Beard's Architecture Blog: 2012

Friday, April 13, 2012

Code Correction

The residential requirements fall under R3 as "Congregate living facilities (nontransient) with 16 or fewer occupants," which means the occupants (a person, family, group, or organization that lives in, occupies, or has quarters or space in or on something) share kitchen and bathing spaces and are there for more than 30 days. As parents coming for parents' weekend do not fit under the definition of occupant (the code does not define occupant, so the previously used definition requiring living in the space will be used), the space is perfectly within the limits of the code to have only one means of egress.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Code

Occupancy Types

A-2 - Assembly- Restaurant

R-3 - Residential-

        R-3 definition:
"Residential occupancies where the occupants are primarily permanent in nature and not classified as Group R-1, R-2, R-4 or I, including:
Boarding houses (nontransient) with 16 or fewer occupants
Boarding houses (transient) with 10 or fewer occupant"
        Walls separating dwelling units in the same building, walls separating sleeping units in the same building and walls separating dwelling or sleeping units from other occupancies contiguous to them in the same building shall be constructed as fire partitions in accordance with Section 708.
        Group R occupancies shall be equipped throughout with an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 903.2.8.
        Fire alarm systems and smoke alarms shall be provided in Group I-1, R-1 and R-2 occupancies in accordance with Sections 907.2.6, 907.2.8 and 907.2.9, respectively. Single-or multiple-station smoke alarms shall be in accordance with Section 907.2.11.

S-2 - Storage
        S-2 definition:
"Includes, among others, buildings used for the storage of noncombustible materials including: Parking garages, open or enclosed"
   Open parking garages shall be of Type I, II or IV construction
         For natural ventilation purposes, the exterior side of the structure shall have uniformly distributed openings on two or more sides. The area of such openings in exterior walls on a tier shall be not less than 20 percent of the total perimeter wall area of each tier. The aggregate length of the openings considered to be providing natural ventilation shall be not less than 40 percent of the perimeter of the tier. Interior walls shall be not less than 20 percent open with uniformly distributed openings.
          Closed parking garages:
          A mechanical ventilation system shall be provided in accordance with the International Mechanical Code.
          An enclosed parking garage shall be equipped with an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 903.2.10.

Limits

A-2 -

Type I A- 3 hour fire rating

Unlimited building height, unlimited stories, unlimited floor area

Type II A- 1 hour fire rating

65 feet height, 3 stories, 15,500 sf/floor

R3-

Type I A-

Unlimited building height, unlimited stories, unlimited floor area

Type II A-

65 feet height, 4 stories, unlimited sf/floor

Mixed Use

"Each portion of a building shall be individually classified in accordance with Section 302.1."

Parking under group R:

"Where a maximum one story above grade plane Group S-2 parking garage, enclosed or open, or combination thereof, of Type I construction or open of Type IV construction, with grade entrance, is provided under a building of Group R, the number of stories to be used in determining the minimum type of construction shall be measured from the floor above such a parking area. The floor assembly between the parking garage and the Group R above shall comply with the type of construction required for the parking garage and shall also provide a fire-resistance rating not less than the mixed occupancy separation required in Section 508.4."

1 hour separation between A and R with sprinklers. 2 hours without.

No separation between A and S-2 with sprinklers. 1 hour without.

1 hour separation between R and S-2 with sprinklers. 2 hours without.

Miscellaneous

Laundry rooms over 100 square feet require 1 hour separation or automatic sprinkler system.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Downtown Mixed Use Zoning Requirements

Size and setbacks:

           No setbacks
           Allow for 100% of lot to be built
           No height restriction

Materials:

           "All walls visible from the street shall be finished with architectural materials such as brick, glass, stone, ceramic, stucco, precast panels, exterior insulation finish systems (e.g. dryvit), or curtain walls."
           "The following materials shall not be used on walls that are visible from the street: metal panels; non-residential grade metal siding; non-residential grade wood-based materials; asphalt; concrete blocks or cinder blocks; provided, that use of architectural metal panels and metal panels for enclosure of mechanical equipment shall be permitted, and use of wood-based materials for architectural treatment shall be permitted. Concrete block may be used only if it is burnished, standing flute or sculptured. Mirrored glass or one-way glass with a reflectance of greater than 40 percent shall be prohibited from covering more than 40 percent of the exterior walls. Residential grade metal siding and wood based materials are prohibited on all DMU development with the exception of attached/detached single family residential development and small scale multi-dwelling residential development."

          "At least 35 percent of the ground-floor facade of buildings along sidewalks shall be comprised of windows, doors and other transparent elements (e.g. glass block) that allow views into buildings, plazas or arcades. Calculations shall be based on the linear footage of the ground floor, and said transparent elements shall be a minimum of four feet in height."
           "The Zoning Administrator shall have the authority to allow less than 35 percent ground floor transparency adjacent to sidewalks, provided that the subject wall of the structure includes architectural features which offer visual relief from a blank wall through the use of texture, recessed patterns, or other design features that add visual relief. The decision of the Zoning Administrator may be appealed to the Board of Adjustment."