Guests will approach the building from the north or south via the exterior sidewalk from one of several nearby public parking garages, with the closest being located directly across the street. No more than 10-15 minutes from the three block radius. School groups would have the option of dropping off directly at the entrance and then parking in one of the public parking lots. Public transportation stops at major intersections: 2nd Avenue/ Commerce Street and 2nd Avenue/ Church Street.
The building construction consists of a mix of combustible and non-combustible materials with a non-combustible shell. The exterior made of brick masonry and the interior a blend of wood and metal framing make the building construction type III and the automatic sprinklers give it a protected status. Therefore the building construction type is IIIA. The occupancy type for the space is determined by the functions taking place in the building. Because the main function of the space is to serve as a museum the codes determine the space to be an assembly rating, more particularly, A-3 which encompasses museums, art galleries, etc. The café, educational spaces, and the theater proposed will most likely constitute less than ten percent of the floor area and therefore are included in the assembly rating. In the event these spaces do require more than ten percent of the floor area, it will be necessary to review this information again to maintain codes compliance.
The occupancy load on the typical floor is determined using the occupancy load formula [Floor Area/ Load Factor = Occupancy Load]. After consulting Table 1004.1.1 in the 3rd ed. of The Codes Guidebook for Interiors the load factor was determined to be 11 gross. When divided into the gross floor area of 12,025 the resulting occupancy was 1,093 per typical floor which required a minimum of four exits. Any occupancy over 1000 automatically requires a minimum of four exits. The exits must be arranged to provide for the furthest distance between. To determine if the exits were code compliant the 1/3 diagonal rule was used. The overall distance for the building was 220’-0”. The distance between the exits must be greater than 66’-0”. The closest exit is less than 20’-0” away however, the rest of the exits are 93’-0” or more away and therefore are code compliant. All exits must be accessible and therefore a minimum of 3’-0” wide. Also, they cannot be larger than 4’-0”.