MILL DESIGN
SITE AND ARRANGEMENT
PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS
INTRODUCTION
1. The requirements of the modern factory building are many, and demand the careful attention of the architect in their planning and construction. There are probably more rules and regulations imposed by the state and local governments and by the Insurance Underwriters, regulating the construction of this class of buildings, than for buildings of any other character.
The laws imposed by the governments under whose jurisdiction the building is to be erected, are framed manifestly for the protection of the health and safety of the occupants of the building, and so as not to jeopardize their lives in case of fire or panic, or the lives of those engaged in the attempt to save the structure and prevent damage to the adjoining property.
The Underwriters, or the Association of Insurance Companies, have compiled numerous rules and regulations of which the architect planning the building must take cognizance if he desires to secure a reasonable rate of insurance on the building and its contents for the owner. Not only do these rules and regulations deal with the structural design of the building, but they consider the apparatus for protection in case of fire, and such installations as the electric wiring. The architect must be familiar with all these requirements in order to intelligently and practically design industrial plants.
There are, also, many factors essential to the utilitarian and economic operation of the building entering into the design of the modern factory, to which the architect must devote careful study. Among the most important of these are the economic receiving, shipping, elevation, and transportation of merchandise; the proper and adequate lighting of the building; the location and planning of the power plant for the building, together with the engineering problems of construction, which include the design of the floor, columns, and walls for the loads to which they are subjected.
CLASSIFICATION OF FACTORY BUILDINGS
2. Classified according to their construction, factory buildings may be divided into three types, which, for convenience, may be designated as first-, second-, and third-class buildings. A similar division to this is also frequently made by the state or municipal laws for the regulation of the construction of factory buildings.