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Research

Give the design a basis before giving it geometry.

BIMIQ turns the brief, site information, sources, program and constraints into structured context the design can actually use.

Turn the brief into information the project can use.

The agent reads the brief and pulls out spaces, quantities, area targets and relationships. Anything the brief leaves out is listed as an open question.

The brief

“Design a community high school for 1,200 students on a flat suburban site in North Carolina, with an auditorium, vocational workshops and a central courtyard.”

Requirements, from the brief

  • 1,200 students, grades 9 to 12
  • Auditorium
  • Vocational workshops
  • Central courtyard
  • Flat suburban site, North Carolina

Open questions

  • Which zoning district and setbacks apply?
  • Is there a measured site survey?
  • What is the construction budget?

Every requirement keeps its source.

Regulations, guidance and client documents stay with the requirement they support, so anyone can check where a number came from.

Source · NC DPI Facilities Guidelines, 2019, pp. 3 to 9

A suburban high school site should provide 30 acres, plus one acre for every 100 pupils.

Summarized from the source

Requirement

Site area for 1,200 pupils

Recommended
about 17.0 ha
Design
17.6 ha

A citation helps you inspect the basis of a statement. Interpretation and professional review remain part of the project.

North Carolina6 checks · 4 sources
  • Site area

    30 ac + 1 ac per 100 pupils, about 17.0 ha

    17.6 ha

  • Student parking

    One third of enrolment

    400 spaces

  • Accessible parking

    1 in 6 accessible bays van accessible

    15 bays, 4 van

  • Accessible route

    915 mm minimum width

    3.8 m corridors

  • Zoning and setbacks

    District and survey not yet supplied

    To confirm

  • Code edition

    2018 NC codes listed as current

    Confirm at permit

Zoning, parking and access, researched with the sources kept.

Regulatory research supports professional review. It does not replace it.

The school site plan with its roads, parking, fields and stormwater basin1234
440 × 400 m17.6 haNorth

Work with the real site.

Bring in the boundary, access, orientation and surroundings. The site stays part of the project while the building is designed and analyzed.

  1. 1

    Bus loop

    West side, ten loading bays, apart from parents and service.

  2. 2

    Parent drop-off

    Its own southern loop, with a queue for about 40 cars.

  3. 3

    Service and deliveries

    From the east service road to the kitchen and workshops.

  4. 4

    Stormwater reservation

    A south-east basin kept free of building and parking.

The program becomes spaces, quantities and targets.

1,200 pupils, grades 9 to 12m²
  • Classrooms40 × 90 m² 3,600
  • Gym1 × 1,484 m² 1,484
  • Science labs8 × 176 m² 1,408
  • Arts studios6 studios 1,200
  • Workshops4 × 270 m² 1,080
  • Auditorium600 seats 976

Spaces, quantities and area targets from the brief.

Science labPrep roomLibraryCourtyardKitchen yardBus loop
  • Connected
  • Close
  • Kept apart

Which spaces sit close, connect or stay apart, carried into the design.

Keep what you know apart from what you assumed.

A measured boundary, an assumed storey height and a chosen courtyard layout are different kinds of information. BIMIQ keeps them labelled that way.

KindItemBasis
FactSite area 17.6 ha
Fact40 general classrooms
AssumptionThe parcel is flat
AssumptionEnrolment stays at 1,200
DecisionCourtyard stays open air
DecisionWorkshops on the east side

The research doesn't stop when the design starts.

The agent uses the project basis when it designs, checks and explains, and you can add sources at any point.

Check the classroom areas against the NC guidance.

  • Found 40 classrooms at 90 m²
  • NC DPI guidance range is 69.7 to 79.0 m²

Above range, flagged for review

Bring the brief and the questions around it.

Bring the project, and BIMIQ will take it from research to a model you can keep editing.