ARCHITECTURE

FIRM
LITERATURE STUDY

FARIA TANVEEN- 19251AA013

MADIHA MAHEEN- 19251AA024
HAFSAH SIDDIQUA- 19251AA018
ARCHITECTURE FIRM
In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a company which
employs one or more licensed architect and practices the profession of architecture.
while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countries, an
architectural firm is a company which offers architectural services.
 HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE FIRM

 Architects (or master builders) have existed since early in

recorded history. The earliest recorded architects
include Imhotep (c. 2600 BCE) and Senemut (c. 1470
BCE). No writings exist to describe how these architects
performed their work. However, as nobles it is reasonable
to assume they had staffs of assistants and retainers to
help refine and implement their work.
 The oldest surviving book on architecture, De
architecturea by the Roman architect Vitruvius  describes
the design and construction of towns, buildings, clocks,
and machines, but provides no information about the
organization of the architect's assistants.
 It is generally accepted that throughout most of human
history, most architects were wealthy individuals who
derived their primary income from activities other than
design and who practiced design as a part-time pursuit,
employing assistants on a project-by-project.
LICENSURE AND LEGAL FORM
 Architects may be licensed by individual states or provinces, as they are
in Australia , Canada and the United states. Licensure is usually achieved by a
combination of formal education, internship, and examinations. Although architects
are licensed individually, state laws allow them to join together in various forms
of business organisation.
 In the United Kingdom and other countries, an architecture firm must have a
business registration. The firm needs at least one registered professional within the
team to offer a full architectural service. A professional indemnity insurance is also
compulsory.
 PRINCIPALS
 An architecture firm in the United States usually has at least one "principal," a licensed
architect who is the sole proprietor of the firm, or one who shares
an ownership interest with the other architects in the firm (either as a partner in a
partnership, or as a shareholder in a corporation).
  Sometimes the title of principal is limited to owners who hold a certain percentage of
ownership interest in a firm, or it may be expanded to include anyone with a leadership
role in a firm. Some firms may also use the title "principal-in-charge," which denotes
an architect who oversees the firm's services in connection with a specific project.
 In the United Kingdom and other countries, the principal of an architecture firm is
responsible for the practice. It is generally a qualified architect, architectural
technologist, engineer or an architectural designer.
ORGNIZATION
 Small firms with fewer than five people usually have no formal organizational
structure, depending on the personal relationships of the principals and employees to
organize the work.
 Medium-sized firms with 5 to 50 employees are often organized departmentally in
departments such as design, production, business development, and construction
administration.
 Large firms of over 50 people may be organized departmentally, regionally, or in
studios specializing in project types. Other permutations also exist.
 IMPORTANT FACTORS

 There is a series of metrics that can be helpful for analyzing efficiency of any office
space.
 These metrics are needed to measure the potential spaces and layouts.
Gross density ratio
 It helps to determine current usable square feet per person ratio.
 Typically this ratio ranges 175USF/person for densely planned and up to
325USF/person in offices with frequent in office client/visitor meetings
Enclosed to open ratio
 This is the number of staff in private or enclosed offices compared to those systems
furniture or open cubicles.
 Generally, enclosed offices take up more spaces on per person basis, so this ratio can
have direct impact on total space required.
Important factors
Conference room ratio:
 A conference hall is generally for the business conference.
 They can be windows for security purpose.
 The ratio between number of staff served by conference room is another metric for
space requirements.
 The ratio can change from one conference room to 10 employees in open office to one
conference room per 20 employees in private office.
Circulation factors:
 Circulation spaces should be allocated in addition to the total square footage
requirement.
 Example: The dimension between the outside wall of the building and the interior
building core rooms should allow for hallway to give access to one or more rooms.
 Usually it is established at 25-35% of room/ cubicle in an office
Natural light and aesthetics
 The quality and quantity of light in interior is dictated by the plan of a
building and the way skin of that building is designed.
 Narrow plan building provide maximum natural light penetration.
 Light is controlled outside the skin of the building with overhangs low
head heights to windows or louvers.
 A skin level, shutters, solar or even plants are used for control.
 Internally, various blinds are reduce or eliminate glare.
 It is important to have an aesthetically pleasing office both for yourself
and for any clients that may visit Visitors will also want to see examples
of you being able to tend your own architecture needs you can do so by
showcasing your ability to place things around the room in a tidy and
coherent fashion and by showing that you know how to make use of any
size of space
Light
 Artificial lighting is used as a supplement to the daylight.
 Artificial lights create moods and be directed and manipulated.
 Lighting can change the apparent shape, color and texture of the interior.
 The type of luminaries can be used to entrance bothe look feel of a space.
 The recommended lighting levels for spaces are

Spaces Lighting level (in lux)

Offices 500
Open-plan office 750-100
Workstations 300
Technical drawing 750
Conference room 100
Reception area 100
Circulation area 200
Standards