# Room Divider



## DavidAhumada (Aug 12, 2010)

The college program I am working with this year does not have a dedicated shop area, in the past they have used the pseudo-blackbox space which is also a hallway for the building to do construction. I am coming in new, and we are using some of the spaces in new ways this year. One thing we are doing, is making use of a larger space to do construction. It looks like previously it has been construction material storage. However, half of this space is also being used as a costume storage area. Enter my dilemma, what is the best way to divide the room? We will be building in here, but don't want to cause problems for the costumes. 

The initial thought was to use poly sheeting attached to the ceiling and walls. Does anyone have any thoughts, alternate solutions?

To give you a rough Idea of the room, it is about 34' wide, 13'-10" high.


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## museav (Aug 12, 2010)

You might need to consider fire separation and exiting if what you do might be considered by the AHJ as anything more than a temporary construction. In fact, a space that was considered a storage space may entail a number of code related considerations in being converted to be used as occupied space.


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## ruinexplorer (Aug 12, 2010)

As someone who has lived his entire life in the dusty western states, I can say that the fine particles will find their way into your costumes. The best course of action would be to have your costumes in a separate room all together. Barring that (since it doesn't sound like an option for you), I would suggest covering each costume piece individually. I'm thinking that super thin plastic that they put on your garments after taking them in for dry cleaning. 

Are your costumes on portable racks or permanent features?


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## DavidAhumada (Aug 12, 2010)

The racks are suspended by chains from the ceiling.



Here is a rough image of the space.
View attachment Shop and costume storage.pdf


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## museav (Aug 22, 2010)

Looking at your sketch I reiterate that you probably need to check code issues. One of the first things I see is that it looks like this layout would prohibit a clear path to a second exit for several areas. Because you are apparently changing the use and especially because that new use is a Shop space, there are several aspects (structural loads, ventilation, fire separation, exiting, power provisions and so on) of the new use and arrangement that likely need to be assessed in order to confirm that this concept is even viable or what may be required to make it so.

Also on the issue of practicality, how do you plan on getting materials in and finished work out of the Shop space? The only door directly accessible to the Shop space seems to be a standard entry door size emergency exit. The other two doors for the Costume Area and Spanish Department Area not only appear to be standard entry doors, but to also be off a stairwell.

Maybe all these issues have already been considered, however I suggest not spending a lot of time and effort until you know that the general concept is practical.


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## DavidAhumada (Aug 28, 2010)

Thanks for the advice, a lot of these are questions I have brought up. At this point I will be meeting with someone in Facilities Management to discuss this. I really appreciate all the help I'm getting on the fourms here.


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