Tag: ADA Compliance

When constructing an office building or building your new home or designing the interiors of your space, anyone would like to keep up with the trends. Architecture, like any other art form, has trends that vary from time to time. When constructing a new building, anyone would want to keep up with the current trends. This article will help you familiarize with the current architectural trends.

1. Sustainable design

   One of the important trends in the architectural world is the lineage towards lower power consumption and reduction of Carbon emission. Eco-friendly interiors are now preferred by both interior designers and consumers. It is important to design interiors that are not only are attractive looking but does less damage to the environment. Use natural materials like stone or wood for construction. Artisan products have smaller carbon footprint when compared to its mass-produced competitors and thus should be used.

2. Flex rooms

   Flex rooms are rooms or areas in the house with more than one use. As time advanced, space has become a major issue in when it came to constructing buildings. One cannot sacrifice his need, thus within the available space, everything a person needs was to be made available. This compelled the architects to come up with innovative solutions that ensures effective utilization of the available space and is cost-friendly.

3. Prefabricated
   buildings

   We may be familiar
   with pillars and sections of flyovers being prefabricated and then
   brought to the destination and assembled. This similar concept is
   now applied to construction of buildings including homes, offices,
   hospitals, and so on. Less building time and cost, easier project
   management, and reduced work force required are the reasons why this
   has become a trend.

4. Modern metallics

   Metallics have the
   ability to bring a sophisticated and glamour look to any interior.
   Be it Copper, Gold, Rose Gold, Silver or any metallic color, mix and
   match them up or use one metallic piece as focal point in designing
   the interiors.

5. Groovy Geometrics

   A few Geometric shapes can contribute significantly to the aesthetic appearance of the interiors of a room. This idea can be incorporated into any style of design. For modern interiors, use differently shaped furniture or paintings, and for a classy look, incorporate this into tiles.

6. Design for
   relaxation

   In this modern world of busy life, it is necessary that there should spaces where you can relax amidst your busy work schedules. Be it at your home or office, everyone needs a go to place that helps them relax. A home spa is one of the preferred places of relaxation. In general, a soundproof room can provide you with a minimum level of relaxation. Different soundproofing techniques are available that helps keep noises from entering your relaxation room.

There are many different architectural trends that you can incorporate for a trendy looking building. You can also incorporate two or more architectural designs while constructing new buildings or designing interiors. But in the end, the interior designing choices depend on the consumer’s personal tastes, wants and constraints.

Barrel vault is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of materials along a single curve that are used in interior designing. Barrel vault roofs were known to be used in the Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamian civilizations. The necessity of this construction came at places where there was scarcity of wood since these structures could be built using stones or bricks. Barrel vault roofing was not widely used in the Ancient Egypt due to the requirement of complex formwork and measurements. It was widely used by Ancient Romans while building their cathedrals, monasteries and so on. Arches shaped like horseshoes were also part of Indian architecture and are found in Ajantha-Ellora caves and old places of worship in India. Barrel vault roofs were also used in old cities like New York but with the incoming of RC pipes, barrel vault roofs has become less desirable. This is because maintenance is tough and also RC pipes can be installed and replaced easily. Also in a barrel vault, pressure is outwards and to withstand this pressure, either the thickness of the wall must be increased, which is not desirable, or two barrel vaults must be constructed parallel to one another so that the pressures cancel out.

In olden times, barrel vaults were constructed using stones or bricks but now, with the advancement of technology, barrel vaults can be constructed using almost any material. Its a common misunderstanding that barrel vault roof construction is very costly and has low life. Though construction of barrel vault roofs are costlier than that of normal roofs, it doesn’t add much to the cost and once constructed, they last over 50 years without any significant maintenance. Since it uses metal roofing, it is a green-technique and can be reused. Thus barrel vaults are more affordable than what most of us think.

Barrel vault roofs, apart from giving an attractive appearance to the building has other advantages as well. One of the prominent advantages of a barrel vaulted ceiling is its ability to light up the building properly. Barrel vault roofs can help bring natural light indoors and evenly distribute it in the interiors and thus light the room appropriately.

Below are a few
advantages of barrel vault roofs when used for lighting purposes.

1. Provides more
   light than a vertical roof with same surface.

2. Ensures that the
   light is evenly spread.

3. Natural light is allowed inside to light up the room for enhanced appearance and mood, which in turn increases productivity.

Barrel vault rooflights are modular rooflighting systems that can provide long continuous runs of lighting systems. Here are some characteristics of barrel vault rooflighting.

1. Simple
   installation.

2. Ideal for walkway
   and canopy applications.

3. Wide span of light
   can be provided.

4. Continuous runs of unlimited lighting systems.

5. Suitable for commercial and industrial applications.

6. Cost effective
   systems available.

7. Light is evenly
   distributed.

8. Designed for use
   on low pitch, flat and the crown of curved roofs.

Barrel vault roofs, on top of being affordable, can add to the appearance of the room. Unlike old times, barrel vault roof constructions are not complex and tedious and thus is more consumer and construction friendly when it comes to architecture and interior designing.

Do you live close to busy roads? Do you not want your neighbour to hear your private conversations? Soundproofing your interiors is the ultimate solution to your

Soundproofing includes methods with which sound or noise in a room to meet various needs. It usually includes blocking any sound from entering or leaving the room as well as reduce reverberations in the room that can cause echoes, or muffled and unclear voices. One of the ways through which this can be achieved is by soundproofing the walls.

STC rating denotes the ability of a material to resist the passing of sound through them. The more the STC rating, the better acoustical properties the material possess.  

Drywall has low STC rating which means that its ability to block sound from entering or leaving a room is low. Also, sound waves hit drywall and bounce off of the wall, reverberating across the room interfering with the sound waves. Hence we can say that drywall has poor acoustical properties and we should implement ways to improve the same for soundproofing any room that needs privacy, be it a mini home theater or your bedroom, or simply to block any external noise from entering your room and disturbing you.

Let us discuss some
ways with which the acoustical properties of a drywall can be
improved.

1. Increase thickness

2. The principle behind enhanced acoustical properties of a material with more mass is that sound transmits through a medium through vibration of particles. When the mass of a material increases, it will be difficult for it to vibrate and hence, only less noise will be transmitted. Mass loading method involves adding mass-loaded vinyl. Sheets of heavy vinyl can be installed between studs and drywalls to increase the mass of the drywall. Employing mass-loaded vinyl will give good soundproofing results but installing it is labor intensive with high labor cost, and needs a combination of materials. Thus it is an unattractive option since it is highly error prone when we one tries to install it on their own.

3. Soundproof drywall panels.

   Soundproof drywall panels have high STC rating and ensure good soundproofing. For 100% soundproofing, the space between panels should be vacuum but it is absolutely impossible for manufacturers to achieve that and hence no acoustic panel is 100% soundproof. But soundproof panels can be easily installed and are available.

4. Soundproofing
   materials.

   Materials with high
   STC rating can be used for soundproofing drywalls.

5. Viscoelastic soundproofing.

   Viscoelastic soundproofing is the newest technology in the field of soundproofing. Viscoelastic materials have both viscous and elastic properties. When sound waves hit these materials, they are deformed and slowly goes back to their true form. Thus the energy of the sound waves is dissipated by the contraction and expansion process and converted into thermal energy. In constrained layer viscoelastic damping, a thin layer of viscoelastic material is sandwiched between two rigid surfaces, in this case dry walls. When sound wave hits the first drywall, the particles vibrate and the energy will be transmitted through it. But when these vibrations reach the viscoelastic material, the energy is dissipated and only very little energy is transmitted to the second layer. This is how soundproofing is achieved by the use of viscoelastic materials.

In terms of quality and cost, soundproofing drywalls is the most preferred interior designing way of achieving soundproofing.

Since the climatic conditions of Earth are worsening with each passing year, the concerns and needs to adapt environment friendly interior designing methods in every walks of our life has increased. ‘Go Green’ is the worldwide approved slogan for the initiative to use environment-friendly and recycled items.

This article lists 7 awesome ways to ‘Go Green!‘ in your office.

1. Reduce wastage.

   Reduce the wastage of
   items like paper and pen. Set printer default settings to double
   sided printing.

2. Reduce energy
   consumption.

• Reduce the
  consumption of fuel by availing carpooling facility, using public
  transport or even walking or cycling, if possible.

• Light the office space using natural light and proper ventilation should be provided so that use of AC and fans may be avoided. Use CFL, LED lights or other high efficient bulbs to reduce power consumption. Remove extra bulbs from spaces where there is too much lighting.

• Install motion
  censors in places that are frequently visited. Set timers on
  printers to automatically turn off after office working hours.

• Heating and
  cooling systems should be set at optimal temperature of 20-22
  degree Celsius.

• Use renewable
  sources like solar power for generating power for office purposes.

3. Use Recycled products.

   Use recycled papers,
   envelopes, cardboard etc.

4. Reuse and recycle
   products.

• Install
  centralized bins rather than private bins for waste collecting and
  recycling. Do this in a way that it doesn’t affect the employees’
  working.

• Assign a local
  waste contractor who offers landfill services, to collect residual
  landfill.

• Use pens with
  refills such that you don’t have to throw it out after one use.

• When redecorating your office space, reuse the furniture with small changes suiting the new space.

• Fibre-boards are manufactured with recycled products and should be used.

5. Initiatives and
   campaigns.

• Take initiatives
  to make all the employees choose the ‘Go Green’ path.

• Conduct campaigns and even competitions to help promote the use of environment-friendly items and also reduce power consumption.  

• Paste ‘Go Green’
  slogans, messages and cartoons at all places to encourage people
  for the same.

• Use signatures in
  mails that has messages to be environment-friendly.

6. Use
   environment-friendly furniture.

• Use papers processed and coloured using eco-friendly methods.

• Use biodegradable
  cups and soaps in the office.

• There are environment-friendly desks and tables that are manufactured without much use of natural resources.

7. Keep in check
   carbon footprinting.

   Carbon footprint is the amount of Green House gases emitted due to the services and products that are developed to aid human activities. It is necessary that carbon footprint of an office is noted and kept within a limit. These gases reduce the ozone layer which results in global warming. Global warming is a major concern now and it is our duty to keep these emissions under control for a better future.

Studies show that building materials and furnishings, after a while, can emit harmful particles that affects the health of human beings. These dangerous vapors and airborne particles can cause allergies and other health issues to the human beings. Companies concerned about the health of their employees take steps to change this condition. Such companies use products that are certified and are in compliance with the amount of emission levels set by the Government. Environment-friendly furniture and products come with a green logo. Make sure you check out this logo before you buy something for the interiors of your office.