Kirk's Television Enterprise Deck Plans WIP

[Robert Comsol]

@ publiusr

Thanx for the links, I appreciate your sentiment. I assemble these drafts by cutting copies of the original studio set plans into pieces and then puzzle these together (I only wish there were more studio set plans than just the one from Season Two, "Charlie X" and "Balance of Terror". Would love to see one with the auxiliary control room and one with the herbarium from Season Three).

As for the shuttlebay it's going to be the traditional one as envisioned by Matt Jefferies (i.e. U-shaped observation corridor).
But if you prefer a long shuttlebay like in TAS I'd recommend you check out the latest work progress of blssdwlf's shuttlebay here: http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=119751

Bob

 

[Robert Comsol]

Engineering Deck 09 (Version 3.01 / 130315)

Here is the revised draft for the warp drive section, although the alterations are less drastic compared with the other revised drafts.

The circular corridor leading to the auxiliary control room in “And the Children Shall Lead” (on E-Deck 8, coming up shortly) has been a helpful orientation how to place the circular corridor from “The Alternative Factor” in which Lazarus first showed up on this deck in the bow section.
Technically the camera edit in this episode suggests two corridors that are connected in an H-shaped manner. Since the curvature of these corridors would be totally incompatible with the curvature of the deck above, I’ve instead gone for the arrangement you see here.

In the transporter room thread we discussed requirements of the turbo lift system like “standby” and “overflow” holding positions for turbo lift cars (some pretty cool visualizations by Just a Bill I should add).
Here, we do see such an example: The turbo lift location at 7 o’clock is the one Kirk, Spock and McCoy exited to see what Dr. Daystrom was doing in the engine room in “The Ultimate Computer”.
However, there was also the turbo lift location at 9 o’clock which Larry Marvick exited in “Is There In Truth No Beauty” and knocked down poor Hadley (who apparently was just en route to the same turbo lift).

Ideally the Marvick/Hadley turbo lift location should be empty to enable passage of other turbo lift cars to travel down to E-Deck 10 and 11 and further to the other locations on the port side (but apparently it was night time aboard the Enterprise with little or no traffic).
In this revised draft the position doesn’t match exactly but as the spacing between the turbo lift locations at 7 and 8 o’clock suggests, this area could or should be “tightened” and would realize alignment as a welcome side effect.

Because of the turbo lift at the end of the “And the Children Shall Lead” corridor one deck above, we now also have a turbo lift in the inner circle on E-Deck 9. Bad news: It looks a little strange. Good news: The corridor leading ahead to the stairway and down to E-Deck 10 (to beam Nomad off the ship) no longer cannibalizes the dilithium crystal regeneration room seen in “The Alternative Factor”, for a better visualization of that area I refer to the thread of blssdwlf.

Where there used to be a turbo lift at 2 o’clock I put a “?”. The only time we saw that turbo lift in use was in “Jouney to Babel” but this engine room is now at the bow on E-Deck 12.
While we do need to have a turbo lift at this position on E-Deck 11 (“By Any Other Name”), this is not the case for E-Deck 10 (“The Ultimate Computer”). “The Day of the Dove” suggests there is a turbo lift there, but given the difficulties to establish the location of this engine room, it doesn’t necessarily have to be this one.

On the warp engine room’s starboard side there are now two tri-ladders. Assuming this engine room to be the twin of the one aboard the Constellation seen in “The Doomsday-Machine”, the movement of Scotty and repair crew definitely suggests the first ladder to be there.
However, the movement of Kirk (or his double) in “By Any Other Name” to distract the Kelvan, suggests he came from a control corridor adjacent to the cathedral’s “battery”, so that’s the other tri-ladder that leads all the way down to E-Deck 11.

Because of the energizer corridors below, the ladder to the emergency manual monitor leads straight from E-Deck 11 all the way up to E-Deck 9. While theoretically a person inside the access corridor could go through the yellow door into the circular main corridor (as Norman did in “I, Mudd”), no other personnel can go into this section from the circular main corridor (I’d consider this as a safety feature to handle hostile takeovers and would like to believe that the “secret” access to the emergency manual monitor on E-Deck 11 doesn’t even show up on the “real” deck plans).

I did include another ladder as I presume that the engineering hull’s “life support” (Chekov aboard the Defiant in “The Tholian Web”) / artificial gravity section to be in the vicinity of the emergency manual monitor.
The original Enterprise concepts did envision an engineering hull-saucer separation for situations other than ultimate emergencies. Accordingly, the engineering hull, too, would require a life support control of its own…

And last but not least we have the riddle of the disappearing and re-appearing energizers (or fusion reactors or transformers as you like) on the engine room sides opposite to the 1st level’s “balcony” and below the “monitor” stations. I already addressed and illustrated the issue earlier in post # 27

Originally I thought these energizers could be lifted down to / up from E-Deck 10 for repair and/or maintenance, but the energizer corridors from “In A Mirror, Darkly” made short work of this idea.

Alternately there could be a slide door (usually hidden by an energizer already standing in the engine room?) and an (invisible) floor track system to bring these energizers into the engine room or move these back to their positions parallel to the cathedral’s battery. Contrary to what you see on the revised draft, the energizers could also be “facing” the battery complex, but I assume the basic idea is clear.

“In-Universe” this would explain why there was an energizer behind Kirk and Mara when they materialized in the engine room in “The Day of the Dove”.
During their fighting either Kirk and Kang accidentally pushed a button or a Klingon did to free up more space during their duel. Minutes later the energizer had mysteriously disappeared!

Bob

 

[Robert Comsol]

Engineering Deck 08 (Version 3.01 / 130315)

I think some of the oddities in the revised draft for E-Deck 9 become more apprehensable when matched with their counterparts on E-Deck 8, so it wanted to present both at the same time, besides there’s not really that much new to the revised version of E-Deck 8.

The port side corridor from “And the Children Shall Lead” (and the space just in front of the auxiliary control room as seen in “The Way to Eden”) is now arranged a little differently than in the previous draft. I felt it to be important to have the tri-ladder at the other end of the corridor align in such a way that it wouldn’t protrude into the corridor one deck below.

The door labels in this episode’s scene were readable, however, it’s interesting to note that the “Recreation Room 6” one is actually at the door of the standard bedroom (the standard rec room is shown in the draft behind that door but will, of course, eventually have smaller dimensions as it is running out of headspace fast that high up in the engineering hull).

The starboard side corridor now mirrors the curvature of the port side one. Whether the overall shape of both corridors improves the structural integrity of the neck dorsal and/or allows for space to run tubes and conduits between the saucer and the engineering hull is open for speculation.
However, it’s providing the necessary space for the turbo shaft from “Tomorrow Is Yesterday” (that started on E-Deck 14) to now “reach” and match the central (diagonal) turbo shaft that connects the saucer with the engineering hull (so that the captains Christopher and Kirk are able to enjoy a nonstop vertical / diagonal turbo lift ride straight to the bridge).

While it’s not exactly definite which corridor Kirk, Spock and McCoy (and where?) passed through in “The Changeling” (after they oddly left the Nomad probe unsupervised behind in the auxiliary control room), I placed this one on the starboard side to be on the safe side.

As for the reasons why the auxiliary control room should / could be on (Engineering) Deck 8 (I agree with Doug Drexler), I refer to the text comment in the previous draft. I also believe the actual dialogue in “The Doomsday-Machine” rather suggests a location in the engineering hull: “Washburn, get down to Engineering. Assist Mister Scott.”

If the auxiliary control room were on Main Deck 8, Kirk’s order would be somewhat strange as Washburn would first have to get up to Deck 7 (impulse deck) in order to get down to either one of the two engine rooms in the engineering hull.
A simple “Washburn, get to Engineering” or “Washburn, assist Mr. Scott in Engineering” would have been less confusing, so I take this “down to” as a deliberate hint where to correctly put auxiliary control.

And Scotty apparently worked in two different engine rooms, because in one of these he took out the trident tool from the wall cabinet and left the engine room, obviously to continue his work with the tool in another one.

Bob

 

[Mytran]

These plans just keep getting better with each refinement. The "Changeling" mad rush corridor is now very clear to see. Are there going to be examples of similiar staircases elsewhere in your plans? It would be odd if there were only one, although the central "doughnut" is certainly a good location for them.

How tall is Deck 9? You seem to have put the entire height of the Engine Room in there without it interfereing in Deck 8 above.

Finally, I DO like the moveable partition wall in Engineering - it covers so many changes in the number and positioning of the energizers. I vaguely imagined them popping in and out of the floor, but your (considerably) simpler solution works a lot better!

 

[Robert Comsol]

These plans just keep getting better with each refinement. The "Changeling" mad rush corridor is now very clear to see. Are there going to be examples of similiar staircases elsewhere in your plans? It would be odd if there were only one, although the central "doughnut" is certainly a good location for them.

Thanks for the kind comment. I'm not to happy about the angle of the "mad rush" corridor. In a 3D presentation or a CGI walkthrough the odd angle wouldn't be that noticable but in 2D its shortcomings in the "good look department" are apparently obvious.

Bele's and Lokai's running in "Let That Be..." (not to forget Kirk in ST II) is a clear hint, IMHO, that there are definitely stairways in the saucer hull which (counter-clockwise) lead to lower decks.

With the engineering hull, it will eventually be a question of neccesity, considering we already have plenty of standard and tri-ladders connecting the decks.

Interestingly, I originally planned to have a circular stairway in the central engineering core area. But the first season Jeffries Tube corridor on E-Deck 12 adjacent to Kirk's provisional quarters and the tri-ladder shafts from "In A Mirror Darkly" would apparently be too much in the way.

One staircase I missed to illustrate is the stairway opposite to the Jefferies Tube in the "mad rush" corridor. This one would lead down to E-Deck 10 (no components in the way of such location) and would explain from where Kirk and McCoy popped up in "The Ultimate Computer" (prior to their attempt disconnecting the M-5 from its power source). This would eliminate the need of the two turbo lifts port and starboard - and I might still get two cabins there.

How tall is Deck 9? You seem to have put the entire height of the Engine Room in there without it interfereing in Deck 8 above.

Good observation. According to my cutaway drafts and my friends CAD drawing of the exterior hull with the windows, E-Deck 9 is indeed rather high. In the central axis E-Deck 9 is 10' tall, but in the outer areas you only have a height of a little over 6' (engine room floor level) and a much bigger height at the "balcony" level (good news: this matches the exterior windows!).

There is still enough headspace for the beam-in point aboard Constellation of Kirk's landing party in "The Doomsday-Machine" on E-Deck 8 above, but further astern they are running out of the headspace on E-Deck 8.

Finally, I DO like the moveable partition wall in Engineering - it covers so many changes in the number and positioning of the energizers. I vaguely imagined them popping in and out of the floor, but your (considerably) simpler solution works a lot better!

Thanks, that makes us two. Although it doesn't show in the plans (these ideas I get after I scanned and labelled the drafts become "annoying"), I'd presume that the energizers attach with their backs onto the cathedral's lower components.

As we had seen in "The Enemy Within" there are definitely in- and outlets at the back of the energizers that would justify such an idea. Thus, I imagine a little alley (not seen in TOS) of energizers behind the engine room wall. Since their backs are usually attached to the cathedral, you have to bring these into the engine room, especially to perform repair and maintenance on their back sides, which usually wouldn't be accessible.

I've now finished another (hopefully close to final) version of E-Deck 13 which I will soon present, stay tuned.

Bob

 

[Robert Comsol]

Engineering Deck 13 (Version 3.02 / 130322)

In this latest revision I first fixed some errors of the previous draft.

Of course, considering the depth of Charlie Evans’ detention cell (“Charlie X”), it has to be at 10 o’clock near the inner main corridor. The space needed for this cell’s WC has now been made available by the corridor used by Scotty and his engineers to get to the service crawlway in “That Which Survives” (just adjacent is the tri-ladder used in “In A Mirror, Darkly”). Opposite to Charlie’s cell are the rooms for “computer statistics” (door sign).

Consequently there is no cabin on the starboard side; it’s the “science library” where Dr. van Gelder knocked down the security crewman in “Dagger of the Mind” (why shouldn’t the science library have a big panoramic exterior window?).

The correct designation for the “security section” is “detention section” (Chekov in “And the Children Shall Lead”). With this revision I seized the opportunity to illustrate a couple of conjectural cells. The “briefing room” direction arrow sign from “Dagger of the Mind” now leads somewhere...

I should have realized earlier that E-Deck 13 is the optimal candidate for a briefing room location, as the angle of the studio set walls nicely matches the angle of the outside hull (i.e. if one doesn’t want to limit the existence of the briefing and recreation rooms to the saucer hull). I also think it makes a lot of sense to have the ship’s court room in this area, rather than to parade detainees through the ship (normally the room and its flat screen would serve for briefings of landing parties similar to what we’ve seen in “The Cage”).

In this particular case, however, the draft reveals the dilemma: If the left / bow side of the court room were just aligned with the main-sensor deflector complex wall it would match the angle of the back of Janice Rand’s cabin on E-Deck 12, however, the exterior skeleton support struts would no longer be uniform and credible. There has to be a compromise and I feel in the final CAD version these rooms (rec room for security personnel is on port side) should be rectangular, so what you see here is most definitely WIP.

While there are several individual detention cells (“detention section”), there should be a larger one at 9 o’clock for several people (e.g. Khan’s supermen) between the larger rooms.

Astern we have a new arrangement of the TOS corridors leading to the hangar deck (to those that feel the flight deck should be the actual hangar deck, I’d reply this just the lower level…). The central corridor was established in two TOS episodes. The tricky part was to accommodate the corridors from “The Doomsday-Machine” and “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”.

Both scenes share the “HANGAR DECK SHUTTLECRAFT” sign which tells me that these corridors do not lead straight to the main entry of the hangar deck but to the shuttlecraft storages.

On the starboard side we see the corridor used by Commodore Decker. Now, these frames left and right of the door (first seen in the conference room from “Where No Man Has Gone Before”) are rather unique. Obviously they have something to do with the door and despite heavy late 20th Century allusions to anti-theft detectors I do think the producers (far ahead of their own time) had something like radiation detectors in mind.
I think the narrow corridor on the starboard side next to the shuttlecraft has decontamination mechanisms for personnel working on the shuttlecraft in environmental (radiation protective) suits. After decon these radiation detectors will tell them if they are clean or need to repeat the decon procedure.

On the port side we have the corridor where Kirk and Spock received Lokai. I’d like to think this particular corridor can also serve as an airlock in case the hangar deck is depressurized but you need to get in there anyway (this could also explain the strange door frame of this particular turbo lift).
The turbo lift essentially is the same as the one used by McCoy and Spock in “The Immunity Syndrome”. The door barely seen on the right hand side leads to the access corridor the security crewmen used to get here. Right outside there’ll be a locker with several EVA space suits.

There is storage space for four shuttlecraft which is compatible with Lt. Galloway’s report in “The Omega Glory” that all “four” shuttlecraft were still in place (if we assume USS Exeter to share the same internal arrangement).

Behind the yellow door in the central corridor to the hangar deck seen in “The Immunity Syndrome” I put a ladder that leads up to the (lower) hangar deck control room, especially to operate what I believe to be a crane of some sort to lift the shuttlecraft onto the circular pad (or up for repair and maintenance from below).
For this project I’d like to recycle as much as possible studio props from other TOS locations for onboard use aboard the Enterprise (as Matt Jefferies would have probably done it). Regarding the hangar deck control room window I am confident it would have looked like this window in the background.

This concludes my drafts for the engineering hull for now. Stay tuned!

Bob

 

[blssdwlf]

I like the setup you did for Decker's run to the hangar deck.

On the "Journey to Babel" section, right past the A frame there should be a corridor leading to the port side.

Also, Mytran made a pretty good point (in an earlier post on my thread) that the "LTBYLB" turbolift exit is not really from a turbolift. In my earlier WIPs I left it as a turbolift but my current setup leaves it as a pathway to a lobby that has a turbolift.

Anyway, keep it going

 

[Mytran]

Yeah, that was a pesky bit of observation from me. However, the existence of Turbolift "lobbies" does also open the option for stairwell lobbies, which might explain why (in Mark of Gideon) Kirk is carrying Odona out of the briefing room on his way back to his cabin - he took the stairs!

Incidentally, nice management of the Decker and LTBYLB corridors, with their weird end wall angles. The presence of the detention units and court room does make sense, although I feel your frustration in trying to fit a wedge shaped room into a square hole. Is this a compromise you would be willing to make to preserve the nature of your deck layout?

 

[Robert Comsol]

^^ Thanks for the nice feedback, gentlemen (just happen to wonder where is Albertese? Hope he's doing alright).

@ blssdwlf

I remember there was something I wanted to mention in your thread, good you reminded me of it. According to this screencap from "Journey to Babel" there is no corridor to the port side just behind the A frame although the angle of the wall behind Spock and McCoy is a little odd.

There could be a corridor to the port side behind he A frame in "Let That Be..." but I think the security crewmen may have been looking at a flat screen to see where Lokai is moving (and whether he is armed or not) and just step a little closer into the (A) frame as Kirk and McCoy are arriving.

Yes, I am aware that the door frame of the turbo lift in this scene is not your regular turbo lift door frame (and the carpet is differently), but I do believe that the regular turbo lift door and car is just one foot or so in front of this door frame (if this is an area that could be depressurized two doors are still better than one, IMHO).

@ Mytran

I do like the idea of stairwell lobbies (but not in this case) as I still do believe that the room opposite the WNM sickbay is such a stairwell lobby (i.e. the one where Kirk and Spock disappear after the Valiant's flight recorder had been beamed on board, the one where Yeoman Smith pops up before being "stalked" by Mitchell in the alternate edit of WNM).

The "quick" alignment of the court and rec room looks like crap and apparently suggests either
a) to align the court room so the wall next to the oval table would be at a 90° angle to the starboard corridor or
b) twist it into an essentially rectangular room, so the exterior support struts have equal dimensions.

a) would be accurate but b) would probably look better.

For the sake of accuracy I think I should go for option a) but in this difficult case I'm really open for suggestions.

Bob

 

[blssdwlf]

@Bob

Look to the right (or port side).

http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x10hd/journeytobabelhd0086.jpg

(It's right past the A frame, if you were coming in from the the hangar bay)

 

[Robert Comsol]

@ blssdwlf

Good catch, the corridor is obviously wider on the port side (in contrast to this corridor's corner seen in "The Immunity Syndrome"). Maybe there are some seating banks for waiting shuttlecraft passengers on the floor?

This is good news as I felt a little bad about taking away storage space for the starboard shuttles because of the ladder, but having an equal reduction of space on the port side because there is something there, gives all shuttlecraft "equal pain".

Bob

 

[Albertese]

^^ Thanks for the nice feedback, gentlemen (just happen to wonder where is Albertese? Hope he's doing alright).

...

Bob

Awww... sweet of you to ask! Real life has been keeping me awfully busy of late, but I've still been following this thread with bated breath. I've just had to be in more of a lurker mode lately and I haven't had time to really examine your recent variations in depth. But, I really like what your doing here. It just keeps getting better and better.

One thought that did occur to me is how good an idea is it to keep the security/detention area just a short stroll away from the best means of escaping a starship in deep space? If you'
re keeping someone on ice in the brig, someone clever who might want to get out in a hurry, wouldn't you want to keep him a bit farther removed from the hangar deck? I dunno, maybe not.

Keep it up! Hopefully I'll get some time to go over it more someday soon!

--Alex

 

[Robert Comsol]

One thought that did occur to me is how good an idea is it to keep the security/detention area just a short stroll away from the best means of escaping a starship in deep space? If you'
re keeping someone on ice in the brig, someone clever who might want to get out in a hurry, wouldn't you want to keep him a bit farther removed from the hangar deck?

The major inspiration to locate the security / detention section on this deck came from "The Conscience of the King" (suggestion that main armory is on "H Deck" - maybe in these triangular spaces left by 'accurate' briefing rooms?) plus the brig locations of ancient sailing vessels.

I don't think you could just break out, grab a shuttle and escape.

Considering Matt Decker's flag officer status he probably knew a code how to override access restriction.
And in "The Way to Eden" Dr. Sevrin and followers had taken control of the entire ship. There was no one left to stop them.

I believe that under 'normal' circumstances the doors to the hangar deck and shuttlecraft would remain shut. If a detainee would think he could escape with a shuttle, so much the better. It would keep such a person confined to E-Deck 13 and trapped in its stern section, hopefully.

Bob

 

[blssdwlf]

@ blssdwlf

Good catch, the corridor is obviously wider on the port side (in contrast to this corridor's corner seen in "The Immunity Syndrome"). Maybe there are some seating banks for waiting shuttlecraft passengers on the floor?

It could be anything. I took it as a corridor because Kirk,Spock, and McCoy enter through the A frame as if they were coming from the port side. (The camera was in the way.)

 

[Mytran]

I'm fairly certain that the actors were able to do that because the A-frame was "wilded" over to where the shuttlebay set was located - there's certainly no way it could fit in Stage 8 with regard to where the A-frames are usually located. Without the usual constraints of the corridor walls, the actors could enter in from anywhere they pleased!

It also shows us which A-frame was used, since the one by the Transporter Room (http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x04hd/thenakedtimehd0537.jpg) has a red alert panel to the left (as you look at it). The one in JTB (http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x10hd/journeytobabelhd0086.jpg) is more likely the one opposite Engineering, near the Sickbay lab.

 

[Robert Comsol]

It could be anything. I took it as a corridor because Kirk,Spock, and McCoy enter through the A frame as if they were coming from the port side. (The camera was in the way.)

What I can see in the screencaps and in the video suggests they were heavily leaning on the port side of the central corridor (okay, no seating banks but probably just wall-mounted folding seats), but they obviously didn't walk in from the port side to perform an L- or 90° turn.

Bob

 

[Robert Comsol]

I'm fairly certain that the actors were able to do that because the A-frame was "wilded" over to where the shuttlebay set was located - there's certainly no way it could fit in Stage 8 with regard to where the A-frames are usually located. Without the usual constraints of the corridor walls, the actors could enter in from anywhere they pleased!

It also shows us which A-frame was used, since the one by the Transporter Room (http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/1x04hd/thenakedtimehd0537.jpg) has a red alert panel to the left (as you look at it). The one in JTB (http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x10hd/journeytobabelhd0086.jpg) is more likely the one opposite Engineering, near the Sickbay lab.

I'm not sure which A-frame is the one actually used in "Journey to Babel" (notice the angle of the frame "curtain") but it definitely is not the same A-frame as the one in "The Immunity Syndrome".

Bob

P.S. I still consider this to be one and the same corridor. Maybe the frame curtain is a radiation filter that got exchanged between the two episodes.

 

[blssdwlf]

It could be anything. I took it as a corridor because Kirk,Spock, and McCoy enter through the A frame as if they were coming from the port side. (The camera was in the way.)

What I can see in the screencaps and in the video suggests they were heavily leaning on the port side of the central corridor (okay, no seating banks but probably just wall-mounted folding seats), but they obviously didn't walk in from the port side to perform an L- or 90° turn.

I don't think it is obvious either way. The camera was in their path if they walked straight to the A frame so they walked in from the right of the camera (or port side) and thus had to make some kind of turn, even if it is subtle, to get around the camera. If you want to think of it as a bank of seats to make your plan symmetrical that's fine as it is your plan.

 

[Robert Comsol]

Here's just a short update of the next steps into the saucer hull (finally, these circular corridors will be definitely palatable...).

I planned to work myself from the inside (sickbay) towards the outside and already ran into some interesting "problems".

Originally, I had thought you could just illustrate the Season One sickbay and add two 120° studio set segments with the Season Two and Three set.

But it's not that easy considering substantial redresses of the sickbay set itself in each of the seasons:

Already in Season One we have the standard "examination room" and the variation in "The Enemy Within" (no diagnostic scanner over the examination bed during the "eyewitness statement" scene!).

And in Season Two we have the examination room without the examination bed ("By Any Other Name") and the unique camera edit in "The Changeling" which suggests McCoy's office to be the door next to the turbo lift at the end of the corridor!

And if we presume the Defiant's doctor's office in "The Tholian Web" (table is on opposite side of room near 'waiting booth') should also be on the Enterprise we have enough interior variations to fill two deck levels (with all the Season One illumination variations of the glass cabinet separating the exam room from the bedroom maybe more...)

Come to think about it, that's actually a rather good thing. In other Trek BBS discussions we noticed that Kirk's babysitting turbo lift travels to sickbay and Deck 5 (e.g. "Amok Time", "Elaan of Troyius") actually suggest sickbay to be on Main Deck 5 despite the general assumption (statement in The Making of Star Trek) that it is on Main Deck 7.

Apparently, an inner sickbay complex that spreads from Deck 5 to Deck 7 could be a golden compromise making everyone happy.

Bob

 

[Mytran]

Whether Sickbay is on Deck 7 or Deck 5 depends on how many decks you plan to include in the saucer overall. It makes sense that the facility be in "the best protected part of the ship" (Kirk, EOT) which would be in the centre of the saucer.

Using FJ's plans of 8' ceilings you can just about squeeze 11 decks into the saucer, making Deck 7 fit this location nicely.

However, we are consistently seeing ceiling heights much higher than that in the show - 9' or even 10' is not uncommon. For that (and allowing for a certain amount of deck thickness) then the centre of the saucer would be around Deck 5.

Incidentally, the Jefferies cutaway also shows Deck 5 in this location (not that it was ever seen onscreen)