ENVS10003 Studio Journal Week 5 Christian James Virgona – 641276 ‘Structural Concepts’ Following on from last weeks breakdown of the MSLE building plans, we continued to focus on these plans, but rather than from a macro building perspective, we began to decipher the difference between primary (structural) and secondary (aesthetic) materials. 1. Descripton/Classification of Structural Systems a) Foundations and footings - Existing concrete slab - The Slab is approximated to be 150ml - Also appears like it may be structural support from other buildings b) Primary Structure (Horizontal and Vertical) - Rafters beams - Walls - Brick walls from pre-existing building c) Secondary Structure (Horizontal and Vertical) - Battons - Perlins - Joists - Steel Beams - Plaster Boards - Zinc - Colour bond flat sheets 2. GRAPHIC STRUCTRAL DIAGRAM (structural systems to be clearly shown): a) FOUNDATIONS & FOOTINGS  Existing Concrete Slab:

b) PRIMARY STRUCTURE (HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL)  Roof Structure Bolted using Steel L-beams: Wall Structures: Plan view of existing brick wall with timber stud wall, plasterboard and fire curtain: Section Views:

Floor Structures: Existing concrete and steel structure.

Ramp detail showing joinery to existing brick wall. Steel bracket bolted into brickwork. c) SECONDARY STRUCTURES (HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL) Skirting section details. Aluminum skirting attached to plaster board by screws. Carpet tile affixed to slab:

Skylight Detail:

3. Identification Description and Location of Structural Materials:

a) Clay Pressed EXISTING Brick – (BR01) Page: A04.03 This clay pressed brick remains from the existing buildings, these bricks provide a load bearing capacity to dead and live loads at the groundfloor and mezzanine level.

b) Timber Ceiling & Wall – (TB01) Page: A04.03 Timber Ceiling has been used in the Student Lounge, this would have likely been through the use of timber framing in the ceiling structure.

c) Timber Flooring – (TB02) Page: A04.02

d) Galvanised Steel – (GAL) Page: A04:03 Galvanised steel would have been used in the roof structure of this area, as seen in the image below, there was galvanised steel beams that wouldve been bolted to the existing buildings in order for the roof to hold lateral and vertical forces.

Timber Floorboards is seen in the MLSE building, These timberfloorboards are fixed to existing joists in the Student Loung Area

e) Concrete Slab – (CON) Page: A06.07

As seen, a thin layer of NEW concrete slab has been applied ontop of the existing concrete slab. 4_Identify 3 Structural Joints (use tracing paper to sketch the construction drawings) a)

b)

OR

c) 5_Identify and explain the use of different structural fixings (weld, concrete, bolt, screw, nail)

a) SCREW

b) WELD

c) BOLT          

Screw into an existing concrete slab within existing brickwork.  

Steel columns have been welded to the beam and joists at each end.

The bolts in this instance are placed within the cleat plates and their function is to hold and stabilise the two steel beams together.

       d)

6. Sustainability and Environmental Analysis:

a) Carbon Footprint: There are certain areas of this development where there is evidence that proves that the developers have taken into account the carbon footprint of this development, some of these instances include:

• Skylight – The skylight allows for natural light to illuminate this corridor by simply leaving an area in the ceiling which has not been plastered and is inbetween steel framing. Whilst the skylight does not fully light the whole area, it decreases the reliance on electric lighting

• Insulation – There has been insulation included in the walls and ceilings in order to minimise the dependence on heating that would require gas or electricity, as we can see below in a wall section ‘Insulation Blankets’ have been stuffed in berween the exterior walls and the plaster boards in order to maintain temperature at a desired level

The concrete slab in this instance is utilised as a foundations and footing of the building. In this case the concrete is used for the ramp and is a small aggregate mix design

Pre-existing concrete

New concrete Ramp

• There are areas in this development where the use of plasterboards have been spared, as you can see from the image below (taken from the site visit), rather than plaster boarding an area of existing bricks, the developers instead have just painted these clay pressed bricks white.

b) Embodied Energy:

Embodied energy is the energy that is required to produce materials. It could be said that this development conserved embodied energy because rather than creating a stand-alone structure, this structure was built upon two existing buildings. The footings of this structure was also a pre-existing concrete slab with existing pier footing supports, this meant that no excavation had to occur and pouring of cement was not needed. However, using a steel frame as the roof structure has more embodied energy than using a timber frame roof structure, so environmental analysis was not favoured in this decision.

c) Recyclability: Recylcability of pre-existing materials was obviously a decision that was prevalent in both primary and secondary materials. From a primary structure perspective, the existing concrete slab acts as a foundation for this section of the MLSE, also the load-bearing capacity of the MLSE and MLSU buildings allow for this corridor to stand. Recycled bricks have also been used for aesthetic purposes, rather than plastering and ‘covering up’ areas where secondary materials would normally exist. The developers have chosen to leave existing bricks out in the open. 7. Economical Implications of Decisions: There are decisions that have been made in this development which have proved to have beneficial economic implications as well as negative implications in this development. A positive economic implication includes the use of a skylight, by designing this structure with a skylight, money will be saved through the use of natural light rather than having to light the building with electric lighting. Another example could be seen as using recycled materials as well as conserving uses of materials such as plasterboards (e.g. painting existing bricks white) A negative economic implication may relate to the aesthetics of this development. Whilst the glass walls are very appealing to look at, this was a decision that would’ve proven to be incredibly costly where the developers could have used a cheaper material for a wall. Another example includes steel framing for a ceiling structure, whilst it is much sturdier than a timber roof structure. This method is much more expensive.