Smart Apartment - Requirements

by Tom Worthington

Version 1.3 6 March 2001

Introduction

The purpose of this document is to provide the requirements for the design of an Internet connected home office or "smart apartment". This will be built into a pre-designed one bedroom unit (type "E.2") under construction at the City Edge development in O'Connor, Canberra.

Promoting Net-connected Design

As well as providing the design for a real apartment, this project is intended to promote the design of net connected homes and offices. Discussion of Internet enabled homes, such as the Sydney Ihome, hhas so far been superficial, with net fridges, plasma wall screens and remote Internet control of appliances providing little practical function at a high cost.

The project web site http://www.tomw.net.au/2001/sa, will provide design documents and background on the design of Web-integrated call centres and telecenters (Worthington 2000) as well as homes. The material may form part of the Net Traveller web site, be used in conference presentations (such as the Connecting Society forum 7th March 2001) or published in book form (Worthington 1999). The design may also be tested using The Wedge a three dimensional visualization system at the Department of Computer Science, Australian National University, where the author is a Visiting Fellow.

Resources

The total cost of the project (including designer's fees, materials, good and services) is not to exceed $10,000.

Limitations

The structure of the building is not to be altered (no changes or additions to walls, but the breakfast bar can be modified to build an office desk into it, for example). All furniture and fixtures added are to be removable. This is to minimize the need for approval by body corporate and allow changes to the design. The layout, color scheme and finishes are to be consistent with the standard interior design for the apartment (color scheme "1"). The locations of power, data, TV and telephone connections in the standard apartment design may limit the location of equipment and therefore cabinets to house them in the design. The location of these connections will need to be discovered from the developer of the complex as it is not show on the plans. There may be a flaw in the standard apartment design with no data connection at the location of the TV (for Transact Pay TV) being provided.

Requirement

Home office:Desk and storage comparable to an open plan office cubicle. With:
- View out a window: Near a window, with a view outdoors when seated in a chair at the desk. That is the window must be in front of or to either side of the desk, not behind it.
- Desk-top: at least 1000 mm wide by 430 mm deep work surface. Fixed standard desk height is sufficient, adjustable height is desirable but not essential. Part of the desk can be retractable when not in use (or be dual purpose furniture such as the dining table, a side table or even the ironing board), but a non-retractable space for a computer monitor and fax/telephone is required. Also 430 mm wide x 430 mm deep x 400 mm high on the desk or within 1000 mm of the desk (above, below or to the side) must be available for a printer.
- Storage:
  - Two Drawers or equivalent (small shelves or cabinet) for small office supplies: two drawers at least 420 mm x 420 mm x 80 mm.
  - Shelves: adjustable within 2000 mm of the desk:
    - 2000 mm total width x 300 mm deep (for large books, equipment)
    - 2000 mm total width x 200 mm deep (for CD-ROMs and paperback books)
  - Archival storage: equivalent to eight filing cabinet drawers.
- Security: All storage (and part of desktop with computer monitor and telephone) must be able to be able to be removed from view and locked with at most two deadlocks (Lockwood 355 Security Deadlock or equivalent). Keyholes for locks should be discrete (or preferably not visible at all). Exterior walls of the home office to be at least equivalent in strength to 20 mm MDF.
- Meeting table: A table for occasional meetings of six people is required. This can be dual purpose (for occasional office table/dinner). Access to a telephone socket and power point (can be by retractable cables) required. Within comfortable viewing distance of the entertainment unit (so the TV can be used for Powerpoint presentations) would be desirable.
- Visitor Office: Desk for an occasional visiting worker. This can be a dual purpose unit (such as a meeting/dining table). Access to a telephone socket and power point (can be by retractable cables) required.
Other furniture:
- Bedroom: Double bed, chest and side table. Other storage will be in the existing built in wardrobe. If part of the wardrobe is used for the home office, then replacement storage must be provided in furniture in the room. The side table and other furniture can be dual use for the home office (apart from the bed which can't be a retractable model).
- Lounge/dining: Dining table for six, with four chairs normally at the table and two added as required. This can be the dual purpose meeting/visitor desk.
- Sofa bed: to seat two and a double bed (or concealable double bed provided elsewhere in the room).
- Occasional guest wardrobe: The equivalent of a small wardrobe and set of drawers in the lounge near the sofa bed.
- Two chairs: Can be triple purpose lounge/office/dining chairs.
- Coffee or side table (can be dual purpose office chairs or storage).
- Entertainment unit: Provision for a 68 cm TV/computer monitor, micro hi-fi (410 mm wide x 210 mm deep x 150 mm high), VCR, Digital Set-top-box, DVD player and CD player. Must be able to be cabled to power, TV socket, phone socket (for digital cable TV) and the home office (for internet access via the set-top-box). Must be comfortably visible from the sofa and preferably from the dining table (for meeting use).

Style

The Roman writer Cicero termed what we would call the cultural landscape a second nature (alteram naturam). This was a landscape of bridges, roads, harbours, fields - in short, all the elements which men and women introduce into the physical world to make it more habitable, to make it serve their purposes. (Hunt 1992)

The philosophy of design of the smart apartment is that both work and relaxation have a place in life. Rather than try to completely separate these, life can be improved by recognizing their contributions. A balance must be struck between the two uses of the apartment. There is no need to try to completely hide one function or the other. A home should not be made to look like a corporate office and the office need not be made to look like a glossy magazine's idealized home.

However, as this is an existing home design to be adapted for an office, the aesthetic of the apartment will predominate. Materials and finishes should blend with those already selected for the apartment. Furniture can be dual use, with comfortable but durable finishes suitable for office use.

There are a range of pre-built and modular home office furniture items available. These have major limitations:

Inflexible design: The units are designed with special fitting for a slide out keyboard, computer monitor hight adjustment, printer paper feed and CPU box. As well as adding to the cost and providing more parts to break, this reduces the flexibility of the design when technology changes. As an example these units do not accommodate new flat screen, lap-top and laser printer equipment.
Home furniture aesthetic: The units tend to be designed to look like a freestanding "armoire" or wall unit, with large doors to hide the office equipment. The bulk of the unit tends to dominate a small room. Also using fine furniture materials and construction techniques increases the cost of the unit.
Too many things to close:Some home office units have have a half dozen or so slide-out, roll or fold up panels which need to each be moved to set up or close down the office. There may be several locks needed to secure the unit. Also work may need to be removed from the desktop to close the office. This makes it too cumbersome to use and results in the unit being left open all the time.
Not secure: Many home office units have no locks or insubstantial locks design for domestic furniture.

Office in a box

To overcome these limitations the "fitted for but not with" approach of a military command and control center (Worthington 1999) is suggested. With this the home office would be conceived as a few simple cabinets made to blend into the wall of the apartment. There would be generous provision for cabling with large cableways and holes in shelves, but without cable fitted. Each box would have one large hinged door, with one lock. Inside would be equipped with a desk and shelves as required. Modular units design for wardrobes or similar could be used for flexible low cost internal fit-out. The boxes could be built of standard modular units stacked up to near ceiling height and then a custom size door used to provide a neat finish.The large bulk of the units would be disguised by giving them a similar finish to the wall of the apartment, placing them in a corner and with a shelving or entertainment unit alongside (or built into parts). In this way the bulk of the unit would be lessened by appearing to be the wall next to a built-in piece of furniture.

Sample design

A sample design is provided as an dxf file in AutoCAD format. Perspective drawings show the office open and closed. It should be emphasised these are quick sketches and do not take account of the location of power points, data, TV and telephone connections or the exact store required.

Office open

Office closed

Sample Costs

Cabinets	$2,500.00	Modules from Freedom Furniture Conrad Bookcase range and custom built units with a similar finish.
Double bed	$599.00	Eastside satin steel with walnut timber veneer from Freedom Furniture
Bedside Table 55 x 40 x 46cm	$199.00
5 drawer chest 97 x 45 x 83cm	$519.00
Dining table 150 x 90cm	$199.00
Coffee table 100 x 100cm	$399.00
Six Chairs	$894.00
Leather sofa bed	$3,000.00	from King furniture
Total	$8,309.00

References

Lockwood 355 Security Deadlock from Lockwood Products > Deadbolts, Deadlocks and Doorlocks: http://wa.lockwood-aust.com.au/lockwood.nsf/html/Deadbolts,+Deadlocks+and+Doorlocks
City Edge Apartments, http://www.cityedge.net/
Hunt, John Dickson. "Gardens and the picturesque: studies in the history of landscape architecture", Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1992. Introduction
Internet for Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence, from Net Traveller - Exploring the Networked Nation, ACS 1999
IT Industry Attraction Project: Information Technology Enterprise in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia, IT Industry Consultancy for the Great Southern Region Development Commission, 8 December 2000

Further Information

This document is: http://www.tomw.net.au/2001/sa/reqrmnts.html