Challenges can arise at any stage of the design process. For architects, they can come in the form of a special request by an owner, a tricky sloped site, or a restricted budget, just to name a few. Mandated design guidelines, however, can be the most challenging.
In addition to the various building codes, there can also be various city and municipality codes that dictate the design of a building. Finding the delicate balance between meeting these needs and looking out for the interests of the clients can be difficult.
At Randall-Paulson Architects, our clients’ interests are always our top priority. One of our clients put it best as, “[RPA] provides a great balance of creativity and understanding of the market while working toward our specific goals.” The following case study of a shopping center shows how our designers satisfied both the client, and city design guidelines.
The Background:
Shopping center projects begin in the schematic design phase where the storefront façade and surrounding shops are designed. This design is submitted to the owner and, once approved, construction documents are generated. The difficult part of this project came when RPA designers discovered that it fell into an overlay district, meaning it was subject to design guidelines set by the city.
The Design Issue :
A city ordinance that stated the primary materials (67% or more of the area of each wall) for buildings in this district must be fired clay brick or brick face natural stone.
The original drawings only specified a 36” brick base above the finished floor elevation. The designers realized they would have to make some changes. They exported the drawings from AutoCAD into Revit, which allowed them to analyze the brick content. The analysis showed the original drawings having a brick content of about 30% of the total area of the front elevations. Not only did they have to increase that amount to 67% to fit the design guidelines, but also they would need to wrap the sides and exterior of the building in brick. This increase in brick would significantly increase the project cost.
The Solution:
In order to offset the added brick cost, RPA designers decided to scale down the canopy and exposed steel. By leaving some of the original arched exposed steel beams, they were able to remove the two supplemental bays of the entry canopy. Next, they maintained the continuous canopy by using flat metal to bridge the area between the grocery store canopy and the adjacent retail shops. This creative idea offset the budget increase to satisfy the client, while meeting city design guidelines.
RPA works for the best possible solution for everyone involved in a project. Our completion of over 1000 projects, ranging from industrial distribution centers to performing arts centers, gives RPA the design experience to overcome any challenge, which our clients appreciate. Tthere’s no substitute for our experience, unless it’s our professionalism, attention to detail, and collaborative attitude.