Module 3 - Points to Ponder

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Please share your comments on 3 of the following Points to Ponder questions. (Choose 3 of the questions below.)

It is important to accurately model land features of your project site with a toposurface for a variety of reasons. The materials used for buildings are affected by where they lie in relation to the terrain - for example making sure to use concrete walls for any exterior walls in contact with the earth. That said, the specific grading of the topography is important for any openings (i.e. doors or windows) that are opening to the exterior. For a front door, you need to make sure that the site grades up towards the door or you will need to have stairs. In addition to all of this, there are always concern (maybe not as much in California as other areas) of stormwater drainage and making sure water drains safely and properly offsite into catch basins, ponds, or stormwater features.

I believe the building should, if at all possible, adapt to the terrain. It may be a bit more of a challenge to design, but limiting the amount of excavating and soil removal reduces costs, can lead to shorter schedules, have less regulatory and safety concerns, and ultimately means for a building that fits in with the local topography. That said, there are some cases where the need for soil import or removal, or extreme grading is required for a given site - which would lead to adapting the terrain to a building.

From a real estate developer's perspective? Cost is important with floor to floor heights. For high bay ceilings (like 18’ H), you may need to size the studs up for the ultimate loads. This would lead to high material costs which a developer might not be willing to pay.
From a designer's perspective? Making sure there is enough light and feeling of space is important from a designer’s perspective to make the occupants not feel cramped. This may lead to designers wanting higher floor to floor heights.
From an engineer's perspective? The engineers would normally be concerned with fitting ductwork and equipment in the above ceiling space, which would ultimately limit the actual height of the ceiling.
From a builder's perspective? It will likely be more efficient (in some cases) to have similar floor to floor heights for multistory buildings (instead of each floor height being a different size) which would increase productivity for framing.
From an owner's perspective? It would ultimately depend on what the owner wants out of the space and who will be the users. If they are looking for a ton of light and open space, a larger floor to floor height might be worth the cost. If they want those but need large ducts to service the space, there may need to be some compromise.