Amogh N P
✦ In loving memory of Amogh N P — Architect · Designer · Visionary ✦
B.Arch Curriculum · Semester 4

Building Services I

The invisible systems that make a building work. Treat and distribute water, carry away sewage and refuse, plumb the fixtures, wire the power and design the lighting, and condition the air — with the fire protection an AC system demands. Five units of services engineering for architects, with live calculators for water demand, lighting and cooling load. The sixth and final Semester-4 course.

5Units
3Calculators
4Credits
FreeForever
Start with Unit I All student courses
Where this course sits. Building Services I is the sixth and final Semester-4 course. Where Materials & Construction builds the fabric and Design of Structures makes it stand, this course makes it work — water, sewage, plumbing, power, light and air. It feeds directly into Architectural Design IV.
Unit I · From source to tap

Water Treatment & Distribution

Raw water is rarely fit to drink. The treatment train makes it potable — sedimentation settles the solids, sand filters polish it (slow at ~100–200 L/m²/hr, rapid at ~5,000), and chlorination kills the pathogens, leaving a small residual to protect the network. Then it must reach the tap: stored, distributed by gravity from an overhead tank, piped, tested and conserved. Learn the train, the filters, and how to size a building's water demand and storage from the LPCD figures of IS 1172.

Sand filtersChlorinationIS 1172 LPCDWater-demand calculator
Open the lesson

The syllabus

Five units, from the water main to the air duct.

Transcribed from the official B.Arch syllabus. All 5 units are live as full interactive lessons, each with original diagrams and a self-assessment quiz.

1

Unit 1 — Water Treatment & Distribution

Live

Making water potable and getting it to the tap — the water supply project, sedimentation, slow/rapid/pressure sand filters, sterilisation and disinfection; distribution systems in buildings, pipes, laying/jointing/testing, prevention of wastage and reuse, and the byelaws.

CO1CO6
2

Unit 2 — Sewage Treatment & Refuse Disposal

Live

Carrying it away and cleaning it up — primary and secondary sewage treatment, the activated sludge process, trickling and intermittent sand filters, the building's sewage treatment plant; and the collection, conveyance and disposal of town refuse.

CO2CO6
3

Unit 3 — Plumbing Systems

Live

The pipework of a building — the single-stack, one-pipe and two-pipe drainage systems, traps and trap seals, plumbing fixtures, materials and construction of sewers and connections, testing for water-tightness, the plumbing codes, and an introduction to BIM for coordinated plumbing layouts.

CO3CO6
4

Unit 4 — Electrical Systems & Lighting Design

Live

Power and light — the supply chain from transformer to distribution board, wiring systems and switchgear, electrical load calculation; and lighting design — sources and luminous efficacy, colour temperature and rendering, and the lumen method for sizing the lighting.

CO4CO6
5

Unit 5 — Air-Conditioning & Fire Protection

Live

Conditioning the air — the vapour compression cycle and its components, air handling units and cooling towers, the types of AC system (window, split, packaged, central chilled-water, VRF), cooling load and the ton of refrigeration; and the fire protection an AC system demands — fire and smoke dampers.

CO5CO6

Course outcomes

What you should be able to do after completing all five units (CO1–CO6, from the syllabus).

1
Understand

Understand the principles of water treatment and distribution in buildings — sedimentation, filtration, disinfection and supply.

2
Analyse

Analyse sewage treatment methods (primary, secondary, activated sludge) and refuse disposal systems.

3
Evaluate

Evaluate plumbing systems, materials and construction details, and apply the relevant plumbing codes.

4
Apply

Apply electrical systems and lighting design principles — wiring, load calculation and the lumen method.

5
Analyse

Analyse air-conditioning systems and their components, and the fire protection they require.

6
Create

Create layouts and specifications for water, sewage, plumbing, electrical and air-conditioning systems.

Topics follow the published B.Arch syllabus (L1 · T0 · P/S5; 200 marks). The diagrams and the three live calculators — water demand, the lumen method, and cooling load — are original Studio Matrx work, validated against worked examples and cross-checked against IS 1172, IS 3646, NBC 2016 and standard texts. The tools build intuition — they are not a substitute for a licensed services engineer.

The systems behind the walls.

Water in, sewage out, power and light, and conditioned air. Read the five units, drive the calculators, and test yourself.

Open Unit I Back to Students

Studio Matrx is a tribute to Amogh N P. The curriculum is free, forever.