MSLE BUILDING CASE STUDY

1 TITLE BLOCK

List the types of information found in the title block on the floor plan page.

- Architect information - Page reference numbers - Project number - Orientation - The Drawer - The Scale - The date printed

Why might this information be important?

So you are aware whom to contact to run changes past or to ask for further instruction. It also gives some basic context to the drawings.

2 DRAWING CONTENT - PLANS

- What type of information is shown in this floor plan?

- Birds eye detail of each level of the building

- Where section and elevation details have been cut from

- The wall constructions - Measurements - Placement of windows and doors

- Provide an example of the dimensions as they appear on this floor plan? What units are used for the dimensions?

Unit of measurement is mm. The width of the extension area that we are focusing on is 4000mm and the length is 20500mm.

- Is there a grid? What system is used for identifying the grid lines?

There is a grid and letters are used on the x axis while numbers are used on the y axis.

- Why is some information found in General Notes?

It gives extra details to the plan and construction over all. Building instructions regarding standards such as emergency lights and other details are included in this section.

- What is the purpose of the legend?

Gives greater detail and understanding to the plan while allowing shorthand and drawings to be used which shows details more effectively once the legend is understood.

- Why are some parts of the drawing annotated? Illustrate how the annotations are associated with the relevant part of the drawing.

It gives greater detail and also allows referencing to other plans and details.

- Illustrate how the locations of sections are identified on the plan. What do these symbols mean?

With arrows facing a certain direction shows view of section and then there is a reference number to show where this can be found.

- Illustrate how references to other drawings are shown on the plan. What do these symbols mean?

Circle with a reference number.

- How are windows and doors identified? Provide and example of each. Is there a rationale to their numbering? What do these numbers mean? Can you find the answer somewhere in the drawings?

Doors are reference through DG followed by a number (DG.29) and windows are referenced through WG followed by a number (WG.14). These can then be used to find the style and type of window or door in the window and door schedule.

- Illustrate how floor levels are noted on the plan?

Annotations and through the title block.

- Are some areas of the drawing clouded? Why?

Yes due to construction issue or area that has since been changed within the plan and needs to be addressed more directly in order to understand what changes or directions apply.

3 DRAWING CONTENT – ELEVATIONS

- What type of information is shown in this elevation? How does it differ from the information shown on the plan?

- Floor heights - Side views - Ceiling heights - Number and placement of doors

and windows

It differs from a plan as it gives a side view as apposed to a bird’s eye view.

- Are dimensions shown? If so, how do they differ from the dimensions on the plan? Provide an example of the dimensions as they relate to the elevation.

Yes, ceiling and floor levels are shown through SFL 0.000 (Standard Floor level) and CL 6.124 (ceiling level.)

- What types of levels are shown on the elevations? Illustrate how levels are shown in relation to the elevation.

Floor and ceiling levels are shown in relation to the ground level.

- Is there a grid? If so, how / where is it shown?

Yes there is a grid running above the sections using numbers.

- Is there a legend? What does it identify and how is it used?

There is not a specific legend for the section pages.

- What types of information on the elevations are expressed using words? Illustrate how this is done.

Level names – “Plant room roof” and exterior details –“tinted film to existing window” are expressed using words.

- Illustrate how the doors and windows are identified on the elevations.

Only through drawings

- Are any parts of the elevation clouded? Why?

Yes due to construction issue or area that has since been changed within the plan and needs to be addressed more directly in order to understand what changes or directions apply.

Example of a window

- Illustrate where this elevation is located in relation to the plan?

A06.03- West Elevation

4 DRAWING CONTENT – SECTIONS

- What type of information is shown in this section? How does it differ from the information shown on the plan and elevation?

- Inside cross-section view - Plan is a birds eye view - Elevation- exterior section

- Are dimensions shown? If so, how do they differ from the dimensions on the elevation?

Yes, there are also widths.

- What types of information on the sections are expressed using words? Illustrate how this is done.

Details of buildings and materials are shown as well as room names, such as “Reception”.

- Illustrate how the section drawing differentiates between building elements that are cut through and those that are shown in elevation (beyond).

Immediate building elements are shown by being coloured solid black while the further back elements are they become increasing faint or are shown using dotted lines were appropriate.

- Provide examples of how different materials are shown on the sections.

They are shown using patterns.

5 DRAWING CONTENT – DETAILS

- What sorts of things are detailed?

- Ramps - Walls - Doors - Windows - Fixtures and finishes

- Are the details compressed using break lines? Why?

Yes, this is done so large areas can fit onto one page and therefore give the context to the finer detail that is actually be focused on.

- Provide examples of how different materials are shown on drawings at this scale.

Patterns used to show materials.

Structural Concept – MSLE

Description/classification of structural systems

Foundations and Footings:

It is a concrete slab on slab footings.

Primary Structure (Horizontal and vertical)

Vertical: Load bearing walls, footings, columns

Horizontal: Slab floor, beams

Secondary Structure (Horizontal and Vertical)

Vertical: windows and doors, lift-shaft

Horizontal: Handrail

Graphic Structural Diagrams

Foundations and Footings:

Primary Structure- columns and beams

Secondary Structure

Lift Structure

Identification, description and location of structural materials

Page A06.07

-­‐ Brick column: made out of brick is used to support the second level flooring system while also creating more open rooms as lessens the need for structural (load bearing) walls

-­‐ Concrete slab: the concrete slab creates the floor for the ground level and is supported by the brick footing

-­‐ Brick Footing: similar to the brick columns it is made out of brick but is used to support the slab flooring system

-­‐ Open web joistà ceiling material: Open web joisting allows the ceiling material to be supported on the top level of the building and also allows space for services and pipes to be placed through the ceiling without reducing its structural integrity

-­‐ Zinc cladding à outdoor deck roofing material: Zinc being a rust resistant, light and durable metal is being used to create both a structural and design feature of the decking roof. (Week 6 Materials: Metal video, 2013)

Identify 3 Structural Joints and Sketch

Identify and explain the use of different structural fixings

-­‐ Weld: Used to join two types of metals together, this type of join is hard to break but does create structural weakness of the structure at the join (Ching, 2008)

-­‐ Concrete: Used in the MSLE building to create a slab flooring system and also the slab footings, it is a strong material under compression (Week 4: materials- concrete, 2013)

-­‐ Bolt: Are one of the strongest joining methods combining the principles of the screw and nail but design for more heavy duty joins. Bolts can join almost any materials together and has small ridges which create a tight hold in the material. (Ching, 2013)

-­‐ Screw: A screw is stronger than nails and is drilled into the material (typically wood) and has groves, which grip in and hold the material. Screws can vary in shape and size. (Ching, 2013)

-­‐ Nail: Used to join two pieces of wood together, not a strong join compared to screws and bolts so are therefore predominately used in frame construction and secondary structures. (Ching, 2013)

Sustainability and Environmental Analysis

Carbon Footprint: The building is overall designed to be fairly environmentally friendly. It consists of lots of large windows and since the building is predominately used during the day it means that there is a reduced need for so much lighting/ for it to be turned on all the time, which therefore reduces the buildings carbon footprint.

Embodied Energy: The building is made out of a vast number of materials ranging from wood, steel and bricks, each of these materials have a different level of embodied energy however they have been used throughout the building to provide the best structural support/system which therefore means the building is designed to last a long time. This therefore means that despite materials such as steel and timber having large levels of embodied energy it is outweighed by the fact that the building is durable and will last for many years before needing to be fixed, redesigned or demolished.

Recyclability: Although some of the materials throughout the building could be recycled such as the wood or the metal being smelted after building use, the structure has been designed in such a way that does not make this process easy and it therefore wouldn’t necessarily be cost effect and at current technology levels, environmental viable to recycle and reuse parts of the building. However as previously stated this is mainly due to the building be built in a durable way which therefore reduces the need for the building to be recycled anytime in the near future.

Economical Implications of Decisions

The type of materials and method of construction all play an important role in determining costs for a building. Buildings such as the MSLE building have standardised the doors and windows, which helps to minimise construction costs of those elements, as they are effectively bulk bought. Having the same types of windows and doors also creates a faster installation process as there

is less to worry about in terms of which window goes where and it also means that the installation process for all the windows is the same and therefore the process can become faster as more of the windows and doors are installed. Decision of whether to use prefabricated structures such as wooden frames or concrete slabs offsite can also have large economical implications as they can save overall building construction time and also reduce the number of staff needed on site to build these structures therefore meaning that there is reduced labour costs. Overall the more complicated and technical the construction becomes when designing and building the more expertise and time and materials is often needed which therefore corresponds with a direct increase in price. (Ching, 2013)

MSLE GROUP PRESENTATION

Above: Presentation slides, words were mainly taken from previous weeks worksheet done together in the tutorial.

MODEL MAKING

Above Photos (left to right): Cutting out different level floors which do not have particular structural features, Two load bearing walls which support and take the weight of the slab

flooring, Roofing structure with 10 rafters distributing loads to the walls.

Within this weeks tutorial we were required to make a structural model of out building (MSLE link) in order to visually see the load paths of the structure. The area of the building that we were focused on had two load bearing walls to either side of the structure, which supported the main loads (Figure 1). However within one of these walls there were two lintels (one above a door and the other above windows), which were designed to direct the load around these new features in the pre-existing brickwork (as shown in Figure 2). The upstairs ramp was also supported through cantilevers attached to the load bearing side wall (Figure 3). The roof structure is a low sloped skillion roof which had one ridge beam and then 10 rafters that spaned between the walls equally taking the load of the roof and directing it down the two load bearing walls (Figure 4).

Left to right: Load path diagram (cross section of walls), load path diagram with new and old lintel in brick wall

Left to right: Load path diagram second level cantilever ramp, load path diagram of skillion roof (birds eye and cross section view)

Appendix - Workshop Description of materials

Measurements Plywood: 1200 x 100 x10 (2 pieces)

- Strongest in compression when placed sideways (thin edge at top) - Strong in deflection due to thin nature of material

Treated Pine: 1200 x 35 x 35 (2 pieces) - Strong in compression - Grain and knots can create naturally existing weaknesses

Option of nails or screws at various sizes. - Nails: can be slow and tedious to place by hand - Screws: can create a new point of weakness in structures that can tear

materials apart under force

Photos and Description of all tools used

Drill: Used to screw the planks of wood together. It was battery operated and simple to use, only requiring one person and could screw clockwise or anticlockwise either placing the screws further into the wood or taking them out.

Saw: Used to cut the ply wood into pieces to help make the truss, we tried multiple methods of cutting the plywood however using the hand-saw was most effective as it allowed different pressure to be place on the wood. The only downside of a handsaw is that it leaves room for error if you do not cut straight. (Photo: B2B, 2012)

Pine

Plywood

Photo and description of structural performance and failure mechanism of all four designs

Mine teams design was a truss as shown through the sketch below. We designed it this way as it allowed the structure to move in both compression at the top and tension at the bottom with the stronger pine material being used to take the immediate impact of the force. Overall our structure was fairly strong and worked the best out of all teams in it’s ability to be deflected before actually breaking (45cm deflection) even though it couldn’t support the greatest amount of weight. The final breaking point in our structure was were the bottom piece of pine had to undergo tension, pine wood is not the best material for supporting tension forces, however the structure still worked well given the materials provided. The points where the screws were placed also provided another point for the wood to be pulled apart as can be seen in the picture even though this was not the structure’s downfall.

Screw: Used to join the plywood and pine. This was a much faster and more accurate technique than hammer and nails, however the screw as it grinds into the wood can create a point of weakness when put under pressure especially if put in to tightly so this was the only concern. (Ching, 2008) (Photo: Sentronix, 2013)

Bench Hook: This was used to make it easier to saw the planks of plywood without it damaging or moving all across the table. (Photo: Lumberjocks, 2013)

Team 2 Design:

The design was a piece of plywood at the top of the structure joining the pieces of pine with a gap between them. This team had a fairly good design however they were provided with a worse grade of wood which had natural forming knots within it. These knots placed under forces of compression and tension ultimately lead to the piece of wood being torn apart and it was therefore clear to see the impact knots and other imperfections can have o woods ability to cope with forces as was also discussed in the Wood material eLearning module.

Above: Original structure, below- failure mechanism knot in the wood

Team 3 Design:

Team 3 similar to team 2 had used their pieces of plywood to join the pine together using nails. This team however had a higher grade of pine, extra piece of plywood used to support the other side of the structure and also placed with the piece of pine facing upwards. This teams structure ended up being the strongest of the three teams (taking the most downwards weight). The failure mechanism was the plywood being unable to cope with the increasing torsion forces placed on the structure as could be seen through the appearance of tear marks rather than snaps within the plywood.

Reference List

B2B International, A Stanley tool found in nearly every tradesman’s bag, accessed 8/09/2013 <http://www.b2binternational.com/b2b-blog/2007/11/21/a-stanley-tool-found-in-nearly-every-tradesmans-bag/>

Sentronix, Screw-Gypsum 7 x 2 1/2, accessed 25/08/2013, <http://sentronix.asia/beli/products.php?29>

Lumberjocks, Poplar-Bench Hooks, accessed 8/09/2013 <http://lumberjocks.com/projects/3000>

Francis D.K Ching, 2008, Building Construction Illustrated, 4th Edition, John Wiley and Sons.

Shahin Vassigh, 2008, Interactive Structures- Visualising Structural Behaviour 2.0, John Wiley and Sons.