Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Exit Signs and Other Ugly Things

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

Not quite sure what actually happened here, but in general the "systems people" 
do not really come in after the architects are "finished".  In terms of both 
design logic and construction sequence, a building is an integrated assembly, 
and ...

air ductwork and handlers — the biggest of the systems pieces, the hardest to 
fit in, and the least amenable to compromises in configuration — are done first;
then come the pipes, both plumbing and sprinkler; and ...
finally come the wires, which are the easiest and most flexible to thread 
through all the other construction.

Typically, the architect / engineer teams are responsible for thinking this 
through in advance, and the general contractor is responsible for the order of 
events and for overall quality control in the field.  Doesn't sound like you 
got enough of any of this.  Did you put the design out for competitive bid ... 
and then take the low bidder?  And for that matter, how did you pick your 
architect?*

Unless the design is impossibly cramped, there is no reason for pipe guys to 
obstruct the work of furnace guys.  There is no excuse whatsoever for wire guys 
ruining the work of duct guys; strangling flex duct with wires is hardly a 
normal construction practice.

Exit signs are not optional, they are required by the egress and life safety 
codes.  Some signs are more elegant than others — but each product design and 
performance must be reviewed and approved by the AHJs (Authorities Having 
Jurisdiction).  And because they are meant to be readily seen — even in 
conditions of smoke and power outages — they will always have a certain "in 
your face" quality.  Especially if ceilings are low.

R Philip Dowds AIA
Cornerstone Cohousing
175 Harvey Street, Unit 5
Cambridge, MA 02140
617.354.6094

* At Cornerstone, client/architect disputes forced the founders to change 
architects in mid-stream.  And extreme litigation and permitting expenses 
swallowed up a lot of money, compelling design compromises and selection of a 
low-bidder contractor.  There were consequences.


On Mar 11, 2012, at 12:54 AM, Sharon Villines wrote:

> 
> 
> On 11 Mar 2012, at 12:44 AM, Kay Wilson Fisk wrote:
> 
>> We wish our otherwise wonderful architects had taken these requirements into
>> account because we were too naïve to have foreseen them.
> 
> I agree. We found, unfortunately that the systems people seem to have come in 
> later after the architects were finished and applied their pipes, etc. on top 
> of what was previously designed. The sprinkler pipes, huge ones, in the 
> basement block the HVAC unit rather strangely. You have to reach around them. 
> Two sewage ejector pumps were installed in basements that people had planned 
> to use as living space.
> 
> In the attic we discovered that the electricians had strung wires over the 
> flexible air ducts and then pulled them tight, closing off the air ducts. The 
> air duct people knew their ducts worked with they left. The electrical wires 
> worked when the electricians left. But later…...
> 
> Designing living spaces, particularly multiunit spaces is very complicated 
> with layers and layers of just plain stuff to be put somewhere.
> 
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines, Washington DC
> "Nothing exists without order. Nothing comes into existence without chaos." 
> Albert Einstein
> 
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