Not every small design or renovation project undertaken needs an architect. Some new paint, maybe some flooring updates, or some new cabinets…probably not. But some require more information: for example, a simple home for four people needs answers to over 15,000 questions as design starts and construction progresses.
Have you ever wondered how many questions must be answered when designing a new Control Building for multiple Operator shifts working 24-7?
At what point do you need an Architect with Control Building / Human Factors experience to help create that successful project? Perhaps the answers to a few simple questions will help clarify things: answer a few basic questions to test whether your experiences are up to the challenge. Perhaps you don’t need an architect.
But what if you do?
Where can you find an Architect with experience designing many control building/control room projects over the past two decades? More about that later.
Let’s find out where we are… Out of a score of ten, with ten being the most capable of achieving the goal:
- ___ /10 • How well have you identified the design risks to your project?
- ___ /10 • How clear are you on the process to receive a construction permit with your AHJ (authority having jurisdiction) for this project? Do you know whether you need a permit?
- ___ /10 • How satisfied are you with the Needs and Wants that you have identified for your project, and that their implementation will carry you far into the future?
- ___ /10 • How sure are you that you have identified all the various options your site will accommodate?
- ___ /10 • Assuming you’re designing a new Control Center, how well does your project follow ISO 11064 (Parts 1-7) and EEUMA 201 Standards? Or your own Company’s engineering guidelines and specifications.
- ___ /10 • How comfortable are you that you have designed your project to be in compliance with the life-safety prescriptive building codes and API RP-752/753 Blast Resistant & Safe Haven Design mandates that must be incorporated into your project?
- ___ /10 • Have you confirmed with a Human Factors specialist how your consoles must be fit out (displays, ESD’s, etc), how large those consoles will be, and how to arrange them to maximize necessary Operator ergonomics/HMI for optimized control?
- ___ /10 • How confident are you that your budget will achieve your needs? Do you have (need?) a realistic budget? Early on, a ±50% ROM is typical; SLA’s historical pricing database helps us be more accurate/earlier in a project.
- ___ /10 • Will your current plans allow facility expansion effectively in the near term, or in a few years?
- ___ /10 • How sure are you that you have included the right engineering disciplines to coordinate the utilities into your project?
- ___ /10 • How comfortable are you in your selection of your current project manager? Your Building/GC?
- ___ /10 • How well will you be able to take care of your daily responsibilities while managing this project as well?
- ___ /10 • How well can you clarify your needs (design scope) if your project is a Lab? A Maintenance Facility or Warehouse? A Guardhouse?
Smith LaRock has valuable experience with other facility types as well.
When you decide to undertake a design project, it can end up in several ways. Make sure your project is one where it is pleasing to see that project every day, not a reminder of a lost opportunity.
This is one of the things that make Smith LaRock Architecture different: we spend the time we need on the predesign research- possibly more than most other firms who rush their clients into the design phase. We take a different approach.
Even though we produce 3D concepts quickly, they represent specific concepts that can be joined with other ideas to form the larger concepts we review with you.
Call Mike Smith at Smith LaRock Architecture PC – 303-534-2200 – or email msmith@slarc.com for more information, educational white papers about pertinent human factors design solutions, and to discuss how SLA can help make your current score-and your new control facility-hit that 10!
