Building Design and Technology: Parameters, Performance and Buildability
What this domain tests
The translation of design intent into statutory compliance and buildable construction: planning parameters, fire and life safety, structural performance, environmental controls, and the construction methods suited to Hong Kong sites.
Planning and environmental controls
- The Building (Planning) Regulations control site coverage, plot ratio, open space, means of escape and projections; lease conditions and the OZP sit on top and may be stricter.
- The Sustainable Building Design Guidelines (APP-151 and APP-152) require building separation, setback, site coverage of greenery and permeability for prescribed developments.
- The Building (Energy Efficiency) Regulation, through the OTTV and RTTV codes, caps heat gain through the building envelope.
Fire and life safety
- The Code of Practice for Fire Safety in Buildings 2011 sets means of escape - travel distance, exit width, discharge - fire-resisting periods and compartmentation.
- Means of access for firefighting requires appliance access, hardstanding and firefighting lobbies where applicable.
- The Design Manual: Barrier Free Access 2008 governs accessible routes, ramps, lifts and sanitary provision.
Structure and construction
- Loads follow the Code of Practice for Dead and Imposed Loads; wind follows the Code of Practice on Wind Effects in Hong Kong.
- Basements in urban Hong Kong usually rely on diaphragm walls and top-down construction, with an excavation and lateral support submission and monitoring of adjacent structures and tunnels.
- Modular Integrated Construction moves approval and quality risk into factory-built modules; connection, tolerance and waterproofing details must be designed early.
Worked example
A 12 m cantilever transfer plate carries a residential tower over a retail podium. Reasoning: the load path concentrates force into a small footprint, so the plate is a structural element requiring RSE design and separate structural plan approval; imposed loads follow the code by occupancy; the transfer element needs the required fire-resisting period to protect the tower above; temporary works during construction need their own design and independent checking. The architectural resolution cannot be separated from the structural and fire case.
Traps that cost marks
- Mixing lease gross floor area with statutory plot ratio.
- Checking travel distance but forgetting exit width and discharge capacity.
- Assuming a nominal fire rating without checking element, occupancy and code table.
- Treating a transfer structure as an architectural feature rather than a structural and fire-critical element.