Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021

Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Module 3: Spatial Order

Urban Design Controls

Floor Area
Floor Area Ratio (FAR) / Plot ratio / Floor Space Index (FSI)
Land Use Planning and Zoning
Incentive Zoning
Cluster Zoning
Urban Design Guidelines
Building height
Setbacks
Building blocks
Environmental Impact Statement
Conservation, Adaptation, and Adaptive Reuse
Safety Concepts
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Floor Area Ratio (FAR). It is a supplementary device that under some conditions improves upon (but
does not necessarily replace) the traditional means of relating bulk of building to land, to other buildings
in the vicinity, and to public facilities. It permits variable dimensions within an over-all volume limit and it
offers a way of predicting the ratio of persons to a unit of land in office building districts of high land use
intensity. (APA)

Also, it is a figure which expresses the total gross floor area as a multiple of the area of the lot. This
figure is determined by dividing the gross floor area of all buildings on a lot by the area of that lot. (APA)

It is the ratio between the gross floor area of a building and the area of the lot on which it stands,
determined by dividing the gross floor area of the prescribed floor area ratio (FAR) multiplied by the lot
area. The FAR of any zone should be based on its capacity to support development in terms of the
absolute level of density the transportation and other utility networks can support (HLURB)

In nearly every ordinance in which it is used, a floor area ratio is obtained by the following simple
formula:

F A R = floor area
lot area

In practice, this ratio is constant for a zone. A floor area ratio of 1.0 means that floor area may equal lot
area. FAR 5.0 means that the floor area may be up to five times as large as the lot area; and FAR 0.5
that it may be no more than half the lot area. (APA)

Though a floor area ratio affects volume, shape, and spacing of buildings on the land, it does not
determine a particular shape or spacing. Rather, it permits a choice. (APA)

Source:APA
The sections that follow will point out the advantages and disadvantages of its use in various
types of zones in relation to Floor Area Ratio
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Commercial Zones
The floor area ratio promises to be most useful in central business districts and in other zones
of high land use intensity where office buildings, stores, hotels, and tall apartment houses are
often intermixed. In these areas the advantages inherent in the device seem to operate most
effectively. (APA)

Residential Zones
In one- and two-family zones, the use of the floor area ratio seems to be rather limited. Without going
into the well established justifications for yard requirements, we can see that along with maximum height
limits they establish a volume control. If to these dimensions is added maximum lot coverage, we get a
result that has the same effect as a floor area ratio in that, when combined, they establish a constant
ratio between volume of buildings and area of land.
In addition, they insure a minimum separation between buildings, which does not necessarily follow from
the floor area ratio control alone.
(APA)

In summary, the effect of the floor area ratio in low-density residential areas is mainly to refine
bulk controls. In this respect, its use is similar to that in industrial zones.

When we get to the high-density residential areas, on the other hand, we approach the
situation that prevails in high-density commercial zones, where land is expensive, height of
buildings is relatively unimportant, and where, in any event, height can be raised if space is
gained at ground and lower floor levels. (APA)

Land Use Planning and Zoning

INCENTIVE ZONING has received renewed attention as communities implement smart growth
principles into planning and development processes. Incentive zoning allows a developer to
build a larger, higher-density project than would be permitted under existing zoning. In
exchange, the developer provides something that is in the community's interest that would not
otherwise be required (e.g., open space, plazas, arcades, etc). (APA)

The common types of community benefits or amenities for which state and local governments
have devised incentive programs are urban design, human services (including affordable
housing), and transit access.
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

INCENTIVE ZONING is a tool that allows a developer to develop in a way that ordinarily would
not be permitted in exchange for a public benefit that would otherwise not be required. Often
written into the zoning ordinance, incentive zoning allows the city to leverage variations in
existing zoning standards and obtain public goods. For example, a developer may provide
schools, parks, open space, plazas, low-income housing, or money, in exchange for greater
flexibility in required building setbacks, floor heights, lot area, parking requirements, number of
dwellings, and other minimum standards.

Example:
Density bonus, such as through allowable building height increases, may be provided as
incentives for project that use CCA /DRRM technology or innovations, i.e, use of solar panels,
rainwater harvesting, smart urban drainage, green architecture / building incentives.
Excerpts taken from HLURB handbook on CLUP preparation

Buildings that provide ground level commercial spaces. Shall be provided with a density bonus
equivalent to additional (xx) stores from the Building Height Limit (BHL).
Excerpts taken from HLURB handbook on CLUP preparation

Cluster Subdivision / Zoning

There are two features that distinguish what is thought of as a “true” cluster subdivision. The
first is a characteristic of design and site planning in which several houses are grouped
together on a tract of land. Each cluster of houses serves as a module, which is set off from
others like it by an intervening space that helps give visual definition to each individual group.
The second characteristic of the cluster subdivision, as it is often proposed, is the presence of
undeveloped land that is held for the common enjoyment of the neighboring residents or the
community at large. (APA)

The cluster concept is a contemporary adaptation of some old principles. The interplay of
urban and rural life has been a recurring ideal from the days of the medieval village, when the
agricultural base of the community had to be close at hand. Ebenezer Howard emphasized the
desirability of having city and country in close proximity, although economic necessity was less
compelling than in an agrarian society. (APA)

The cluster subdivision / zoning has been hailed as a possible solution to two problems that
plague almost every rapidly growing community on the expanding fringes of our metropolitan
areas. The first problem is the disappearance of the open countryside; the second, the high
cost of "big-lot" land development. (APA)
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

An article in House & Home (September 1959) has pointed out some of the advantages
claimed for cluster subdivisions:

✓ Cluster layouts preserve the rural character of the land by retaining stretches of open
fields and stands of trees, and by leaving brooks, hillocks, and similar natural assets
undisturbed.

✓ Cluster layouts reduce development costs for areas zoned for big lots by cutting road
and utility costs ... [and] ... by allowing the developer to bypass natural obstacles in the
site.

✓ Cluster layouts meet "big-lot" zoning requirements based on density control.

 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Urban Design Guidelines

These are policy guidelines that must be considered when assessing the design and built form
of new development where relevant. In these guidelines, urban design focuses on the design
of the public realm, its public spaces, streets, parks and paths. Urban design informs the
design of infrastructure and buildings in as far as they affect the function and amenity of the
public realm. (Victoria Urban Design Guidelines)

Urban fabric includes in urban design guidelines, but not limited to:
✓ Character
✓ Building height
✓ Setback
✓ Building block
✓ Public spaces
✓ Public transport environment
✓
Urban design guidelines can be viewed in multi-scalar pattern from city-wide, particular residential
neighborhood, street network or downtown.

Example: Bowden Urban Design Guidelines (Adelaide, Australia)

 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Key Principles

Specific Guidelines
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Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System

(HLURB) Pursuant to PD 1586 of 1978, refers to the entire process of organization,

administration and procedure institutionalized for the purpose of assessing the significance of
the effects of physical environmental s on the quality of the environment. Projects that fall
within the purview of the EIS System include:

1. Environmentally Critical Projects – refers to those projects which have high potential for
negative environmental impacts and are listed in the PD 2146 dated December 14,
1981:
✓ Heavy industries
✓ Resources extractive industries
✓ Infrastructure projects
✓ Golf course projects

2. Projects located in Environmentally Critical Areas - refer to those areas which are
environmentally sensitive and are listed in PD 2146 dated December 1981, but not
limited to:
✓ Water bodies
✓ National parks, wildlife preserves, watershed reserves
✓ Potential tourist spots
✓ Critical slopes
✓ Mangrove areas
✓ Coral reef
✓ Prime agricultural lands
✓ Recharge area of acquifer
✓ Historic, archeological, or scientific interests
✓ Traditionally occupied by cultural communities or tribes
✓ Habitat for any endangered or threatened specifies

Conservation, Restoration and Adaptive Re-Use

Planning and preservation work hand in hand to ensure the conservation of housing stock in
residential neighborhoods, economic development and revitalization (including the
preservation and revitalization of downtowns), protection of historic landscapes, and
preservation and growth management of rural villages, and conservation of farmland.
In an era of profound change, the threat to these non-renewable historic resources is
accelerating, requiring innovative planning solutions.

These threats include:

✓ Diminished funding for preservation at the federal and state levels.
✓ The impact of transportation projects on cultural resources.
✓ Legislative enactments designed to preempt state and local preservation laws.
✓ The private property rights movement and its attack on preservation programs at the
local level.
✓ Development resulting in either demolition or retention only of building facades.
✓ Ignorance of archaeological resources.

Subordination of historic preservation to other design concerns.

 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

ADAPTIVE REUSE as tool for CONSERVATION AND PRESERVATION

It is the process of converting buildings that have outlived their original purpose to
accommodate new used. It emphasizes the preservation or rehabilitation of building features
overt extensive remodeling. (APA)

Adaptive Reuse programs revitalize downtown areas by converting older, economically

distressed, or historically significant buildings to apartments, live/work units, or visitor-serving
facilities. This reduces vacant space and preserves the downtown area’s architectural and
cultural significance, acting as catalyst in prompting investment in major development.
(Smallwood, C. (2012). The role of adaptive (re)use.

‘’Adaptive reuse is literally recycling,’’ ‘’ The greenest building is a building

that’s already built’’- Almeria

Case Study: Adaptive Reuse for Historic Preservation

Manila Metropolitan Theater

Case Study: Adaptive Reuse for Historic Preservation

Along Jalan Besar in Singapore
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Case Study: Adaptive Reuse for Historic Preservation

Hotel O’Higgins – Continuous process of adaptive rehabilitation (Andraca, 2020)
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Safety Concepts

Urban safety or public safety includes a wide range of aspects and activities primarily linked to
publicly accessible areas from crime (prevention) through physical environment safety,
accessibility (barrier-free solutions and principles of design for all – ‘’ universal design’’) to
institutional and organization aspects.

Urban safety is safety of any kind with respect to a man in an area within the city (urbanized
area), where the public has more or less free access without restrictions (i.e. in public spaces,
with emphasis on outdoor space), or any kind of man-related tied to phenomena and activities
in these public areas.

Safety as a value and Its Reflection in Spatial Planning

The safety need, as well as the need for psychological well-being, have been essential for
man’s life quality. This confirms the position of safety in human needs following the American
psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy.
(Urban Safety Centre)

Security design and access control is more than bars on windows, a security guard booth, a
camera and a wall. Crime prevention involves the systematic integration of design, technology,
and operation for the protection of three critical assets – people, information, and property.
The most efficient, least expensive way to provide security is during the design process.
Designers who are called on to address security and crime concerns must be able to
determine security requirements, must know security technology, and must be understand the
architectural implications of security needs.

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design

Is a multi-disciplinary approach of crime prevention that used urban and architectural design
and the management of built and natural environmental. It aims to reduce victimization, deter
offender decisions that precede criminal acts, and build a sense of community among
inhabitants so they can gain territorial control of areas, reduce crime, and minimize fear of
crime. (International CPTED Association)
th
Excerpted from the 12 Edition of Architectural Graphics Standards
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Defensible Space Theory

Newman, Oscar

It is a model that can inhibit crime in residential environments. These environments might be
specific buildings, projects, or entire neighborhoods. The aim of this theory is to possibly help
design the physical environment of these areas in such a way to decrease crime levels by
affecting the behavior of both residents and potential offenders and thus leas to lower levels of
crime. (Newman, Oscar (2010))

“”… an environment whose physical characteristics -Building layout and site plan –
function to follow Inhabitants themselves to become key agents in Their security’’.

Three Key Features of Defensible Space

1. Territoriality
2. Surveillance
3. Symbolic barriers
Territoriality. It is the establishment of clearly defined
spaces of ownership. Common territorial features include
community markers and gates to cultivate a community
identity and mark the collective territory of residents.
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Visible boundaries such as walls, hedges, and fences to create public yards, and
privatization of public services so that residents must take greater personal
responsibility and ownership.

These territorial elements explicitly assign custodial responsibility of a space to residents, and
communicate to outsiders that the space is owned and protected.

Surveillance. Is the monitoring of the environment during normal daily activities. Common
surveillance features include external lighting; windows and doors that open directly to the
outside of first-floor dwellings; mailboxes located in open and well-trafficked areas; and well-
maintained courtyards, playgrounds, and walkways that increase pedestrian activity and
casual surveillance. These features make it more difficult for people to engage in unnoticed
activities.
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Symbolic barriers. Are objects placed in the environment to create the perception that a
person’s space is cared for and worthy of defense. Common symbolic barriers include picnic
tables, swings, flowers, and lawn furniture – any symbol that conveys that the owners of the
property is actively involved in using and maintains the property. Note that when items that are
atypical for a community are displayed, it can sometimes affluence and act as a lure rather
than a barrier. Therefore, the appropriateness of various kinds of symbolic barriers must be
considered within the context of a particular community.

Example: Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Strategies

Queensland, Australia

Screenshots of actual Queensland Government’s Crime Prevention through Environmental Design Guidelines

Screenshots of actual Queensland Government’s Crime Prevention through Environmental Design Guidelines
Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts