Issues

House Recycling

Bob Falk and Brad Guy compose and interesting read, with their article on using recycled materials in construction. It would definitely lower the embodied energy, and would be great for the environment. There are undeniably some cool things that could be done with 'junk'.

http://www.architectureweek.com/2007/0530/environment_1-1.html

Issues

Commercial Buildings Open Their Windows:

I came accross this article in the Architectural Record that proposed the possibility of something i thought was never possible, to introduce openable windows in high-rise buildings. Its 5 pages long but an interesting read as it goes into such things as the effect of noise, the weather and climate, pollution and other such things that are to be taken into consideration. It goes into detail about a building that was used natural ventilation and how it worked, so i suggest checking the article out.

http://archrecord.construction.com/features/green/archives/0509edit-1.asp



Carbon Footprints:

I was also particularly interested in finding an article that focused on people creating self-sufficient buildings. I came an article by Joann Gonchar in the Architectural Record that talked about not just designing and building energy-efficient buildings we all must incorporate it into out daily lives. Although it is not realted too much to construction, i just think its great that people are focusing on this issue, as we all are immesly affected by our actions. Check it out...

http://archrecord.construction.com/tech/techBriefs/0703dignews-1.asp

Under Construction Site Visit #4

This was a site on Yarra St. I was just walking past and got a glimpse of it through a hole in a massive fence. I thought it was interestin to see how high the reinforcment is for the collumns. I guess the structure is going to be pretty big.

A closer view of the concrete slab and steel rods.

Unbder Construction Site Visit #3

Site under construction on Malop St.

Sorry couldn't get any better angles.
Reinforcement for concrete footing. It was really great to see this in real life. Sometimes its hard to imagine when you are lookin at a flat page.

A different view:

Under Construction Site Visit #2

This is a site under construction on Ryrie St.
I found this one interesting as it incorporates curves but it is executed in a fairly simple manner.
From what i could see it appears to be a steel and conrete composite construction.

Just a picture to show the concrete in the walls and floor, although it is very unclear as i could not get in closer.
Some more photos:

Here we can kind of make out the connections used with the steel.

Under Construction Site Visit #1

The building is located on LaTrobe Terrace.
It is to be used as a showroom and for office spaces.

From afar we can see the layout of the building which is very rectangular. the walls are made from precast concrete panels, which have openings for windows. In the picture below you are able to see a metal frame next to the panels.
Just a close up of the metal fram and concrete slab connection.
The concrete slabs are being held up by temporary metal rods. My guess would be that they keep them there until the roof is in place, but im not quite sure.
Just some more photos through the barbed wire fence:

Major Assignment Research

I have decided to take a different direction with the assignment. I have chosen to study Mies Van der Rohe, and use him as my inspiration. Mies buildings have very specific aesthtical qualities about them.

Crown Hall:
The above picture shows how Mies incorporated steel and glass into his designs. I wanted to work with these elements in order to find out how they work. This is what drew me to the glass paleis. Concrete was also a main feature. His building usually did not have load bearing walls but in fact if was the steel portal frames that carried the structural load, and the walls merely gave shape to the buildings.

Toronto - Dominion Centre
From the above photo we can see how Mies accentuates the structural elements in him buildings. He wanted to show the construction process in his finished structures. He achieved this my exposing certain element, such as can be seen here with the steel column.


Below: Farnsworth House
Although the structure is not of commercial use, therefore not quite large it was important for me to study this as i realised the simple nature of Mies' work. He got rid of all ornamentation in his buildings with the only thing remaining are the necessities. I think it makes building look quite elegant.

GUTTER DETAIL 4

GUTTER DETAIL 3

GUTTER DETAIL 2

GUTTER DETAIL 1

SECTION OF COMMERCIAL BUILDING (DOUBLE STOREY)

SECTION: Portal Frame 2

SECTION: Portal Frame

CONSTRUCTION ASSIGNMENT:

OLD SHOP FRONT

INSPIRATION:

FRITZ PEUTZ - GLASPALEIS

Constructed of this building started in 1934 and commenced in 1935. It was of a modernist style made largely of glass, steel and concrete, which are the three main materials used in commercial construction today. It is a former fashion house and department store, with the most visually distinguishing aspect being the free standing glass that covers three sides of the buitding. This makes it appear almost transparent.

NEW SHOP FRONT

The name 'Glaspaleis' stems from the fact that the building is clad in a free-standing encasing of glass around a concrete structure. Apart from the rear section, the penthouse and the basement there are no outer or inner walls thus eliminating the separation between inside and outside as much as possible.
Structurally, it is basically a collection of pillars, intersected by and supporting platforms, surrounded by a glass encasing, which is suspended from the floors. The fact that the outer pillars are offset from the glass panel walls makes them shadowless and loads the foundation slab in the most favourable way. This structure also enables a sort of natural ventilation through the selective opening of windows.
The building spans 30m x 30m and has a height of 26.5m.

REAR OF BUILDING

None of the walls are load bearing. Not even the rear walls or the walls used in the basement, even though they are made of reinforced concrete. Concrete was employed only to ensure to resist soil and water pressure. Ther outer walls have insulation gaps that are meant to protect the building against traffic vibrations, noise and for ventilation of the basement.

GAP BETWEEN GLASS AND FLOOR

The 50cm gap between the 17 cm thick floors and the glass encasing also allows for vertical ventilation, if needs be helped by opening glass hatches in the roof.The airtight glass walls have turned out to be better insulators than thought. Also, the mass of the concrete is such a good heat accumulator that extra time heating up the building in the morning has turned out unnecessary and there have never been any major temperature changes.Wire mesh has been put in the gaps between the floors and the glass walls to prevent items from falling through. The balustrades along the projecting floor slabs, which are stiffened on the top side with a small upright projection, consist of a linked series of radiators.

VIEW FROM INSIDE

Each floor has about 30 mushroom-shaped pillars, which get narrower as you travel up the building. The pillars are mushroom-shaped for two reasons. The first is practicality as the floors were constructed beamless for better lighting during the day and, thus, light reflection as beams would cast very long shadows. This has the additional advantage of simplifying the placing and moving of cables and lighting fixtures. Furthermore the mushroom shapes give an impression of greater height. The second, constructional, advantage is that the steel bundle reinforcement in two directions makes the structure equally rigid in all directions. Since future mining activity was impossible to predict, a large resistance in all directions to sagging was desirable.

BASEMENT

We were required to take photos of a commercial building under construction, or one that you could readily see the structure from inside when it was finished. I opted to take photos of Bunnings Warehouse, a hardware store as it was easily accessible to me. From inside I could easily see how the structure of the building worked and where it got its support from. Here are my photos.

From the outside you can see that the building spans approximately 40 metres, and from previous trips to Bunnings I know that inside there are no supporting walls making this a continuos span.

Here we can see the use of a steel frame. steel and concrete in construction allow for the building to be more stable in a long span, compared to how it would work if timber was used.

The use of collums allow for support of the roof, creating an open space.

welcome to all

hey everyone welcome to my construction blog. hopefully you'll find it interesting and at times helpful when faced with problems throughout the year. If you have any queries please dont hesitate to contact me, im a pretty friendly sort of gal. thanks and goodbye