Whether you are building a new courthouse, renovating a police station, or transitioning your in-person office to a hybrid office, a key element in any space project is using design standards. Design standards define the types of individual spaces needed, their intended use, occupancy, square footage, and finishes. These standards serve not only to ensure that a project has the right area to support the organization’s mission but also to set limits and realistic expectations of what is allowed in a project. They provide a tangible reference for how a space should be planned and built, forming a crucial part of communication between the client and the design architect.
Design standards are generally published in some design guide, such as a simple spreadsheet on the computer, a binder on the shelf (one that needs dusting off!), or even an online resource. These design standards are generally provided in text and tables, and the values must be extracted to create a program of requirements (POR).
While design guides are excellent, I have an even better solution. Wouldn’t it be so much easier if you could answer a few questions and have all the space requirements automatically calculated for you? It sounds too good to be true.
Well, good news! Automated design standards are the answer you’ve been looking for, and they are available now! As a statistical data analyst and web developer, I have been a part of designing and coding tools that help clients plan and design space with accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility. Space types and their associated square footage requirements are stored behind the scenes. With the push of a button, you can select among alternative scenarios (including space reduction options), manually adjust elements to fit your needs, and calculate a POR in a fraction of the time.
Accuracy
Let’s face it… People make mistakes. Everybody is human. When developing a POR for a space project, the last thing you need is a mistake that could throw everything off. If the design standards are automated, the element of human error is completely erased from the equation.
From square footage to the quantity of various spaces, all information from the design guide or the design standards can be stored behind the scenes. That means calculations are always accurate and based on the latest and most significant requirements.
With automated design standards, the calculations will be consistent no matter how often you run the math. Accuracy is critical, and being consistently accurate is even better!
Efficiency
Today’s post-pandemic world sees more and more meetings taking place remotely. If your design standards are automated, running a virtual pre-planning design meeting with all necessary stakeholders is simple. With the automated design standards tool on the screen, questions and assumptions can be discussed and answered, adjustments can be made, and results can be calculated on the fly.
There are always “what-if” scenarios during the design phase of a construction project. An automated design standards tool allows the stakeholders to run multiple design options in a fraction of the time it would take to manually calculate the space needed for those designs.
Flexibility
You may ask - but what about the exceptions? What if existing restrictions limit design options, a project doesn’t need all the spaces listed, or a particular requirement isn’t included in the design guide? Don’t worry. Any good automation tool will not only be accurate and efficient, but it will also be flexible.
Creating a baseline of calculations is the beginning of the automation process. It is critical to allow people to tailor the process to their unique design standards. This is often overlooked, but the automated design standard tool must be robust enough to allow for adjustments to accommodate every design situation.
If developing the space requirements is known as space “programming,” why not use computer “programming” to calculate the space requirements? I have seen automated design standards save not only much time but also a lot of headaches and costly mistakes. Just imagine what you could do with the extra time and money you save using automated design standards. And the bonus? No dusting is required!