PART TWO 11/7/07

PART TWO
I. Clients and Users
A. Provide the hypothetical client’s name, address
1. The hypothetical client is Helena Bryan at the W Hotel Corporate Office. The location is 601 West 26th Street, Suite 830 in New York, New York 10001.
B. List the client’s concerns and/or needs…what is required for the proposed business to be successful? Are there any special needs?
1. Client’s Concerns and Needs
a. The client’s concerns are that the hotel reflects the regional vernacular of downtown Baton Rouge.
b. The client needs a space that can accommodate local amenities through commercialized retail spaces as well as visitor needs for a place to stay while in the city of Baton Rouge.
c. In order to ensure the success of the hotel, the hotel must be strongly geared to service. Service can encompass local residents and business workers as well as tourists.
d. Services that should be offered by the hotel are amenities, such as the conferencing center discussed in the client’s needs.
e. Another service offered by the hotel to the guests and locals is retail space provided on the lower floor.
2. Special Considerations
a. I want to add an overhang or cantilever a structure over the existing walkways facing Convention Street and Lafayette Street to attract more retail customers.
b. By adding this cantilevered canopy, the retail space will address a more pedestrian friendly environment as supported by Davis Rhorer, the executive director of Downtown Development in Baton Rouge.
c. Another benefit of this cantilevered element is that it will create an open space that attracts both locals and visitors.
C. Identify each user or user group (this should not be by name, but by title)
1. List the users’ needs
a. Business travelers: lodging that is multi-faceted and offers conferencing for conventions or meetings that need to be held.
b. Business Workers of Downtown Area: Place for leisure activities or retail destinations that they can stop off at before going home for the evening (on the way home from work).
c. Tourists: Another group of people that may be travelling to the area. The idea is to provide areas within the hotel for attraction as well as to draw them onto the streets. Exploration and experience is the main factor for this group of people so that they can learn about the culture of Baton Rouge.
d. Employees: As people who work in the facility, these people should be offered appropriate employment opportunities, salary, and benefits from the employer. Employees are expected to act professionally and conduct themselves in a manner that reflects W Hotel’s goal of creating a great experience for the visitor.
II. The Function – Determine the operational requirements
A. How should the facility work both now and in the future?
1. Operational requirements are the qualitative and quantitative parameters that specify the system’s capabilities and determine the operations effectiveness as a system (http://www.learnthat.com/define/view.asp?id=4871).
2. There are five business goals based on the defining of clear goals by the client, which are determining the scope of the project, priorities, critical qualities, growth factors, and safety margins.
3. Scope of the project
a. Appropriate drawings of the hotel and retail spaces (floorplans, furniture layout, reflected ceiling plan, and details for construction documents)
b. Room typicals based on suite type and square footages
c. Meet requirements for LEED Certification, i.e. rooftop terrace
d. Preliminary planning: bubble diagrams, block diagrams, and stack diagrams
e. Code Research, such as the Life Safety Code
f. Renderings of the typical rooms for the hotel space will be produced in a 3d rendering program, i.e. Sketchup or Dialux.
g. Renderings for a few of the retail spaces and the exterior entrance approach to the hotel.



4. Priorities
a. Completion of Phase One of the design by May 2008.
b. Meeting the diverse needs of the users and client
5. Critical Qualities
a. Security is a critical issue in the operation of the W Hotel Baton Rouge. To ensure security, there will be surveillance cameras placed within the hotel’s public spaces.
b. The rooms are all secured through electronic keycard access.
c. In addition, the security of the retail space will also involve surveillance.
d. Financial information will also be treated in a secure manner by securing transactions with third party businesses and organizations.
6. Growth Factor
a. The current expectations are to provide a hotel space with conferencing solutions and a retail space on the lower level.
b. In the future, the hotel intends to expand to include a restaurant and bar. These areas will promote the atmosphere of Baton Rouge’s night life. These spaces will be open to public just as the retail space is open to public.
7. Safety Margins
a. These margins are created as an estimated time frame for completion of Phase One of the retail and hotel spaces by May 2008.
b. Phase Two will take approximately one year to complete from their start in February 2008.
c. The hotel intends to provide a competitive market in the hotel industry for downtown Baton Rouge.

Some information was taken from the following site: http://docs.sun.com/source/819-0058/bus_analysis.html