Space-centred information management approach to improve CAD-based healthcare building design

This study focuses on developing a space-centred CAD tool to enable designers to effectively manage and implement the information of design guidance information and user requirements during design processes, especially for the stages of design briefing and conceptual design. It aims to structure and store design guidance and user requirements for healthcare building design into a relational database, and link them to relevant space entities in design plans. The tool is developed on the platform of Autodesk Architecture Desktop (ADT). It also enables users to store and retrieve pictures associated with textual information, because pictures have been always used by designers as an effective medium to represent and deliver design information and knowledge. This can give users directly visual and more understandable perceptions of the design guidance. The tool is fully embedded with Autodesk AutoCAD systems to ensure the application of this tool being fully merged with CAD-based design process. A set of design guidance about Alzheimer clinic built environments are adopted as a sample to demonstrate and validate the tool. Moreover, the scenario of expanding this application to more broad areas has also been foreseen

Enforcing Building Set Backs as a Viable Strategy for an Emerging City

For any emerging city to grow into a healthy and safe city, development guidelines and regulations which serve as a vital strategy should be considered and be adhered to. Most importantly the town and country planning laws which are purposely designed to regulate various development aspects that includes, zoning practices, occupancy type building height, as well as building setbacks among many other regulations, depending on the problems of a particular locality. Suleja in the last three decades has rapidly experienced increase in size with numerous number of buildings springing up, largely as a result of its proximity to the new Federal Capital Territory; unfortunately most of the buildings were haphazardly placed with less or little regard to local planning regulations. This paper is aimed to explore how non adherence to building setbacks affects the immediate dwelling units of an area. A field survey and oral interviews were used in three core areas of Suleja to evaluate the level of non-adherence of building setbacks, and its resultant effects. The research findings identified several problems arising from non-compliance to building setbacks regulations, which includes poorly lightened and ventilated interiors of dwelling units, lack of access roads linking buildings with main roads, lack of outdoor spaces for parking vehicles and unsafe environment which all leads to a poor city growth

Walley School Community Arts Center Feasibility Study: Appendices

Having a large capacity (over 300 seats) in Walley School demands a major investment in space and cost. Taking this into consideration, the business planning team conducted research and spoke with several individuals in an attempt to inventory and assess the community’s auditorium capabilities. Our research on existing auditorium spaces uncovered many interesting things. We found that there are over 15 existing auditorium spaces available within a 17-mile radius from the Walley School building available for public use

Gender-Inclusive Library Workgroup Report

The Gender-Inclusive Workgroup explored how VCU Libraries can better serve trans and gender-nonconforming users and staff. The group’s recommendations cover library spaces, staff, systems, services, and culture. Key recommendations include highlighting existing all-gender restrooms; building more gender-inclusive restrooms; expanding availability of menstrual products and disposal bins; continuing support for name-of-use changes in library systems; minimizing display of legal name in library systems; offering ongoing staff training in gender-inclusive language and customer service; and encouraging staff to share pronouns. The workgroup also recommends pursuing a culture of shared learning and inclusive thinking, with a reminder that gender identity is one facet of multiple intersecting identities for people in the VCU community

Creating a Religious Properties Database for the City of New Bedford: an Analysis of Best Practices and Available Systems

This policy analysis was written to provide the city of New Bedford, the Waterfront Historic Area League, Inter-church Council of Greater New Bedford, and the congregations with possible database systems to consider in creating their historic religious properties database. It also provides the best methodology to use when choosing a database. Deciding on who will be involved in the choosing process, determining a budget, and listing the mandatory requirements the database should provide are all important to consider in the decision making process

Zoning on purposes as a contemporary alternative for zoning on land uses of open spaces in an urbanised context

The (mono)functional zoning in land use planning has already a long record of service and finds its roots in an historical political and societal ambition of separating functions and activities in space. But above all, the continuous success of this type of zoning is linked to the legal security it creates. Although a decrease in legal security still seems an invincible problem, the technique of functional zoning in spatial planning is increasingly being questioned. An alternative planning discourse of ‘open space as public space’ for instance, a planning discourse about open space fragments in an urbanised context developed in the context of my PhD-dissertation (Leinfelder, 2007 and 2009), seems incompatible with this functional zoning … but also three other alternative planning discourses about the relation between city and countryside, discussed in my dissertation, do not result in spatial entities that are inspired by land uses, but by differences in dynamics, environmental impact and meaning of places. Based on these observations, a ‘rediscovery’ of the zoning plan – as a ‘strategic’ zoning plan – seems necessary. The addition of ‘strategic’ indicates a more active, more realisation oriented and more selective approach than today’s comprehensive and passive functional zoning. The zoning in a strategic zoning plan is no longer related to the allocation of zones to one or more land uses, but to entities that refer as much as possible to the (societal) purposes for the open space involved. The name of these zones tries to express as much as possible the most relevant spatial characteristics of the entities desired for – concerning dynamics, vulnerability, meaning, … And the juridical rules related to these entities define the conditions in which – maybe yet unknown – spatial projects can take place without mentioning the land uses by name. In other words, development and management of space become increasingly dominant to the traditional allocation of space. Undoubtedly, also landscape as a holistic frame of integration is becoming of more and more importance in such zoning plans. The strategic zoning plan also has to be considered as a more indicative and temporary frame of reference for private and public actors through which the decision making about specific projects and measures can be coordinated – even when the choices at the moment of the decision are different than those at the moment of the design of the plan

Town of Hampton Stormwater Management PREP Natural Resources Outreach Coalition Grant Final Project Report

PREP provided $3,500 towards the project which was matched by municipal funds to pay for consulting advice on improving the regulations. The Planning Board provided exceptional in-kind match on the project, with many hours of work spent by a volunteer engineer serving on the Board. On February 12th 2009, Hampton’s Innovative Land Use Team, in coordination with NROC, hosted a community workshop on stormwater issues that was well attended by municipal officials, town staff, and members of the public. After many revisions, the Planning Board formally adopted the approved stormwater management provisions into the town site plan and subdivision regulations at their July 2009 meeting