Programming and Pre-Design
This domain tests programming and pre-design: how you convert a client interview into a verified, quantified program before space planning. Expect questions on data gathering, existing-conditions surveys, area measurement, adjacency matrices, budget and schedule constraints, and code research.
Core rules
- Separate qualitative goals (image, culture, workflow) from quantitative requirements (headcount, storage, equipment, square footage).
- Verify existing conditions: lease boundaries, column grid, ceiling height, structural capacity, MEP capacity, and life-safety constraints.
- Use net assignable area for departmental needs; use gross building area for shell and core. Efficiency ratio = net assignable / gross.
- Build an adjacency matrix with weighted relationships (required, preferred, undesirable) before bubble diagrams.
- Document assumptions and exclusions in the program; they become the basis for design and fees.
Worked example
A tenant has 10,000 gross sf and 7,200 net assignable sf, so efficiency is 72%. The client needs 9,000 net sf. Required gross = 9,000 / 0.72 = 12,500 gross sf. If the available building is 11,500 gross sf, the program is short by about 1,000 gross sf, or 720 net sf at the same efficiency. The correct response is to revise the program or lease, not to assume the extra area exists.
Traps
- Mixing net and gross area, or applying a landlord's rentable factor to a space program.
- Treating a bubble diagram as a code or structural document.
- Skipping existing-conditions verification and later discovering low beams or insufficient electrical service.
- Letting a client's wish list become a fixed requirement without budget or schedule validation.