Well, to those who recognise the title of the post, this AutoCAD error message may be one you’ve come accross before, however, for the benefit of all; i’ll go into a little more detail.

Working on some drawings recently, i found that when it came to plotting out the layout, the “Plot style table (pen assignments)” were missing! (As the following image of the plot window shows, to the top-right)

One reason suggested for this is 3rd party xrefs altering the plot style settings, but i’m open on being corrected if that’s not the right answer. Anyway, the fix is a lot more straightforward than trying to figure out the reason. All you have to do is type “CONVERTPSTYLES” as a command type in either model or paper space and you get the following message.

On this step the work has all been done for me; the handy little pop-up message explains it all… Once you’ve hit “OK” the command then runs the fix and… voila! it’s done. Now continue as you would normally and go to plot the drawing; you should see the following plot window with all the plot styles back to normal!

Select the desired plot style and there you have it! All courtesy of Tom (the genius) Potter. So please forward all thanks onto him.

P+HS are currently progressing early design development for a new medical centre in South Kirkby. Proposals include two GP practices, PCT areas, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Opticians, Gym, Cafe, and Library space (Approximately 4,200sqm of internal floor area).
The model shown has proved to be a useful tool for helping the end users and contractor understand the mass and form of the building (along side the plans) at regular user group meetings.
The sketch shown has been used for recent public consultation sessions currently in progress.
We are aiming for a Planning Application around March / Aprl this year.

P+HS have achieved design stage BREEAM Excellent (total 72.57%) for the new Linac building NUH with an extra 2.5% to spare. Well done team. 

Part L is being amended and is due to come into force on 6th October 2010. Many of the changes aim to more clearly distinguish “Requirements” from “Guidance”.

There are also a number of changes, the main ones being:
Design Submissions to be a requirement (in the Regulations) as well as As Built Submissions
No change to the methodology for calculating the TER beyond the 25% reduction in the target.
The guidance proposes a “strategic sequence” for meeting the TER target
Builders to be able to get lower DERs if they adopt procedures that provide more quality assurance e.g. Air Permeability (more pressure testing), Thermal Bridges.
Design Limits for Building Fabric – no changes.
Design Limits for Building Services - expanded to cover micro-generation of heat and electricity.
Clearer rules for air permeability assessment at the As Built stage, involving more pressure testing.
Thermal bridging – 25% to be added on to calculated values if accredited details not used
Party Walls – no longer assumed to have a U value of 0.0 W/m2K; value depends upon construction.
Conservatories – exemption for conservatories of less than 30 m2 to be removed.

We’ll get some seminars organised when they are available.

Problem:

If you’ve ever had problems within AutoCAD, while using drawings with xrefs; then this is hopefully a step toward solving your miseries. Common symptoms of this effect are; slow processing speed, delayed response to command types, agonising movement of the cursor when adjusting viewports, etc, etc.

Knowledge:

“When a file contains excess scales, performance may be negatively affected. Eventually, the file may become unusable. To use the file, the extra scales must be removed” (www.cadtutor.net). There is a command type within AutoCAD that repairs affected files by removing these unwanted excess scales.

Procedure:

Have the drawing open in your AutoCAD application and then type the following command: ‘-scalelistedit’

Next it asks: Enter option? Type ‘R’ for Reset

Finally it asks: Reset scale list to defaults? Then type ’Y’ for Yes

Further tips:

It’s a good idea at this point to also Purge & Audit the drawing in order to optimise the file.

Simply type and hit enter for the following: ’PU’ for Purge - and then select ‘Purge All’ until nothing is left to purge. ‘AUDIT’ for audit - and then type ‘Y’ for yes when it asks if you want to Fix any errors detected.

Evidence-based best practice guidance on the design and layout of generic clinical and clinical support spaces for use in healthcare settings.

Publish date:  Jan 2010

Housing minister John Healey said the fee freeze would save developers £23 million this year, money which can be reinvested into new projects that will sustain the UK construction sector through what is predicted to be a stale year for the economy.

Announcing the freeze, Healey said: ‘At a time when investing in new developments is difficult, and when access to funding is hard, it would be wrong to increase the costs of developers who will help drive economic recovery.

‘I recognise that as we start to work through economic recovery, we need to do what we can to keep builders on construction sites and keep plans on the table.

‘It is important that we react to the economic circumstances and listen to the needs of people, industry and developers and we have done just that.’

From the Architects Journal 21 January 2010.

Approved Document G (Hygiene)

The new Part G (Hygiene) finally comes into force on the 6th April 2010 after being delayed from an original introduction on 1st October 2009.

The main points are; Changes to cold water supply requirements, hot water safety and the introduction of a new provision relating to water efficiency in new dwellings. See link here.

Chris Sneesby, some of us know of him through work, has set up a company making ‘Archipods’. The pods can be used for a variety of functions such as home office, leisure or play spaces. The archipod web site has more information and details www.archipod.co.uk

Wallpaper that can glow with light and bendable flat-panel screens are a step closer thanks to research into organic LEDs (OLEDs), which are widely hailed as the next generation of environmentally friendly lighting technology. See the Guardian report here.

A new building for one of Britain’s oldest schools, constructed off site by Portakabin subsidiary, Yorkon, has won the Building Schools for the Future Award at the Builder and Engineer Awards.

Designed by P+HS Architects, the Hubert Jones Science Centre at Christ College in Brecon provides facilities which are unrivalled in Wales, as part of a major commitment to help develop the next generation of young scientists.

The award recognised the project’s high quality design and how it applied education construction best practice to a scheme built off site.  The construction team successfully delivered an exceptional building that will inspire pupils to study science, and which is also highly sustainable and flexible.

The use of off-site construction ensured completion of the centre in just five months despite the challenging site, minimising any disturbance to staff and pupils. 16 steel-framed building modules were manufactured off site in York and craned into position during school holidays to further minimise any disruption to teaching.

Christ College was founded by Royal Charter in 1541 by King Henry VIII and has buildings on its campus, which date back to the 13^th Century.  Because of this and the building’s sensitive location in the Brecon Beacons National Park, the design incorporated local materials such as Welsh sandstone from Llangorse Quarry, together with render and timber cladding to complement the surrounding architecture.

The scheme also features a number of sustainable measures to minimise impact on the environment, such as solar water heating to reduce energy consumption, energy-efficient lighting, natural ventilation and daylight, and high levels of insulation to conserve energy.                                                                                                                    

The two-storey building expands the science facilities at this independent boarding and day school, bringing all the laboratories together under one roof and replacing an outdated 1950s block.

Two physics and two biology laboratories, a sixth form project room, and laboratory technician’s rooms are grouped around a double height central atrium that functions as an additional teaching area and exhibition space.  This central ‘street’ also allows pupils to move through the space at peak times and gather informally before and after lessons.

The building has been designed to be flexible and adaptable to change.  The internal walls are non load-bearing and there are clear internal spans of up to 12m, so the teaching spaces and laboratories can easily be reconfigured to meet the school’s changing requirements over time.

 

 

 

 

For those of you looking for guidance as designers with regard to safe access for maintenance and repair, I would recommend the latest CIRIA Document C686 “Safe Access for Maintenance & Repair” downloadable from the IHS information service. Chapter 2 is particularly useful, giving indicative guidance in making decisions in respect of working at height.

You should also be aware of other useful CIRIA guidance ( also available through our information service) as follows:

 

CIRIA C604 CDM Regulations – Work sector guidance for designers

CIRIA C662 - CDM2007 Construction work sector guidance for designers

CIRIA C663 - CDM2007 Workplace in-use guidance for designers

 

The Workplace in-use guidance is particularly of interest, and reminds us that as designers we need to ensure that hazards & risks are considered for the workplaces included in our designs, also ensuring compliance with the Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992.

Those of you working in the healthcare sector will no doubt be aware that the acoustic design of healthcare buildings was re-thought with the introduction of HTM 08-01, in particular the method of selecting appropriate acoustic partitions was seriously overhauled. While the changes took the guesswork out of selecting the required laboratory sound insulation value for partitions, the maths involved in working out the requirements gave me a headache and it took a very long time to work out all of the partition requirements for the first project I carried out under this HTM.

As a result I set up a spreadsheet to take the pain out of the calculations and speed the whole process up, and you can now find this sheet on the intranet should you wish to use it, oddly enough, under the title “HTM 08-01 Calculator”. There are some explanatory notes on the first tab.

A word of warning though, the spreadsheet does a lot for you but you still need to have a basic understanding of the HTM and be aware that the HTM recommends that an acoustic consultant be employed to ensure an holistic approach to acoustic design on all projects.

http://www.safetyindesign.org/

Just a reminder of this valuable information site for designers

SiD - Safety in Design Ltd is a not for profit company that exists to support designers in the built environment. It is by industry and for industry.

The following is posted on their web site:

“ FEEDBACK - All the speakers at the recent CIRIA  “Designers Dilemmas” workshop on the 8th October spoke against numerical design risk assessments and HSE confirmation of this was also provided. Want to know more? Sign up for the newsletter now! Want to comment? Do so on the Discussion Forum.”

I have signed up for their newsletter and will pass this round to all.

The CIRIA workshop confirms what we have all suspected for some time. I will be suggesting we review our own procedures in order to try to make them simpler, however, risk does need to be assessed & evaluated for hazards identified in order for appropriate responses to be made.

In the meantime, everybody’s views welcome.

Last night colleagues from Leeds and Stokesley got together at the end of the 25th year in Practice to hear the year end results and celebrate the milestone. Once again, and in spite of the current challenging economic climate, P+HS has demonstrated real growth both commercially and professionally. Chris Potter thanked staff for their commitment and hardwork through the year and went on to unveil the Practice’s plans for the future, the most exciting of which was the opening of the London office in January 2010. Watch this space!

PS. Thanks to Chris Lawes for designing the cake, to Chris’s Uncle for making it, and to Ben for eating most of it.