because of the required fire separation between commercial and residential space, and the limits of wood framing, a common strategy is to building the commercial space as a c.i.p. concrete podium. this provides a built-in fire separation and you can shoot your wood framing right onto the slab and build the residential quite easily.

slightly more complicated is to build the commercial out of steel with a concrete deck because you have additional fireproofing issues, but you get the idea.

if you have a ceiling in the residential areas, then use pre-fab wood trusses for the floors and roof of the residences so you don't have to drop ductwork and utilities below the bottom of the structure.

but, it's a school project so have fun and take chances.

build, not building.
when does that edit feature kick in???

jb, if you want to maximize what you get out of this project, you shouldn't flet too much about structural issues (it's not in your professional scope anyways). That said, you'd benefit more if the structure is not wood (most commercial buildings are not wood).

My suggestion:make the shear walls out of reinforced CMU and your floors will be concrete over steel decking (with appropriate fireproofing applied to steel). Seen it done that way for projects of that size in the NE. Done.

You should concentrate on detailing your building envelope and the roofing. Lots of good stuff to learn there. What are your wall assemblies? How do openings (windows, doors, storefronts) interact with them? What is the roof assembly that will allow for a good roof deck? etc... You'll have your hands full with stuff that architects need to know in their sleep.

As far as hight of commercial space, it depends. Are there any adjacent commercial spaces to your site? It would be odd if all of those were 10' and yours was 18'. Otherwise, 10'-12' should suffice in order to fit any mechanical systems.

Good luck!

there is no such thing as commercial when it comes to occupancy classification. so, what goes on the first floor ie business, mercantile or assembly of say a coffeeshop (a-2) will depend on fire separation etc. fyi.

ummm....

Century of zoning laws and building codes would like a word with you.

zoning is not occupancy or building codes. please see ibc.

Oh goodness, where to start.

First of all, you cannot produce cd's whilst in school. CD's stand for 'contract documents' and obviously you are not producing those for an academic project.

Secondly, if you're merely looking for the normative answers to everything, then you're not thinking critically about it. Who says an FFL has to be 10 feet from an US and why?

Didn't Gordon Bunshaft say that he wasn't sure if the things they were doing at SOM in the 60's were architecture or not?


Gosh, I thought we were past this.



If you look up the 'answer' in a book, likely it isnt 'architecture.'

#1 - the design better be amazing, which would make worrying about the drawings, most likely, much more complicated than necessary to get a job

#2 - your employer will care most about your talent, then about your ability to solve problems.


Pick a small portion, or come up with something integral to the design concept and create some diagrams/drawings for that piece.



School is about ideas, about developing concepts and pushing your thought process, challenging norms, etc. It IS NOT about creating boring, standardized drawings.




IF you want to learn and have more things to show prospective employers, do it after the studio. I've never, not 17 studios, ever had any time to do any type of construction drawings. Focused 'idea/concept' construction drawings here and there, but never generic stuff.

Make sure you have your priorities straight. There's a reason schools separate design from the more standardized work.



Lastly, your employer will want you to do what you are good at. Make sure you are highlighting your talents, not something a billion and one can do.


My 2 cents.

Thanks everyone.

Jplourde I want to create the closest thing to CDs that I can while in school because it is a widely held opinion that school does a poor job of preparing you to work on real projects.

I am not seeking "normative" answers as much as inquiring about what has been proven successful through trial and error in actual buildings.

You should read Five Houses, Ten Details and think about what you're doing. You'll see that construction can reflect the Architecture and you can exploit this when you do the details.

@trace: "#2 - your employer will care most about your talent, then about your ability to solve problems."

clearly we move in different circles. What does 'talent' even mean if not difficult spacial problem solving.

"School is about ideas, about developing concepts and pushing your thought process, challenging norms, etc. It IS NOT about creating boring, standardized drawings."

We've beaten the topic of students being I'll prepared for the profession to death. I find jbushkey's effort to bridge the gap formidable. How can you 'challenge norms' if you have no idea what they are?

jbush. Pick an interesting portion of your building and detail the crap out of it. You won't have the time to do everything.