Design disciplines

The typical disciplines

Architect

Responsible for the building as a whole: function, massing, appearance, room relationships, building elements. Generally the leader of the design process.

Structural engineer

The design and sizing of the structure: foundations, vertical and horizontal load resistance, bracing, connections. Designer qualifications.

Mechanical engineer

Heating, cooling, ventilation, water, drainage, gas. The discipline that takes up the most room in the structure, which makes early discussion with it a key question.

Electrical designer

Power, extra-low voltage, lightning protection.

Fire designer

The fire concept, and setting and demonstrating the requirements. Fire documentation.

Energy specialist

The energy calculation and the demonstration of compliance.

Project-dependent disciplines

Transport designer, landscape architect, acoustician, geotechnical engineer, building-element designer, lighting designer, kitchen and medical technologists and others — according to the use and the size.

Where the disciplines meet

On light gauge steel and steelwork projects there are four typical clash points:

1. Service routes in the structure — the depth of the service cavity and penetrations through the structure. Service cavity.
2. Fire requirements and the build-up — the limits on material choice.
3. Energy and structure — handling the thermal bridges.
4. The architectural opening layout and the bracing — how much continuous wall is left. Designing a shear wall.

These are all points at which one discipline’s decision narrows another’s options.

Why discussion has to happen early

Because with a prefabricated structure the design fixes earlier. What can still be changed on site in a masonry house is already manufactured here.

The point

Every discipline looks at the same building through different glasses. A good design is not the sum of the disciplines but the result of their discussion.