Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02291663 1999-12-O1
Accommodation
The present invention relates to accommodation and particularly to
prefabricated
accommodation.
There is a general requirement for low cost temporary accommodation such as
hotel rooms, and particularly for low cost short term accommodation for
travellers
breaking their journeys and for persons attending conferences or conventions.
The cost of travel is steadily reducing in real terms and as result the demand
for
such low cost short term accommodation is steadily increasing.
It is proving difficult to meet this demand at an acceptable cost because of
the
expense of erecting purpose built hotels or converting existing buildings into
hotels,
particularly in city centre locations where the cost of land is extremely
high.
In order to solve the problem of providing low cost accommodation attempts
have been made to fit as many accommodation units as possible into the
available area
and volume. Such an approach has been attempted in Japan where individual
accommodation units containing a bed and a television with a lockable door are
stacked to
provide secure sleeping accommodation while changing and washing facilities
are
provided communally. This approach has proved successful in Japan but has
proved
unsuccessful in other countries where the standard of comfort and privacy
provided is
regarded as unacceptable for cultural reasons.
Another approach to resolving the problem of providing acceptable
accommodation at a low price has been to attempt to reduce the cost of
erecting hotels b~~
constructing rooms in prefabricated form at a central factory and then simply
assembling
them on site as the hotel is constructed. This approach can reduce the cost of
purpose
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2
built hotels but cannot easily be applied to conversion of existing buildings
into hotels
because the prefabricated room dimensions and arrangement may not be
compatible with
the space available in the converted building.
The present invention is intended to overcome these problems, at least in
part.
This invention provides accommodation comprising at least two units, a first
unit
and a second unit being situated adjacent one another and each having a
sleeping section
and a living section, the living sections of the first and second units being
at substantially
the same level and the sleeping sections of the first and second units being
at least partly
superimposed.
For a given size of sleeping section of each unit and a given area allocated
to the
living section of each unit, this allows the number of units per unit volume
or unit area to
be increased without any reduction in the degree of comfort and level of
privacy of the
accommodation perceived by the user.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of
example only with referenced to the accompanying diagrammatic figures in
which:
Figure 1 shows a plan view of a pair of accommodation units according to a
first
embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 shows a cut away view through the accommodation unit of Figure 1
along the line A-A of Figure 1;
Figures 3a and 3b show axonometric views of the accommodation units of
Figure 1 from two different directions with one wall shown by dashed lines in
order to
reveal the internal structure; and
Figure 4 shows a plan view of an alternative design of a pair of accommodation
units according to a second embodiment of the invention.
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Referring to Figures 1 to 3, in the first embodiment an accommodation cell is
formed by first and second accommodation units la and lb.
Each accommodation unit la, lb comprises a bed section 2a, 2b and a living
section formed by a lavatory and bathroom area 3a, 3b and a general area 4a,
4b giving
access to a storage area Sa, Sb respectively.
Each cell is defined by four vertical external walls 6a to 6d arranged to form
a
rectangle and extending between a cell floor 7 and false ceiling 8. Each such
accommodation cell formed by two accommodation units la and lb is a free
standing
structure situated between a floor 9 and ceiling 10 of an external building
structure which
can be the building structure of a purpose built hotel or can be the structure
of whatever
existing building structure or shell the accommodation units are placed
within.
Each accommodation cell is free-standing and is independent of any other cells
or the building structure except that there obviously must be sufficient
building structure
below the accommodation cell to support it. Although the building structure of
floor and
ceiling 9 and 10 are shown as continuous and horizontal in the examples there
is no
requirement that this be the case, the size and shape of the void above the
ceiling 8 of the
accommodation unit is entirely irrelevant while height variations in the floor
9 can be
adjusted for by providing suitable supports beneath the accommodation cell
between the
cell floor 7 and the building floor 9. Although it would of course be possible
to support
the accommodation cell in locations where there was no continuous building
floor 9 but
only a series of spaced apart structural members, it is preferred to place the
accommodation cell over a continuous building floor 9 because the safety and
legal
requirements regarding the materials and characteristics of the accommodation
cell floor 7
will be far more onerous if it is the only floor support.
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The bed sections 2a and 2b of the first and second accommodation units 1 a and
lb are arranged to be superimposed one above the other so the bed section 2b
of the
second accommodation unit lb is situated directly above the bed section 2a of
the first
accommodation unit 1 a. The two bed sections 2a and 2b are separated from the
living
section of the first accommodation unit la by a first internal wall 13a and
are separated
from the living section of the second accommodation unit lb by a second
internal wall
13b. The first and second internal walls 13a and 13b have respective first and
second
openings 14a and 14b allowing access to the bed sections 2a and 2b from the
living
sections of the first and second accommodation units la and lb respectively.
The bed
sections 2a and 2b are separated by an internal floor 11 and are bounded at a
first end by
the external wall 6c of the accommodation cell and at the other end by a third
internal
wall 12.
Thus, the bed sections 2a, 2b of the first and second accommodation units la,
lb
are entirely separate and inaccessible from one another. The bed sections 2a,
2b are
accessible only from the other parts of their respective accommodation units
la and lb
and are inaccessible from the other respective accommodation unit la, lb.
The bathroom areas 3a and 3b of the first and second accommodation units la
and 1 b are separated from their respective general areas 4a and 4b by fourth
internal walls
15a and 15b with access doors 17a and 17b respectively. In the second
accommodation
unit lb a ladder 16 is attached to the fourth internal wall 15b to allow easy
access to the
bed section 2b.
Access to the first and second accommodation units la and lb is through
respective doors 18a and 18b in respective external walls 6a, 6b of the
accommodation
cell. Further, in order to prevent the accommodation units la and lb being too
CA 02291663 1999-12-O1
claustrophobic respective windows 18a and 18b are also provided in said
external walls
6a, 6b.
The first and second accommodation units 1 a and 1 b are provided with
respective storage areas Sa, Sb defined between an external wall 6b of the
accommodation
cell and the third internal wall 12. The storage areas Sa, Sb of the first and
second
accommodation units la and lb are separated by a fifth internal wall 20.
In the first embodiment the bed sections 2a, 2b are slightly larger in area
than a
bed and contain a bed together with television and some storage and shelf
space. The
bathroom areas 3a, 3b include a shower, lavatory and wash basin and the
general areas 4a,
4b include a desk and chair together with a trouser press situated behind the
respective
door 18a, 18b.
The precise nature, number and size of these fixtures and fittings is not an
essential part of the invention. However, the inclusion of all of these
elements is
preferred in order to provide the standard of accommodation expected by most
travellers.
In the first embodiment the width of the accommodation cell is significantly
larger than the length of the bed. It is difficult to reduce the width
dimension of the cell
further because of the clearances required by the various doors and fittings.
If some of
the fittings were rearranged or not included or the doors replaced by sliding
units it might
be possible to reduce the accommodation cell width. However, such a reduction
would
reduce or eliminate the provided storage space.
It is preferred for the accommodation units to have air-conditioning and it is
convenient for this to be provided by individual air-conditioning units 21
associated w-ith
each cell to ensure that the individual cells are wholly modular. Such
arrangement is
shown in Figure 2 however this is not essential and air-conditioning could be
omitted or
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could be provided by a central or group air-conditioning unit supplying
conditioned air to
all or some of the accommodation cells. Where a separate air-conditioning unit
for each
accommodation cell is provided it is convenient to place the air-conditioning
unit above
the cell false ceiling 8 over the bed sections 2a, 2b and if this is done it
is preferred to
have the false ceiling 8 thicker over the bed sections 2a, 2b to minimise
noise. The doors
18a, 18b and windows 19a, 19b are placed in end walls 6a, 6b of the
accommodation cell
because this allows the accommodation cells to be arranged in rows with
corridors
running along either side of the rows and cells for access.
The accommodation cells according to this embodiment are free-standing and
self supporting and once assembled require only electrical power, plumbing and
data
connections, for example for telephones and television, to be connected to be
ready for
use.
Depending on the nature of the floor 9 access to the accommodation cell along
corridors could be directly on the floor 9 with extensions added to the
bottoms of some or
all of the walls 6a to 6d of each accommodation cell to seal the void between
the cell floor
7 and building floor 9 or a corridor floor level with the cell floors 7 could
be fitted, as is
convenient.
In the first embodiment of Figures 1 to 3 a pair of single room units la and
lb
are shown.
A second embodiment is shown in Figure 4 where the accommodation cell has
had the sleeping sections 2a, 2b enlarged to accommodate double beds.
Otherwise, the
general arrangement is the same as in the first embodiment.
In the second embodiment the access doors 18a, 18b and windows 19a, 19b have
been moved to be in external wall 6d of the cell rather than walls 6a and 6b
and a further
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7
window 21 a, 21 b is provided from each of the first and second bed sections
2a, 2b
respectively through the wall 6c of the accommodation cell.
Clearly, windows 21 cannot be provided where the accommodation cell is not
located adjacent to an external wall of the building.
Placing the doors 18a, 18b in the wall 6d of the accommodation cell allows the
cells to be placed in a row side by side with access along a single corridor
only.
The door arrangement of the second embodiment allows more accommodation
cells to be fitted within the given area because less corridor space is
required for access.
However, the door arrangement shown in Figures 1 to 3 may be more convenient
under
some circumstances or may be necessary to fit in with existing building access
and to
allow sufficient exit routes for fire safety.
In the first and second embodiment the rooms are opposite handed. That is, the
first and second accommodation units 1 a and lb are on opposite sides of the
accommodation cell.
Further, in the second embodiment the ladder 16 of the first embodiment is
replaced by a number of steep steps 22. Steps take up more floor area than a
ladder, but
allow easier access to the second bed section 2b.
It will be appreciated that various features of the first and second
embodiments
can be exchanged as necessary.
The accommodation cell of the first embodiment is entirely self contained in
that
when placed adjacent to other cells the external walls are simply in contact
but no support
of one cell by another is required. Of course, it may be desirable to secure
the walls of
adjacent accommodation cells together.
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g
An alternative arrangement is shown in the second embodiment where adjacent
accommodation cells share a common wall. Such an arrangement can easily be
allowed
for in preparing the accommodation cells by constructing them with one wall
omitted and
securing together where they are to be used. An additional end wall can then
be attached
to the last accommodation cell in each line. Other arrangements allowing wall
sharing are
possible.
Further, the accommodation cells shown in all of the figures use there own
walls
only and are completely independent of any walls or supports of the building
they are
within. This is not essential and walls could be omitted where they face up
against
existing structural walls of the building to reduce materials costs. However,
the cost
savings by doing this will normally be outweighed by the additional
construction costs
caused by the requirement to prepare cells with missing walls and secure the
remaining
cell walls and internal fixtures and fittings to the buildings structural
walls.
In both embodiments the outer surface of the accommodation cell and the walls
and internal floor separating the first and second accommodation units have a
sound
insulating value of -SOdB. Other values can of course be used.
In practice it may be preferred to arrange the bathroom areas so that the
lavatory
cistern and washbasin are located away from the bed sections to reduce noise.
The storage areas could be placed elsewhere or eliminated if desired.
Accommodation according to the invention can provide low cost accommodation
in both purpose built hotels and in converted buildings and structures because
a larger
number of accommodation units of a particular specification in terms of
facilities, comfort
and area available for use by the occupant can be fitted into a given area or
volume of the
building. Further, the self contained free-standing nature of the cells allows
them to be
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9
fully constructed in flat-pack form at a central production facility and be
simply
assembled and secured in place and the necessary connections made to provide
accommodation. This free-standing nature allows the accommodation units to be
set up
regardless of the shape and size of a converted building or structure.
Although the invention is discussed above in terms of providing accommodation
in buildings, accommodation arranged according to the invention could be used
to provide
the same advantages in mobile accommodation on vehicles.
In the description the section of the accommodation unit slept in a referred
to as
the bed section. This is not limited to containing a bed but could contain
other sleeping
facilities, such as a futon for example.
It is not essential for the bed sections of the first and second units to be
entirely
over one another, but this is usually the simplest and most efficient
arrangement.
It will be appreciated by the person skilled in the art that the above
description is
only exemplary and numerous changes could be made in the described
embodiments.
