ARCHITECTURAL ECONOMICS

DESIGN
BY PERCY E. NOBBS, PP.R.A.1.C.

W
RITING Ly request and lvithout waste of time, of leg work and of shoe leather. Pity
recompense-writing for my friends, the poor hospital nurse, who may have to make
that is to say-under a prescribed fifty journeys a day to the ward linen store, if that
- - title Architectural Economics with store is thirty feet farther from the ward door than
the sul-heading Design, I may Le permitted to necessar.y. Pity the workmans wife, mother of a
say exactly what I like as to what I think. To Lcgin family, if she cannot juggle pots between sink, stove
with I do not know what is expected of me. Design and cooking taLle lvith a half turn and a step lvith
is a much bigger thing than architecture, and design one foot.
is from its very nature wrapped up in economic Thus in the arrangement of rooms over and above
considerations from start to finish. I must first deal their disposition for prospect and aspect and apart
with the word Architectural in the title. from the absorption of culjic contents in their COII-

Architecture as an art is usually dependent on nections, there is this matter of effcienc.y engineer-
design. Design is the raw material of architecture ing as to the movements of their inhabitants.
in such casts; Lut what is called monumental The eighteenth century French architects pro-
architecture has Lut a flimsy relation to design. duced some quite marvellously graceful and con-
It is primarilv concerr.ed with impressions or venient planning without an_y passages or corridors
moods-its spiritual content may have little or at all. That was called suite planning, one room
nothing to do with the scl~ti. n cf the problem- opening off another. Rut the passage space was
with discovcrv of f(;rm in ter;:: c,f practical purpose there-through the rooms-and the rooms needed
material and technique. In monumental arclii- twice as many doors with the lost effective floor
tecture the purpose is no longer practical, Lut in space of their swings, as did the rooms in the
ordinary architecture it is the solution in terms of English planning of the nineteenth century with
practical purpose, material and technique that its emphasis on privacy and its lavish use of pas-
matters most; that is the design, the discover4 sages. It is Ly a compromise between these two
form, is the subject of the artistic commentary in spstems that the modern house planner achieves
architectural treatment. efficiency. Much depends on the degree to which a
As the greater cannot be contained in the less, passageway through a room, or in a corridor, is
the word Architectural in the title must Le inter- going to he used. Light traffic may well be through
preted as meaning having to do with what archi- a room. Hcav~r traffic-- i.e., frcquen t use-demands
tccts, as professional men, concern themselves a corridor, and privacy demands the corridor too.
with or in shorter form having to do \vith In the very close planning demanded in housing
1)uilclings. After all only some architects arc operations the designer cannot give too much con-
artists and even they spend most of their time on sidcration to these matters. An extraordinarily
matters that have nothing CO do with architecture compact plan may 1)~ highlv inefficient for the
as art and a great deal to do with design-the dis- reason that it mav not provide enough effective
covery of form. In this activitv they row in the Iloor space for its arca ant1 cuLic contents. The

same galle-v tvith the engineers and contrivers of dimensions of rooms, apart from floor arca and
things. Only occasionall,v do thcv serve in the cubic contents, have an important Learing on the
ranks of the artists marching with the poets and economics of their use. There is traffic within the
musicians and painters. room as well as to the room. Careful furniture
So when an architect sets CO work in 99.9 cases layout is the l)est check to employ here. Six inches
out of a hundred, he has a problem to solve. He more length involving four inches less Lreadth or
Legins by solving it in terms of use. He determines vice versa, may make all the difference.
the sizes of rooms. Th 1s involves economics right Ihcn there arc the econ<)mics of the envelope to
away. For even if the accommodation is to Le on a consider. The envelope of ;I 1)uilding is a comLina-
generous scale--perhaps a lavish scale-there is tion of ~valls and roof; the envelope of a Loat is a
such a thing as waste space. As he proceeds to the comt)ination of deck and Lodge. A ramljling plan
arrangement of his rooms and the study of their can never have an economic envelope. The enve-
connections the economics of time and human lope has its omm practical purposes and its own
energy crop up. A long corridor may Lc a waste of material and technical considerations to determine
space and a waste of materials. It may also Le a its form. Tt is not just so much material disposed to

The Journal, Royal Archdectural Im-titute of Canada Page 2

 contain the accommodation. What is so obvious solutions, full of simplifications that are in effect
in the case of a boat, is not less true, because less economics, can only be arrived at after the most
obvious, in the case of a house. A roof, especiaI1.y patient and energetic analysis of the problem.
in a climate such as ours,cnnnot be just any shape McKim sometimes planned for effect, it is true, but
at all; any more than the immersed part of a ship even then he got more effect for less space than
can be any shape at all. Both have form to bc any of his contcmpornrics in America could begin
discovered b-y the designer b-y a synthetic process of to achieve.
anal-ysis and combination-what it has to do, ~~hat Tf my friend Noulan Cauchon has his way the
it is made of and how it is mndc. question of hexagonal planning is likely to be inter-
A plan having been laid out and its elements jccted into all our lives. That the hexagon is a
having been brought within a possible cnvclopc, ljetter basis for street planning than the square
the next question is the points of support. If there (checkerl)oartl) or the parallelogram (gridiron)
is to be economy in construction, thcsc points of within a cit.y or an urban district I readily admit.
support will form a systematic pattern; not neces- It saves road, it saves time. And that a hexagonal
sarily a s%ymmetrical pattern. One begins by seeking envelope for a structure involves less material and
a structural bay or cell that will correspond to the less heat loss than a square or parellelogmm T also
use elements. Repetition is the soul of structural admit. But, in determining form, method of con-
econom-y, and the repetitions the structure imposes struction is one of the three elements, and except
are usuall~y the basis of the rhythm of the composi- for poured concrete fair work and square work
tion. Obviously all problems cannot bc solved in is cheapest. As to hexagonal rooms I am all for
terms of so many equal bays; but there are very few them if like Boffrands ellipses they do the trick,
problems of building, parts of which do not easily which can only 1~ now and then. So long as all
fall into a series of bays. This structural anal,ysis beds and most tables remain rectangular, as I
is aimed at the discovery of a constant building venture to hope the-y will, there must always be
unit, if any exists, which will correspond with the much lost space by planning small rooms on an
variable use units. Tf the smaller (not the smallest) hexagonal basis. In such applications the hexagon
use units and structural units correspond so does not give full value for cubic contents provided
much the better. Large use units may then bc and dollars spent. As housing is likely to be about
manoeuvred into two, three or any number of the only thing to claim our attention or engage our
structural units. aspirations for some time to come, there is another
The advent of steel construction has given a matter in that connection to be dealt lvith.
greater economic motive to the devices of unit One very eminent English architect with a genius
planning, but from the earliest times the principle for quarrclling with his fellow English architects
has been acted on. It is thus that long ranges of appears to advocate the stud-y of mid-European
repeating forms have come to be such important housing. The English s tale of accommodation is
elements in architectural composition. Unit plan- far more moderate than most of the European. The
ning has a further economic advantage. Tf a l)uild- c rermans have recently modified their standards.
ing is likely to bc enlarged, the structure can l)e This is something the English authorities know
continued and displaced elements of use can readilv more about than anyone else. The-y have been
find new structural units of the old sizes to contain doing assisted housing for fift.y *years past.
them--a matter on which the late Frank Darling Another very eminent English architect, with a
used to 1a.v great stress when acting with me as an happ*y experience in monumental jobs, has voci-
assessor of competitions. ferated balconies for babies by which he means
The use of other than rectangular forms is a long, continuous, stripe bnlconics on the outside of
matter that has economic aspects. The superb housing blocks. I am all for balconies for the babies,
plans of Boffrand in the time of Louis XV were if the balconies like the babies are short-1 am all
economically adroit. His circles, ellipses and penta- for little balconies overshadowing non-habitable
gons were not decided on for their own sweet sakes. roomspl)ut long ones; no ----not in this climate at
Tr;v and replan one of his Paris hotels without least.
recourse to these forms and you will see. These There may be gross economy in putting a passage
fiilillS ,;I rc)om, courtyard or staircase came to hiln outside a bluck of flats instead of in it. If so that
out of the problem. Nothing was sacrificed for passage, from stairhcad to outer doors, kills privacy
them. The.y were simply the forms that did the in the rooms facing on it and can be so used for the
trick. ljabies. Also it means double doors for the dwell-
Then again there is the marvellous breadth and ings. Also, if built with a brick parapet, in the mid-
simplicity of McKims planning that looks so eaqy. European manner, that parapet will be on the street
The discover,y of America looked easy after Colum- in a year or two.
bus had made it-as easy as making an egg to The continuous balcony over-shading windows
stand on its end. But these easy and obvious looking reduces the solid angle of sky seen from the room
 to al,out nothing at all. Compensate for this by cube foot to build ; $6,700 per class room provided;
giving the room a glass side and then double the and $157 per child, and incidentally how many
glass and treble the heating. Is that an economy? cube feet of building each child acquired
Everyone knows that sunshine in a workroom therein.
is an unmitigated nuisance, but most of us still And lastly there is the cost and revenue set up, so
believe that a sun swept room, even sun swept important when dealing with housing problems.
through common glass that does not let the ultra Here the cost set up must cover (a) land, (1~) con-
violet rays through, makes for health and happiness. struction, (c) gardens and lawns, (d) design and
A geranium knows that and so does a cat with superintendence, (e) interest during construction -
kittens, and so does any person of common sense, to (d) and (e) are usually forgotten. The rent set up
judge by the superior rental value of a sunny flat. must cover two groups of cold, hard facts -(a)
Town planners and housing experts all over the capital charges, and (b) carrying charges, or in less
world spread the gospel of the east and west expo- technical language, cost of loans and running
sure of windows to get sunshine into rooms for part expenses.
of the day. Then came some mid-European archi- Under (a) we have (a) Interest and Sinking Funtl

tects, suffering hysteria in the form of an originality on First Mortgage, (b) the Same Sad Facts as to
complex. Theirs was the kind of originality that Second Mortgage, all of which are so important
would have created man to walk on his hands with that I have given them capital letters. Under (b)
prehensile feet waving over his head. The-v take an we get (a) insurance, (b) management, (c) main-
aversion to vertical lines. They get hold of some tenance, (d) vacancies, (e) grounds, (f) heating
housing jobs to play stripes with. Then the sheep~ (if any), and (g) taxation.
always more numerous than the shepherd--say: Well, suppose the whole thing comes too high,
Hip hurrah! how original! Lets be original too; what will you do? Reduce the cubage? Perhaps
come jump the fence: balconies for babies, Ra! you can, but beware! There are a lot of things in a
Ra! Ra! small dwelling that cant be made any smaller
I implore my readers to consider what a beam of stairs, beds, sinks, doorways. The things that
sunshine entering a workmans flat at 10.00 a.m. wont squeeze usually determine one or l)oth the
or 3.00 p.m. on a midwinters da-y means to a overall dimensions. Well you squeeze the floors
woman and small children at home there. 1 believe and the first thing you know you have lost bed
it improves their health. Anyhow it adds to their space, or the elasticity that would enable three
h appiness; and that has economic value. Rut a small beds to go into the same room as two big
couple of hours of midwinter sunshine on the glass ones. That means you have reduced rent but also
of a window will raise the temperature of the reduced population. Well you squeeze and you

room 4. Now you have something to figure with squeeze your plan, disregarding the fact that it now
in real dollars and cents, for the price of coal is gives less for the money, and let us suppose you
known. Quite an economy this! get 6% out of the cube which is just what you

Economic analysis of, let us say, rival solutions c,f want. IIont flatter yourself. When it comes to
an architectural problem, or of two different ways squeezing a small plan, 6$& out of the cube will
of doing the darned thing when we are in doubt, rarely bc 37, out of the cost.
should be resorted to more often than it is. Mere A good point to hear in mind is this; and is the
comparison of cubic contents means very little. But concentrated experience of England and America.
if we divide our total cubic contents into per- If a four-bedroom house costs 22.5 cents a cube foot,
centages of (a) effective contents, (b) passages and a three-1)edroom house will cost 25 cents and a two-
stairs, (c) heating plant, and (d) walls, floors and 1)edroom house 28 cents a cube foot. This is partly
ducts, we get useful facts. A school building is accounted for 1j.v the fact that the kitchen and
very efficient if such an analysis gives us (a) 48.5%, bathroom equipment will be about the same in
(b) 14.2oj,, (c) 5%, and (d) 32.3y0. every case and part1.y by the fact that the smaller
Then again by resort to a cost anal-vsis one might the house the greater will be the proportion of
ascertain that the same school cost 17.8 cents a solids entering into the composition.

The Journal, Royal Architectural Imfitute of Canada Page 3