Megan Robb & Jennifer Vazquez Mrs.

April Moon March 6, 2013 Civil Engineering and Architecture

Library Codes and Regulations

A type of design that is suitable for every building is called Universal Design.
"Universal design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.- Center for Universal Design

This takes many things into consideration including handicap accessibility, fire safety, and maximum occupancy load. This makes the building safer and easier to use for people of all ages. The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) (ADA), means that people with disabilities can access and use the building easily. The building code that we are using for the library is the Indiana Building Code: Based on: 2006 International Building Code (1st printing) with Indiana Amendments, Effective June 16, 2008. The library is classified under Office and Institutional Uses. It is permitted for industrial, commercial, and residential use.

We chose construction types I, II, and III. Type I consists of steel framing in concrete or fire-proof material. Type II is steel framing while type III is noncombustible exterior with treated wood interior. These choices of construction types are the most fire-resistant, which would be safest for a library. The allowable height of the library is 9,424 feet. The least restrictive construction type that can be used is Type II B. We propose a mix of treated wood and steel framing for the interior walls. We wanted the structure to be repairable in the event of a fire. We propose treated wood for the flooring for aesthetics, durability, and cost. The calculated maximum occupancy is 302 people. This is put in place for protection and safety. There is a minimum of two exits per story. The exits have to be larger than thirty inches each. There has to be at least two exits per story. PB, planned business, is the zoning designation. The minimum lot size for the library is 20,000 square feet. The maximum building height is thirty-five feet. Three or more stories is considered high rise. The library is permitted to be on this lot. We are building this library because this community needs one. A quiet sanctuary for knowledge, learning, and reading is what it needs to be. Our education system is presently declining. We need to fix that by adding a modern public library like ours to encourage students and other adults to read more and expand their knowledge for personal growth. On the first floor, according to our client survey we needed circulation desks, public restrooms, two librarian offices, staff workrooms, and two meeting rooms. On the second floor, we needed an open area for snacks; we added a caf, and public restrooms.

We designed the library to be open and modern. This design makes the library feel open and inviting, not dark and intimidating, which would not encourage people to come. We tried to limit the amount of inside walls and hallways to make the library open and spacious. We are going to use many windows to allow natural lighting to decrease energy consumption and increase visibility inside. We are going to use simple, light color palates to keep a calm, yet vibrant energy within the library. We chose the architecture style of international because of all the windows yet we wanted the federal style to look like a library should. This combination of styles brings an inviting and suitable air to the surroundings. Something that was encouraged was green aspects to our library. A large amount of natural light will be added by the many windows to conserve energy use. Solar panels will be brought in for the second story roof to make the library more self-sustainable and decrease energy cost, thus saving a large amount of money and lower taxes for people of Noblesville. The many windows and solar panels will help the environment. A large amount of plants will be added in and around the library. This helps with aesthetics and water runoff. It also makes the library look better and cleaner by removing carbon dioxide and adding oxygen to the air.