. Basic research on these technologies is required to determine
standards and guidelines.
4. The supply of facility programmers is smaller than the demand. More
professionals need to consider this sub-discipline as a career path.
5. Green buildings and there unique demands.
RELEVANT CODES AND STANDARDS
A very important part of programming is identifying relevant codes and standards
that apply to the project (see Steps 1 and 3 above). Codes, covenants, deed
restrictions, zoning requirements, licensing requirements, and other legal
obligations can have significant influence on costs and therefore, affordable
GSF. These factors must be identified prior to design.
Many governments and institutions have developed standards and guidelines for
space allocations. For example, the General Services Administration (GSA),
military, and higher education institutions all have standards and guidelines.
These standards must be adhered to in programming projects for these clients.
The standards are also useful as guidelines for agencies that have not developed
their own standards.
Some standards are mandated by statutes in some jurisdictions for licensing,
accreditation, or equity purposes. Schools, hospitals, correctional facilities,
and other licensed or accredited institutions may be required to meet these
standards prior to opening their doors.
Some building codes identify the number of square feet allocated per person for
certain types of occupancy. However, while these ratios may determine the legal
occupancy numbers for the facility, exiting requirements, fire separations,
etc., they represent the minimum requirements. It may be necessary to
accommodate specific activities adequately with more space.
