What is this "sun" thingie you speak of

[jackfaire]

So in the new library in my city there is a side of the building with a deck on it up on the top floor that always faces the sun and a scattering of tables inside to sit at and work at. Two of them that have plug ins for laptops are sitting right next to the windows where the sun gets in making them unusable for their designed purpose for most of the day.

What makes it worse is that on the other side of the floor are two tables without laptop plug ins that sit in constant shade and would be in perfect for laptop work.

How hard is it to account for shit like this?

[wraiths_crono]

I shall relay to you our company policy here: If it makes the most sense, there is no way in hell it will be done/doable/conceived as an idea. That said it sounds like the designers and planners did not realize that laptops uh have a need for low light-shadows..

[draco664]

So in the new library in my city there is a side of the building with a deck on it up on the top floor that always faces the sun and a scattering of tables inside to sit at and work at. Two of them that have plug ins for laptops are sitting right next to the windows where the sun gets in making them unusable for their designed purpose for most of the day.

What makes it worse is that on the other side of the floor are two tables without laptop plug ins that sit in constant shade and would be in perfect for laptop work.

How hard is it to account for shit like this?

Building designs have been screwy ever since man put one rock on top of another.

I remember reading about a hotel that had a concave wall with windows that, at a certain time of day, focused the sun's rays onto the pool area. People were getting seriously burned by the 'death ray'.

Edit: Found the link. Here you go.

[jackfaire]

Building designs have been screwy ever since man put one rock on top of another.

*nods* and I understand that but the thing is this isn't even just a "at certain times of day" issue this is literally a problem from sun up to sun down.

[HYHYBT]

Were the plugs put there specifically for laptops?

My screen is bright enough to use in the sun (though it's far from ideal) if it's turned all the way up, which of course it is if I'm using it in the sun and plugged in. The keyboard backlight, though, won't turn on in sunshine no matter what settings I use.

[jackfaire]

Were the plugs put there specifically for laptops?

*nods* Yes they were I took my daughter to the grand opening and they displayed the tables with built in plugs proudly as a means for people with laptops to keep working even when their charge ran low. That's not the only spot in the library the tables are at.

There are some tables to use in the shade it just seems funny that those two are so close to two of the non laptop tables that are always in the shade versus always in the sun. It mostly irritated me because they were the only open tables other than the non laptop tables yesterday so I spent half the day at the library barely able to see my screen.

[Josh]

Maybe it wasn't a design flaw. It could be brilliant way to ensure that a laptop spot is open to someone that really needs it at the drop of a hat. I bet that spot would've been taken had it been in the shady side. :P

[HYHYBT]

That's... a great idea! Too good to be likely, but I love the idea of having a few spots *just* uncomfortable enough that people are unlikely to park there hours on end, and which therefore will be available for anyone who really needs something quick, or who was using one of the unoutleted tables and didn't quite finish before running out of battery. Or, perhaps, wants to plug their laptop in to charge while they read a book

[jackfaire]

That's... a great idea! Too good to be likely, but I love the idea of having a few spots *just* uncomfortable enough that people are unlikely to park there hours on end,

Only problem being those tables make it impossible to use a laptop not just uncomfortable for the majority of the day those tables are completely vacant of laptop users.

Not to mention this library is a 5 story building that has gobs of seating and tables. There is plenty of space that someone sitting at a table from opening to close isn't even going to inconvenience people on a busy day.

[wolfie]

A fairly common one that I encounter on a regular basis - relatively new buildings (I can understand it on a building that went up in the time of the 55 foot overall length limit) where the architect didn't take into account that the loading docks are likely to be visited by highway tractors (long wheelbase to accommodate the sleeper) pulling 53 foot trailers, and therefore don't provide enough room for these trucks to manouver into the loading bays.