EUROPEAN SOUTHERN OBSERVATORY

Vitacura Main Building Upgrade Project:
Review of the Preliminary Design and Prototype

LSO-SOW-ESO-90000-1

Prepared	O. Hainaut	2003-09-03
Reviewed	D.Alloin, AM. Paya	2003-09-17
Released	O.Hainaut	2003-09-28

Revision History

0.1	2002-09-03 first draft, ohainaut
1.0	Include reviewers' comments, ohainaut

1.- INTRODUCTION

1.1- PURPOSE and SCOPE

The North wing of ESO Vitacura main building will be upgraded to the South wing standards. The upgrade project managers (A.M Paya, with input and assistance from D.Alloin) have presented 2 preliminary designs. The users have produced a set of requirements (collected by Kauffer, Mathys and Hainaut) that were forwarded to the project managers. The project team then put up a mockup of a refurbished office. The users commented on this mockup. The comments, collected by Kauffer, Mathys and Hainaut) were grouped by topic and sent to the project managers [1]. The project managers and O.Hainaut discussed these during a meeting held on 2003-09-03 at Vitacura and LSO.

This documents repeats the original user's requirements (which were not yet in a formal document) and reviews them in the light of the mockup, and summarises the discussion between the project manager and O.Hainaut.

1.2- DOCUMENT NUMBER

The present document has a La Silla - SciOp number; this reflects the fact that the preparer does not have access to a more suitable numbering scheme. This document has actually no relation with La Silla SciOps.

1.3- ACRONYMS AND DEFINITIONS

1.4- DOCUMENTS AND REFERENCES

[1] Comments on the Refurbished Office Mock-Up, Internal memo from O.Hainaut to AM.Paya, 2003-08-31.

2.- USER'S REQUIREMENTS

The user's requirements (collected by Kauffer, Mathys and Hainaut from Jul.7 to 20, 2003) are listed below. The comments on these requirements in view of the mockup are listed in italic.

Per OFFICE:

2 people. Occupancy rules for a 3dr spot should be defined and applied (eg short term students, visitors of one of the main occupant).
Mockup is definitely not meant for continuous occupancy by more than 2 people. This is discussed below.
Floor covered with antistatic material. Carpet not desirable, unless perfectly maintained (i.e. daily vacuum, 6-12-month shampoo)
The mockup is equipped with carpet, so it is assumed antistatic and with proper maintenance.
4 walls, sound proof
passed. See discussion on material below.

The following items are not applicable for being reviewed with the MockUp:

1 "visitor" chair (i.e. not necessarilly with wheels)
1 magnetic white board for creative discussions.
Air-Conditioning, controlled in each office
Ceiling lightning, anti-glare, soft tone, manual control (not automatic)
Each window equipped with "venitian blinds" (i.e. orientable blades)
1 coat hanger

Per PERSON:

Desk, about 2.5m total length, standard width, L-shaped.
Shape and length OK, but width is not deep enough - see discussion below. The position of the desks is also discussed below.
10m of bookshelf space in the office (10m is an average: 5m for students, 10m for fellows, junior, 15m for senior staff)
Passed, hwv see discussion below for the shelf/cupboard distribution.

The following items are not applicable for being reviewed with the MockUp
Desk must be equiped with a proper hole or hook for laptop safety cable.
~3 desk drawers for office supplies
a locker/lockable closet
1 standard desk chair (wheels, arm rest, adjustable)
1 desk lamp, ideally hallogen-type.
1 trash bin
1 phone
4-6 power plugs, stabilised 220V, standard German "Schuko" plugs
2 power plugs, non-stabilised 220V, standard German "Schuko" plugs
2-3 network plugs with full bandwidth (currenly 100Mbps)

Desirable, but not critical:

Hanging file cabinets.
Modular furniture so that they can be re-arranged in case of special needs.

3- OUTCOME OF THE DISCUSSION ON THE USERS' COMMENTS ON THE MOCKUP

Desk Size and Shape

L-shape (as in the mockup) is desirable, but much more depth is required (about 60cm). Project manager acknowledges this; the design will be improved to match the requirement.

The long desks along the walls (as in the alternative design proposed) are rejected.

Project managers indicate that the resulting design will be back to the original project, in terms of furniture display; they also indicate that the pilars supporting the desks in the mockup will not exist in the final version, as the desks will be fixed agains the walls.

Desk position

The proposed desks are located along the wall. As a consequence, there would be a "window desk" (found more luminous, quiter and generally better) and a "door desk" (darker, noisier and generally less desirable). The 2 main desks should be placed symmetrically, facing the window. Design will be modified.

Third Desk

The space foreseen in the mockup for a 3rd occupant is far too small. Project Managers indicate that this was made on purpose in order to ensure that the 3rd person would be occupying the space on a very short term basis. Nevertheless, the typical "senior visitor" stays 4 to 6 weeks, and the typical "short term student" stays 3-4 months. D.Alloin will provide statistics of 3rd desk occupation based on the number and duration of previous visitor contracts. The 3rd space will be made slightly more spacious.

Shelves and cupboard

The length of shelves is found excellent. However, the users majoritarilly prefer to have more open shelves and less closed cupboard. Design will be modified in that way : in terms of shelves, both walls will be symmetrical and have uncovered shelf to allow for visible binders such that 3 binder-sized shelves will be available. A more practical alternative to the closed doors of the shelving will be considered, in such way that it is not necessary to open each and every individual door to find a binder.

The depth and height of each shelf (both closed or open type) must be compatible with a standard ESO binder.

Walls

The inter-office walls are in concrete (or any other hard material).

The users showed a strong opposition to glass as the material for the hallway walls. Nevertheless, Project Managers insist that glass walls are highly desirable for a better lightning of the hallway as well as for the general look and feel of the building. The concensus reached is that the hallway walls wil be in glass, but almost completely frosted, in such way that privacy is maintained. The design of these glasses will therefore be different than that of the South wing (where ~30% of the glass area is frosted for ~70% transparent), with a much larer frosted fraction.

Hallway

The users unanimously reject the idea of shortening the office to the benefit of a wider hallway. The internal surface of the offices must be preserved. Nevertheless, the (glass) walls might be moved in the office by ~30cm, i.e. the space of the current bookshelves. In that way, the hallway can be made broader, no effective space is lost in the offices, and the structural pilars of the hallway (which cannot be moved) are still in contact with the walls, and not lost in the middle of the hall.

Other items

White board and coat hanger will be integrated in the design.

However, filing cabinets would be difficult to integrate. As only 2 users commented on the lack of these, and as they were not strongly requested in the original user's requirement, this requirement is dropped.

Summary of the office layout

The following drawing (scale very approx), prepared by O.Hainaut from the original requirements and reviews of the mockup office, is accepted by the project manager as a bases for the new design.

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