Spec Sheets and Enlarged Plans

This semester, I am working on two separate books for Bright Device. The Office Design book is more about presentation for the client's viewing, and the Materials and Specifications book is mostly specification sheets as shown below. Each book is roughly going to be 16 to 35 pages. I am required to do plenty of specification sheets for upholstery, furniture, ceiling grids, carpets, drapery, ceiling tile, vinyl tile, etc.

This page is for my Office Design book. It gives a brief view of the textures and shapes that are in the space and locates power outlets, filing, and storage.

Updated Plans

I added more grass and furniture in the Engineering departments. I also filled in the interior walls which help to bring out the boundaries. Grass now has a texture pattern for a clearer visual explanation. The conference table in the large conference room is now rectangular and pushed to one side, allowing for a larger passing area rather than two small passing spaces. Major passage areas are now marked with dimensions.

For my Office Design project, I decided that for my final book that I want each page to be landscape. Therefore, I had to rotate each of my plans and my text as well. I also added titles, a logo, and page numbers for my final book. Both of the following plans have had some revision that help to explain my decisions more clearly.

I changed the symbol for my exit signs as well as for my LED troffer lights. The slash in the symbol helps to differentiate it from the wooden ceiling and acoustical tiles. I added acoustical tile to the kitchenette because it may get loud in there and I would not want to disturb the offices attached to it.

Extra Credit

I am going to take a break from writing about my Office Design project and instead write about the extra credit assignment that accompanies it. The assignment requested that I design one room to be my personal interior design office and that it should be 15' x 15'. I decided to do my space planning in Revit since I had been using AutoCAD for my other coursework and felt that I could use a refresher. Revit is nice because it adjusts my text sizes accordingly.

I feel that I have been using too many spring greens, teal, and sky blues, I decided to go for a different color scheme this time, which includes red, yellow, blue, white, black, and gray. I was very excited to render my SketchUp views for this mini project.

Though my ceiling design is simple, I am very happy with its correspondence to the windows and using the colors to create balance on every surface of the space.

Office Design SketchUp Views

Creating perspective renderings of chosen spaces in my floor plan help me as well as the client to clearly see my intentions in terms of textures, lighting, and space planning. The following images have been created in SketchUp:

This image corresponds to the Lobby/Reception area that is labeled in my floor plan and reflected ceiling plan. As part of creating branding for Bright Device, I made them a logo that incorporates a sun and grass as well as fresh colors that can be found throughout the space. Since I was asked to create a custom desk, SketchUp helps to show where I intended to place the 3form panels and also how much the counter surface protrudes. This view is not complete since I have not rendered it with the Shaderlight plug-in yet. Shaderlight helps to add lighting and texture to the space. I will also be scaling down the 3form panels so that they look like the actual products.

This is a view of the small conference room. I will also be scaling the 3form down on this image as well as it is way too big. I made the "Convene" table in SketchUp but was able to download the Criterion chairs from the 3D Warehouse and simply add the Closed Loop upholstery to it with the paint tool.

This is a view of one of the Engineering desking systems. I am really excited to render it in Shaderlight as it will appear a lot more realistic than it does currently. This view emphasizes the openness of the space because the filing is used instead of an actual wall. It also showcases the large size of the windows and how much light they can let into the building.

Office Design Midterm Presentation

I began my office design presentation by very briefly summarizing my office statement and then explaining the mood board that I chose and the word summary that supplemented it (which can be viewed in my previous posts). I organized my presentation to flow smoothly by discussing my mood board, then my floor plan, and then my chosen lighting, materials, and furniture. Throughout my floor plan presentation, I often referenced my loose samples so that my peers knew exactly which material I wanted where, what it was made of, what color it was, and the opacity of each material. I also referenced my sketches of specific areas that I thought needed further visual explanation. I will upload those sketches once I can get a better photo of them.

A guest may enter the space from two locations-- one near the reception desk, and the other near the lobby couches. This is to ensure that the guest feel comfortable immediately upon entering and relatively knows where to go even if he or she has never been here before. The space can be divided into three sections, one end is for engineering, the other is for office employees and conferencing, and the middle is a mix of communal spaces and offices. The middle area of the plan includes the lobby, copy room, and kitchenette so that no one office is too far from these spaces that everyone will be using. Though the spaces are divided, they are still open through the use of 3form, which has different opacities that allow one to see through a little bit but not enough to disturb one's privacy. Each of the three spaces uses a different type of 3form panel.

One entry is right near the conference rooms and that allows guests to have easy access to it. The smaller conference room's walls are entirely made of 3form's "Ting Ting" panel, which is meant to make people feel as if they are surrounded by trees. The small conference room also uses sliding doors, as many of the other rooms do as well. Each office has windows to ensure that each employees is getting sunlight to increase well- being. Any spaces that are not against a wall will have 3form panels to let the light stream through, especially for the large amounts of grass that are included in the space to create an office-garden hybrid.

The library includes Steelcase's Walkstation to further promote wellness at work. The bookshelf is also custom-made to provide growing grass on the top shelf. Each space that was allowed to be an open space, such as the CFO and VP Sales, were kept open. The engineering areas were kept open to promote collaboration between both departments.

Office Design Colors and Materials

I have been using the internet as well as RIT's material library to choose samples for my office design project. Since I am in the process of choosing lighting as well, I put each sample under natural light plus fluorescent light, and also under natural light plus incandescent light to see how the colors react. I used natural lighting with each because the office space has many large windows. I created a chart listing which upholstery fabric went best with 3form panels, and which paint colors would suit the two together. For example, Designtex's "Chromatic" upholstery in the color "Apple" looked best with 3form's "Cirque" finish and Sherwin Williams' "Irish Cream" paint. Then I placed these combinations under different lighting. Most of my selections looked best under fluorescent light since the incandescent made my cool colors appear to be much warmer. Below are some of the materials that I have selected so far.

3form finishes: Cirque, Ting Ting, Bear Grass
Sherwin Williams Paint: Belize, Irish Cream, Tamarind
Designtex Upholstery: Chromatic- Apple, Chromatic- Pool, Closed Loop- Robin's Egg,
    Closed Loop- Willow, Brisbane- Pool, Delaine- Grass, Delaine- Sea
Wallcoverings: Maharam 005 Straw; Maharam 016 Eucalyptus
Carpet: Flor "Take me Over" in Lime; Tandus "Curly Q" in Bukhara
Faux Wood: Centiva "Queensland Walnut" and "Canadian Maple"

I have used these materials along with chosen lighting and furniture to create an image board. The image board is a refined version of a mood board that includes actual furniture that maintains the atmosphere that the mood board had initially created for the client.

My floor plan is coming together nicely as well. At this point all of the interior walls, millwork, and furniture are in the plan and I am now working out the correct layers, line weights, room dimension labels, and text sizes.

Office Design Project Update

As the semester progresses, the plans for my office design are becoming clearer. The mood board and word summary help the client to figure out what the plans are for the project as a whole and how the space will make employees and visitors feel. For this project I created two mood boards that had similar words but different textures and colors. I am only showing the mood board that I chose to use for the project, along with the word summary.

 Some of the materials shown above are eco- friendly materials from Designtex. They include samples that I ordered directly from the company because the feel of a fabric is just as important as the appearance. These are commercial grade fabrics that will last a long time. I know that these products are sustainable and commercial grade because I have created specification sheets for them.

The word summary is a supplement to the mood board and further explains the plans in descriptions and colors rather than pictures. It helps emphasize the idea of an office that allows for collaboration and productivity through the use of open areas and fresh, earthy colors.

The majority of products in the space will be from Steelcase or Coalesse. I am also considering 3-form for its unique space division uses and Centiva for faux-wood, modular flooring. One goal for my project is to use sustainable materials that are recyclable and long-lasting. I will also be using a chalkboard wall surface treatment in public areas to further emphasize the community of the space.

There will be organization throughout the space in regards to department. The major departments, such as general office employees, the sales and marketing team, the finance team, and the engineering teams will all have separate spaces. However, spaces in each department will be either open or closed. Unity will be created through the central point of the lobby area in which each department can be reached. General meeting spaces such as the kitchenette are included as well.

Frustration = Success?

One of my first milestone projects is my 300 square foot micro apartment from my Model Building and Human Dimension class. I took this class last year in the beginning of my second year at RIT. I got an A in the end, but I definitely did not start off this class successfully. I remember how stressful my first few experiences with foam core were, how my t-square was seemingly not giving me straight lines and how my foam core cutouts were never able to match the template. The main themes of this course were precision and craftsmanship and I had a lot to learn about cutting straight, clean lines. This was my first project:

I did not design this but was instructed to make it using a worksheet that contained an elevation, some dimensions to scale, and a template. The above picture is AFTER I got an opportunity to raise my grade. The grade I received before I had fixed it was a 6.5 out of 10, which I was extremely unhappy with.

Sometimes it takes me a while to "click", or to rather gain a deeper understanding about what is expected of me and how I can achieve it. When my teacher said something along the lines of "There is no single way to build a model correctly," things "clicked" for me right away. Therefore, the wall that I was having trouble with was no longer a problem, because I realized that I could simply cut it at the seam, shorten it, and glue it back onto the seam. Can you guess where the seam is? It might be easier to tell on this project, but on others probably not so much.

There was another project after the wall project that involved creating a curved wall with a reception desk. The following is also not my original design but was created using a sheet with the necessary information.

This one relied more heavily on bristol board, foam core, and foam. We were also reintroduced to the band saw and the sanding machine and also began to spray paint certain pieces. Looking back, I definitely could have improved, though my grade on this one was not bad at all.

The next and final project for this course (RIT was on the quarter system at the time) had made me realize my hidden passion for this course. We were asked to create a scale model (1/4" = 1'- 0") of a 300 square foot apartment that optimizes all of the space efficiently for a studio apartment, complete with a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. We began with sketches but I soon began to create a "sketch model" which helps define what the space will look like in a three- dimensional form. It is a quick way to become oriented with the space without worrying about the craftsmanship:

I then began to select wallcoverings and flooring through patterns in Google, which was allowed for such an introductory course. I soon started to handcraft each piece of furniture in mixtures of foam, foam core, bristol board, and paint. I then realized that I could use other materials such as cloth, clear plastic, and glass mosaic squares.

The class was on Fridays, 9 to 12 then 2 to 5. I soon found myself staying after class to continue working because I couldn't tear myself away. There were one or two nights that I stayed until 10 at night though I really didn't have to. I began sewing the curtain, the blanket on the bed, and the pillow, which I filled with a napkin and then spray painted.

The bedroom area of the apartment was inspired by my dorm room setup, which includes a bunk bed, desk, a box-box-file filing cabinet, and a chair. Though I kept the same measurements, I altered the forms and colors to allow for a more contemporary space.

Since 300 square feet is very small for an apartment, I decided to remove the bathroom sink and instead made the kitchen sink readily available outside the bathroom with a mirror hung above it. The toilet was based off of some modern toilets that do not have a back tank. I handmade the showerplace with mosaic pieces on bristol, bronze-painted foam core, and sanded and heated a plastic sheet to portray a frosted shower door. The pocket door to the bathroom eliminates the need for a door swing clearance, which would take up an extra 3' of space.

Though I could have opted for more flexible furniture such as mattresses and tables that fold into the walls, I decided to stay simple in that aspect. Each piece of furniture was handcrafted except for the kitchen sink which was instead printed out to avoid cutting into the countertop pattern. Cushioned chairs help to make the dining area more comfortable for watching television since there was no space for a living room.

The overhead view helps to demonstrate the amount of space allotted for movement. An open coat closet is available as someone enters the space, and on the other side are larger cubicles for storage needs.The difference in flooring helps define the space without the use of walls or differences in ceiling height. Each window has a sill and is lined with a clear plastic sheet to suggest a window. I spent approximately 30 hours on this project and ended up getting a 95. If I were to fix one thing, it would be to reduce the scale of the carpet. I can honestly say that I had a lot of fun about this project and it also helps demonstrate that when I am frustrated with a project, it pushes me to learn more about how to solve problems so that I can get rid of that stress and almost turn the project into a hobby.