Space Programming
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Space Planning
o Space planning is not a process involving a single category of information; rather, it is a complex
detailing of several processes involving many categories of information related to the organization
and construction of buildings.
o Such processes range from program analysis and use of building code principles to environmental
control techniques and the development of desired spatial qualities.
o Unlike some other forms of problem solving, space planning problems usually have many “right”
answers.
o In effect, the planning professional must take full responsibility for organizing, analysing, and
interpreting the problem at hand.
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Design Process
• Through design process we determine which elements to be used
and how to arrange them.
• Although presented as a linear series of steps, the design process
is often a cyclical, iterative one in which a sequence of careful
analysis, synthesis and evaluation of available information,
insights and possible solutions are repeated until a successful fit
between what exists and what is desired is achieved.
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Define Problem/ Identify Challenges
Collect Data/ Analyse the Requirements
Analyse Data/ Brainstorm/ Generate Ideas
Develop Concept/ Propose Design Solution
Client Discussion/ Modifications in Design
Implementation of Design
Feedback Post Occupancy Evaluation
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Define Problem
The ability to define and understand the nature of the design problem
is an essential part of finding a design solution. This definition should
specify how the design solution should perform and what goals and
objectives will be met.
1. Interview the client
It is essential during this programming phase that the designer
adequately consults with the owner to develop the applicable
requirements of the project and studies the capability of meeting these
requirements within the constraints of the owner’s budget and site.
2. Set preliminary goals.
o Functional requirements.
o Aesthetic image and style.
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Collect Data/Analyse the Requirements
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Brainstorm/ Analyse Data/ Generate Ideas
❖ Organize Collected Data
• Place data in a sequential format most useful for planning.
• Summarize confirmed quantitative factors - (Area in
SQ.F/SQ.M, FF + E count, Equipment sizes, etc.)
• Record first thoughts on conceptual planning approach.
❖ Research the Unknowns
• Gather case study information on similar facilities and do a
comparative study.
❖ Analyse the Data
• Discover planning affinities (spatial interrelationships,
public/private zoning, special acoustic needs, etc.)
• Identify planning or architectural relationships (site,
structural, mechanical, and electrical conditions)
❖ Develop a Concept
• Integrate all the documented and analysed data to find a
creative solution or concept for your design.
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Develop Concept
• If the programming process has been thorough,
you should now be able to make an overview
statement about the problem as a whole.
• Whether this is referred to as a “concept
statement” or “statement of the problem,”
significant value exists in crystallizing your
thoughts in a comprehensive verbal perspective
of the problem that will precede the detailed
program data.
• This statement should deal with the spirit of the
problem, not its details, and represent the broad
human, social, aesthetic, and philosophic
aspects of your thoughts concerning the project.
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Propose a Design Solution
❖ Interpret and Diagram the Data (The Complete
Program)
• Define the functional problems in planning terms
• Establish a basic conceptual approach (in terms of
human/social and image/aesthetic objectives)
• Prepare relationship or adjacency diagrams
❖ Summarize the Data
• Finalize project concepts — STATE THE PROBLEM
• Outline and tally basic budget issues
• Prepare a package for client approval and to serve
as the designer's manual for space planning
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The Criteria Matrix
• The matrix format is a widely
used technique for visually
organizing information of a
variety of factors that is
sometimes referred to as a chart
or table.
• The criteria matrix is a useful
technique to condense and
organize the conventional
written design program.
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Prototypical Plan Sketches
Rough sketches to help you identify the SQ.M
required for each space/function.
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Relationship Diagrams/ Bubble Diagrams
• Bubble Diagram is a basic free hand drawing that
consists of roughly drawn bubbles (representing
spaces) connected by solid lines, broken lines or
wavy lines etc. to specify the type of relationship
between the spaces.
• Rooms or functions that are next to each other should be
drawn close together, while spaces that are not close to
each other should be drawn at a distance.
• Use connecting lines between the circles to indicate
travel or circulation patterns between spaces; those
connections should be coded by using heavy or multiple
lines for important or heavily travelled connections, and
lighter connecting lines between spaces where circulation
adjacency is less important or less travelled.
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Block Planning
• Another well-established technique
for this initial step into physical
planning is conventionally referred
to as “block planning”.
• The process of development and
the results are similar to those in
bubble diagramming.
• Its primary advantage over bubble
diagramming is that the result is
more like a floor plan, and some
planners feel more comfortable
working with its more geometric
quality.
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Planning - Rule of Thumb
• Rule of thumb square footages are best thought of as
approximations or a size range, rather than as
specific numbers; perceptive judgment must be used
to match the desired spatial quality with the
appropriate part of the range.
• Knowing the approximate size of typical rooms and
spaces makes the pre-liminary space planning process
easier and more efficient.
• It is impossible for the designer to commit to memory
square footage rules of thumb for every type of
interior facility, but recurring spaces in most buildings
have typical square footage requirements.
• Indicated on the right is a beginning list of spaces and
functions for which every space planner should
attempt to remember an approximate space
requirement.
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Developing Rough Floor Plan
Partitions should be drawn with appropriate thickness;
100 mm would be thickness for inner wall partitions
generally and 200 mm for interior load bearing walls
andouterwalls.
o Major Spaces
o Circulation Studies
o Basic Room Allocations
o Furniture and Equipment
o Storage &Spatial Quality
o Review (program requirements, code requirementsetc)
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Refining Rough Plan
The kinds of plan refinements appropriate at this point are:
• The addition of incidental furnishings*, such as an end
table or floor lamp.
• The change of a closet door from sliding to bi-fold.
• The minor relocation of a partition by a few inches to, for
example, better accommodate furniture or improve access.
• The relocation of a door to provide better access to a room
or appropriate wall space for an anticipated signage
system.
• The creation of a niche to accommodate a built-in unit or a
decorative element.
• The expanding of a pipe chase to better accommodate the
plumbing system.
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Preliminary Design Layout
• As the plan refinement process comes to a close, the designer is ready to start
a final presentation of the layout.
• Drawing qualities and techniques (line weights, line types, hatches, lettering
etc.) has to be re-checked and accurate.
Layout Modifications
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In its final form..
The program should be a well-integrated
package containing:
1. An overview statement.
2. A detailed, function-by-function written
program describing all project needs and
concerns.
3. Diagrams that translate the planning
relationships into visual terms.
4. Numerical summaries of spatial, furniture,
and equipment needs as a first indication of
project budget factors.
Reading Materials
Chapters 1–4 Chapters 1–7
(PDF) Francis D.K. Ching & Corky Binggeli - INTERIOR DESING ILLUSTRATED (3rd https://www.academia.edu/8258292/Space_Planning_Basics
Edition) | Rbk Lebrun - Academia.edu
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