Looking back first

When I went back over the solution for the earlier 2019 multi-hall cinema exercise, a lot of problems jumped out.

For example, in the bubble diagram, the staff lobby and the main entrance hall were actually supposed to connect directly, but I split them apart and never linked them with a passage. In the reference solution, the kitchen was moved outward and the lobby shifted inward, which made it possible to connect the two without cutting the fast-food restaurant in half. There was also the very obvious issue of insufficient egress stairs. I had noticed that point while working, but I handled the scheme too casually and never thought it through properly.

Without that review, I probably would not have realized how careless I had been. I made several mistakes that really should have been avoided.

Starting the 2022 problem

I had already practiced the 2019 exam question once last year. I did not complete it, but having seen it before still affects judgment a little. The 2022 question, though, is completely new to me. Since I had never worked on it before, this time the only sensible approach is to read the brief carefully and see whether I can at least produce a passing scheme.

Reading the brief

Written information

Task description

A new four-story exam and assessment building is to be built within a campus in South China. The task is to design and draw the site plan plus the first- and second-floor plans. Floors three and four are not required. The combined floor area of levels one and two is 6,900 m².

What that suggests

This is a southern-climate, four-story building used for examinations. Only the first two floors are drawn, and together they total 6,900 m².

Buildings for exams have a very specific crowd pattern. They are similar to stadiums or cinemas rather than transport terminals: people do not flow continuously throughout the day. Instead, they arrive and leave in concentrated bursts at specific times. That means the entry and exit organization is critical, and the same general public-facing area will inevitably serve both incoming and outgoing examinees.

As an exam center, the functional zoning is also quite clear. The external public flow belongs to the examination area, while the internal secured flow belongs to office-related functions. On top of that, there is the controlled storage and movement of exam papers. In that sense, part of the building behaves a bit like a bank: access control, separation of flows, and secure internal transfer matter a lot.

Drawing requirements

1. Site plan

The site plan must show:

1. The first-floor building outline, with the number of stories and the relative outdoor elevation at entrances marked. The building may not exceed the building control line except for canopies and steps.
2. Roads, walls, vehicle barriers, planting, plazas, car parking, and bicycle/e-bike parking within the site boundary. The number of vehicle parking spaces must be marked, and the areas of the plaza and non-motorized parking must be labeled.
3. The vehicle entrance on the east side, the pedestrian plaza entrance, and each building entrance, including: - exam area entrance - exam area exit - staff entrance for the paper storage area - exam paper loading/unloading entrance - marking area entrance

2. Floor plans

The first- and second-floor plans must show:

1. Columns, walls (double line or single heavy line), doors with opening direction and access control, turnstiles, steps, and ramps. Windows and sanitary fixtures may be omitted.
2. Building dimensions, grid dimensions, and interior floor elevations.
3. Room and space names; areas must be marked for rooms/spaces indicated with × in the area tables. The permitted error is ±10%.
4. The building area for each floor must be filled in separately. The permitted error is ±5%. Both room areas and floor areas are to be calculated to grid lines.

What matters in these requirements

Some of the site plan requirements are completely routine, but others are called out so explicitly that missing them would almost certainly cost points. The wall and the vehicle barrier, for instance, are not optional decorative elements; they are specifically required. If they are not drawn, it is hard to argue that the plan is complete.

The same goes for the entrances. Since the brief specifically asks for certain entrances to be labeled, those need to appear. By contrast, if an exit for an egress stair is not explicitly requested on the site plan, there is no need to force it in there.

On the floor plans, the unusual emphasis is on access control devices and turnstiles, and the brief even provides symbols for them. If a future exam asks for such elements without giving a symbol, this problem is still useful as a reference for how to draw them. Another detail worth noting is that some information may not be stated directly in the text but can be hinted at elsewhere in the problem package, such as on the site plan or within drawings of the existing building. That only becomes visible if the brief is read very carefully.

Site conditions

The site faces campus roads on the east and north, with future development land on the west and south. The land is flat. There is already an existing four-story office building on the site.

What can be read from the site plan

The site clearly sits inside an area still being developed. All four sides are tied to future construction in one way or another. That is not unusual in real projects: when a new district is opened up, public-service buildings are often built first, with commercial or residential development following later.

The site plan also shows two elevated corridors connecting the new project to the old office building, which means the relationship between old and new is still important. Since the existing building is an office building, the connection point is likely to belong to the internal office-related portion of the new exam complex.

Although the red-line site area is large, the southern portion is not dimensioned, which suggests that area is not intended for development in this exercise, or at most only minimally affected. So the roads and parking are most likely arranged toward the north and east.

From a design logic standpoint, the new building would usually align with the existing one. That makes it reasonable to align the north edge of the new building with the north facade line of the existing office building. On the west side, the elevated corridor already presses against the building control line, so that side is also effectively fixed. Once that is understood, the north and west limits of the building outline are almost determined.

Site planning requirements

Within the red-line boundary, the design must reasonably organize the building, roads, entrance plazas, parking, planting, and related elements.

1. The site is divided into internal and external zones. The existing office building, the marking area, the staff entrance for the paper storage area, and the paper entrance all belong to the internal zone, and people and vehicles there enter and leave through the existing north-side access. The exam area entrance and exam area exit belong to the external zone, with people and vehicles entering from the east side. The two zones are to be enclosed and managed separately with a wall.
2. On the east side, provide an exam entrance plaza of 800 m² with a minimum depth of 25 m; one motor-vehicle entrance is required, and pedestrians and vehicles must be separated. The external zone must include 300 m² of non-motorized parking and one car park with 30 small-car spaces.
3. On the north side, together with the existing pedestrian and vehicle entrance, provide an internal plaza of 500 m² with a minimum depth of 15 m. The internal zone must include 150 m² of non-motorized parking and one car park with 30 small-car spaces.
4. A 7 m-wide fire lane must form a loop through both the internal and external zones, with a vehicle gate in the wall between the two zones.

How to interpret that

The site planning task contains a lot of elements, but one thing is completely explicit: the site must be split into inside and outside zones, and the east side must gain a new entrance.

If the exact way to draw the site entrance is unclear, the existing building drawing provides a reference. What matters most is the location of the opening. It has to be more than 70 m from the road intersection red line, and that can be judged directly from the dimensions on the site boundary. In practice, the entrance can align roughly with the southern building control line.

The east-side plaza must have at least 25 m depth. Generally, a plaza like this sits between the road and the building, so giving it 37 m or more is entirely possible. If the eventual building footprint does not consume too much of that space, even 40 m would be acceptable. The exact depth depends on the structural grid and the final building width.

Because the brief demands pedestrian-vehicle separation, and because the external parking also belongs to this east-side public zone, the parking and vehicular entrance can be arranged on either side of the access point. The location of the east-side entrance plaza effectively anchors the position of the building’s main exam entrance, so this becomes an important fixed point early in the layout.

On the north side, the internal plaza must have at least 15 m depth, and visually it seems to correspond to the area near the elevated corridors. The parking can be drawn near the existing office building, possibly even where existing green space appears. Since the 7 m fire loop must run around the building, the space south of the building control line is very limited—roughly just enough for that lane. It is also important not to forget the wall and the vehicle barrier, especially at the boundary between the internal and external functional zones.

Building design requirements

The exam and assessment building consists of three parts:

• the exam area
• the paper storage area
• the marking area

These zones must be clearly separated and linked with rational circulation. Detailed room lists and areas are given in the program tables, and functional relationships and circulation are shown in the diagram.

Functional reading of each zone

1. Exam area

The exam area includes the security check area, sign-in hall, waiting hall, exam rooms, and departure hall.

It must also maintain a close relationship with the paper storage area.

The brief states:

1. Examinees pass through the security check turnstiles into the sign-in hall. The sign-in hall is partially double-height and contains 2 entry elevators and 1 open stair that does not count toward egress. Its layout should help with rapid distribution of examinees. First-floor examinees go directly from the sign-in hall through entry turnstiles into the waiting hall. Second-floor examinees go from the entry elevator lobby, through entry turnstiles, into the waiting hall.
2. The waiting hall must connect closely to both the exam rooms and the departure hall.
3. Each floor contains 4 small exam rooms measuring 12 m × 8 m and 1 large exam room measuring 24 m × 12 m. The four small rooms should be grouped together, while the large room remains relatively independent, so each can gather and disperse separately. Both large and small exam rooms are column-free, with the long side facing north or south for direct daylight and natural ventilation.
4. The departure hall should allow examinees to leave quickly and may be split. It contains egress stairs and departure elevators, 2 elevators in total.
5. A storage/checkroom should be located near the exam area entrance, with an independent exterior door for outside drop-off and retrieval.

What that implies for planning

In zoning terms, the exam area belongs to the external zone, while the paper storage area and marking area belong to the internal one.

At this stage of reading, it is worth combining the written brief, the functional diagram, and the area schedule. Any point that can already be fixed should be sketched immediately.

The statement that the waiting hall must connect closely with both the exam rooms and the departure hall suggests that the waiting hall behaves almost like a distribution corridor linking the two. Since the room quantities and room sizes are the same on each floor, the first and second floors are likely to have a stacked relationship.

The brief also says the large and small exam rooms should be relatively independent and should gather and disperse separately. The area table further notes that the departure hall may be divided, and the presence of two departure elevators reinforces that reading. That strongly suggests two departure halls, one serving the small-room cluster and the other associated with the large room. So a reasonable plan diagram would place the entry side in the middle, with departure areas arranged to both sides.

2. Paper storage area

The paper storage area consists mainly of the paper storage lobby, loading/unloading room, unloading registration room, and paper storage rooms.

The brief states:

1. The paper storage area must connect closely with both the exam area and the marking area, and it also connects to the existing office building via the corridor. Access control must be provided at its connections with other zones.
2. Staff enter the paper storage area through an independent entrance into the storage lobby, which contains 2 elevators usable for both people and goods, plus 1 egress stair.
3. There must be an independent exam paper entrance. Trucks enter the loading/unloading room to handle papers, which then pass through the unloading registration room and are delivered through an internal passage and the lobby elevators to the storage rooms on each floor.
4. The storage suite includes a sorting/input room, paper vault/storage room, and dispatch/management room. Papers move from the sorting/input room into storage. During exam or marking periods, papers are sent from the storage room through the dispatch/management room to either the exam area or the marking area.

Key takeaway

The paper storage area sits between the marking area and the exam area. It connects strongly to both, but also acts as a controlled separator between them.

3. Marking area

The marking area includes the marking-area lobby, multi-function hall, lounge, and marking rooms.

The brief states:

1. The marking area must connect closely with the paper storage area and also to the existing office building through the corridor.
2. It must have an independent entrance. The lobby contains 2 elevators and 1 egress stair.
3. The multi-function hall (21 m × 12 m) and marking room (21 m × 12 m) are both column-free spaces. They are entered from the lobby/lounge through entry/exit turnstiles. Both should have their long side facing south and receive direct daylight and natural ventilation.

Reading between the lines

The marking area does not contain many room types. Once circulation and support space are included, it probably occupies around 800 m². The rooms are likely stacked between floors. Since the two main spaces are 21 m × 12 m and column-free, and the long side must face south, a plan with something like a 3 m corridor works well with the later structural recommendation of an 8 m grid module.

Other conditions that should not be ignored

The brief adds several global requirements:

1. Entrances, corridors, egress stairs, and similar elements should be arranged reasonably in accordance with building function, fire protection, and accessibility requirements, and they must comply with current national codes and standards.
2. All floors have a story height of 4.8 m, and the level difference between inside and outside is 150 mm.
3. The building uses a frame structure, and an 8 m basic structural grid module is recommended.
4. Except for the paper storage rooms, all other rooms and spaces marked with # in the schedule, including management rooms and male/female toilets, must have natural lighting and natural ventilation.

Final observations from the brief alone

The recommendation of an 8 m grid is not vague advice here; it is almost certainly the best move. It also fits neatly with room areas in the schedule that are likely based on dimensions such as 64 m² or 128 m².

So before drawing anything, several anchors are already clear:

• the project is split into internal and external zones
• the east side belongs to the public exam entrance and exit system
• the north side works with the existing building and internal circulation
• the building edge is largely constrained by the existing office building alignment and the building control line
• the exam area is the public-facing burst-flow zone
• the paper storage area is the secured connector between exam and marking functions
• the marking area and the old office building form the more internal working side of the project
• the room dimensions and daylight requirements strongly shape orientation and structural logic

At this point, the most important thing is not to rush into drawing. The real challenge is to keep these relationships clear enough that the plan does not fall apart later on obvious issues like missing connections, confused zoning, or inadequate egress.