Blueprint for Design

OK, this is late and I’m phoning it in today. So let’s talk about telecommunications in buildings.

Telephone service – (remember those, land lines)is usually not much of an architect’s concern, it’s really a service the client usually obtains, and we get some simple specifications on the minimum size of the telecommunications board and how many phone jacks various rooms need. However that is changing as the pace of internal communications requirements for even the simplest of structures increases.

End users and stakeholders will want Wi-Fi, G4, T1, CATV, LAN, WAN, and any number of other services. As architects, we really need to understand their communications needs, and how they will change over time – and that unexpected resources will appear and disappear over time as driven by technology and marketplace demands. For example WI-FI; In the late 90’s it first became available, and Starbucks realized that people who hang out in coffee shops usually stay longer and buy more stuff if they have something to do. They were early adopters and to cover the wildly expensive job of rolling out WI-FI in their stores they made it a profit center by charging for it-by the minute. Unexpectedly, WI-FI became not only cheaper to put into any computer, and then phones, it became cheaper to install the hubs and software. In a few years everybody had free WI-FI, so savvy customers would come in buy 1 cup of coffee, sit down and warm a seat for a few hours and use the neighboring fast food restaurant’s WI-FI for free. (My IT friends call it borrowing a cup of internet from the neighbors.) Therefore, Starbucks is going to free WI-FI – technology and market overtaking their business plan.

Hotel in a similar vein also treated WI-FI like Starbucks did, but adopted the free model more quickly. WI-FI is like a hot shower, today’s customers expect it to be included in the price of the hotel room, and if it doesn’t work – fast- they will think poorly of the experience. Additionally they want it in their room, not just in the lobby or the business center. On one Hyatt Place I worked on, I worked closely with the IT service provider. The Hyatt Place brand is big on connectivity, MEP players, and Easy access to the TV inputs, computer ports and WI-FI throughout the hotel. Some advice he gave me on placement of the units – have a clear line of sight to the center of the room, avoid being blocked by bathrooms, pipes and ducts can lower signal strength. Additionally assume the signal cannot penetrate floors, even wood ones. Although the signals can, you never know when something might block it. (Like a laundry cart or future renovations) with hubs being cheap, go for quality signal strength. Additionally the computer room the hotel required needed it’s own separate A/C – make sure you coordinate your consultants and get the right specs for cooling equipment.

In a generation or so we may not have phone plugs in our walls, maybe even the light switch will disappear. In the beginning of the 20th century buildings needed copper phone vaults, rooms for operators, telegraph lines, ticker-tape lines, a mail room, and large demands for filling space. In a century, it has all been replaced with computers. We have to stay on top of what the limits of our communications technology is, and what our clients need now, and what they don’t know they’ll need in a decade.