Room Program

This is a program document for the physical room layout and a scratch pad for associated notes, research and observations Tlevine (talk) 19:59, 3 August 2013 (PDT)

Terms

A program document specifies the requirements of a space without concern for how these requirements will be met. By coming up with a program before planning the specific layout, we separate the concerns of specifying requirements and implementing those specifications.

History of the space

When we got the space, the shelves started out on the floor, so we put up the shelves.

The shelves were mostly cut by Jordan from huge doors.

The workbench counters were cut out of the same doors. We put them where they are because they fit right under the drywall.

People wanted workbenches under the windowsill, but it never really got used as that because junk goes there.

Matt found all of the cubbies on the street one day, so he brought them to sudo.

The rack on wheels has floated around a bit.

There was a big clusterfuck where the 3D printer is now, and it eventually became just the 3D printer. The computer gets used for email and whatnot a lot.

Tables

The big table was here first. We borrowed it from George, originally for a workshop.

There was another electronics station that was great but not for meetings, and that got taken apart.

Jordan made the desk in the back.

There were once full computer workstation desks.

Potentially relevant observations small inferences

I recorded these observations on August 3, 2013, during the reorganization weekend. They should represent how the room was normally arranged before that.

I should add some pictures so that everything below makes sense.

Things

These observations focus more on objects rather than how people interact with them. You might call these "traces" or "leftovers" or other things depending on the exact observation.

• Junk often accumulates in on the main table.
• There are plants all over the place, but there's no special place for them.
• Each table has access to power plugs.
• Those big yellow papers are all over the place. (Does anyone read them?)
• High shelves aren't used very much. (Maybe they're hard to reach.)
• There's a plastic tarp between the shelf with the bio-hacking and the power tools.
• Do the things on the bulletin board ever change?

People

• The stuff on the windowsill is rarely used.
• DoraBot and empty arcades are rarely used but not stored in the closet. (These are big; maybe we should come up with a better way of storing big things.)
• People plug into the speakers quite a bit.
• Do people ever access things from the cubbies?
• Maybe like 15 people are in the Sudoroom proper at peak times. Other people might be in the common space.
• People use the refrigerator a lot
• People access the sudomate and subir stuff regularly.

Features that could be documented

The existance of these things might be particularly good to document in the room.

• space.sudoroom.org

Things people want

Some people like clean, and some people make messes, so we want to separate clean from messy. (Largely Jordan's suggestion)

Jenny likes how the shelf on wheels separates the tools area from the rest of the space.

The Sudoroom sink is for science, and the common sink is for food.

There should be a table that you can see across so we can hold meetings.

Things we want

• There should be lots of easily-accessible big shelves where can dump their junk so they don't leave it in the middle of the room.
• There should be places for plants.

Adjacencies

• Storage space should be near the work areas.
• The woodworking tools should be away from the computer work table.
• The 3D printer should be away from the dusty wood working.
• It would be cool if two meetings could happen at once without distracting each other.

Brainstorm

• Stuff dumping, backpacks and such end up wherever, boxes, etc. There should be big shelves next to the work areas, both for your projects as well as for your belongings as you work.
• Shelves everywhere, really deep shelves, 2', like the book shelves but without any books.
• Why does stuff keep accumulating by the window? Lots of reasons, but should we remove it?
• We have no space to store big things.
• Plan for a new space, rather than focusing on just this space?
• Use vertical space, maybe use a ladder.
• Books take up a lot of space.
• Deep, tall, big shelves. Maybe boxes to put on them as crates.
• Use the shelf with wheels, move things between main space and closet.