Aliens Space Station | Green Architecture Exemplified

April 23, 2010 by Designer

Green Architecture deals with the design and construction of buildings that use less energy, water and natural resources, create less waste and are healthier for the people living inside. Such a building that is constructed using the principles of Green Architecture is termed as “Green Building”.

An Example of Green Building Architecture

Alien Space Station, Hyderabad, India

Location of a building is very important. It is located just next to the city’s IT hub, Financial sector, Hospitality services and the upcoming US consulate in Gachibowli, Hyderabad. Aliens Space Station is barely 3 Kms from the Outer Ring Road and 20 minutes drive from the new International Airport.

Case Study | LBHS College, Mumbai | Green Building Architecture

April 13, 2010 by Designer

LBHS is an architecture college situated in the suburbs of Mumbai, in India. It is a prime example of Green Building Architecture. The city of Bombay is a bit crowded, and as such, land is at a premium. So, the location provides enough space for expansion and providing sufficient infrastructure to students.

LBHS Mumbai - site plan — LBHS Mumbai - Site plan

This project is special because it has implemented many energy-saving devices and techniques to make it one of the first green building designs in India. From light sensors for auto-switching of lights, to water recycling, use of solar arrays and use of earth air tunnels, this project has done everything. It is a very interesting case study. The designers have aimed at developing an semi-autonomous building, almost self-sufficient building complex.

It is inferred that such buildings reduce environmental impacts, increase security, and lower costs of ownership.

Lantern Light | Architectural element of Roof lighting

March 4, 2010 by Designer

Before the introduction of plastic and fibre glass as material for rooflights, the majority of rooflights to flat roofs were constructed as lantern lights or deck lights which were framed in timber or steel and covered with glass.

A lantern light is constructed with glazed vertical sides and a hipped or gable-ended glazed roof. The vertical sides of the Lantern light are used as openings for ventilation.

Lantern lights were often used to cover considerable areas, the light being formed with substantial timbers or iron and steel frames in the form of a glazed roof to provide top light to large stairwells and large internal rooms. The traditional lantern light of timber or steel requires frequent or careful maintenance if it is to remain sound and watertight.

Theory of Built-up Sections

February 20, 2010 by Designer

A built-up beam is also known as compound beam.
The built-up beams are used when the span, load and corresponding bending moment are of such magnitudes that rolled steel beam section becomes inadequate to provide required section modulus.
Built-up beams are also used when rolled steel beams are inadequate for limited depth.
In building construction, the depth of beam is limited by a space provided by the architect.
Drawing beam of small depth do not provide required section modulus. Therefore, plates are attached to the beams.
The strength of rolled steel beams is increased by adding plates to its flange which is one of the method forming built-in section.
The other method is to compound a number of rolled steel sections themselves.

Built-up Section

The built-up sections shown in figure’ A’ and ‘B’ are used for heavy loads and small spans.

Various types of Roof trusses for various spans

February 6, 2010 by Designer

What is a Truss?

In Architecture and Structural Engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight slender members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes.
External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in forces in the members which are either tensile or compressive forces.
Moments (torsional forces) are explicitly excluded because, and only because, all the joints in a truss are treated as revolutes.

In this article, we are going to discuss the various types of roof trusses in wood and steel and their uses in various kinds of construction.

Different types of Wooden and Steel Roof Trusses:

King Post Truss
Queen Post Truss
Howe Truss
Pratt Truss
Fan Truss
North Light Roof Truss
Quadrangular Roof Truss

Trusses for large span constructions

King Post Truss

King Post Truss is a wooden truss.
It can also be built of combination of wood and steel.
It can be used for spans upto 8m.

Metal Lath Partitions | Metal Partitions

February 6, 2010 by Designer

Expanded-Metal Partition or Metal Lath Partition

Metal lath and plaster have been used in both residential and commercial applications to partition interior space and in non-load-bearing exterior walls where appearance and durability are key.

Rib lath

Rib lath is widely used as a plaster backing on ceilings,walls and stud partitions.
Rib Lath is also ideal for refurbishing damaged or aged masonry walls
Material: Galvanized Steel for dry conditions.
Stainless Steel for external use and condition of heavy condensation or persistent damp.

Column Bases | Design of Steel Structures

February 5, 2010 by Designer

Column bases are structural elements used in the design of steel structures to transfer the column load to the footings.

Types of Column bases

Slab base
Gusseted base

Slab Base

Slab bases are used where the columns have independent concrete pedestals. A thick steel base plate and two cleat angles connecting the flanges of the column to the base plate. In addition to these, web cleats are provided to connect the web of the column to the base plate. These web cleats guard against the possible dislocation of the column during erection. The ends of the column and also the base plate should be mechanized so that the column load is wholly transferred to the base plate.

Area of base plate= (load of column)/(permissible bearing stress in concrete)

Hollow Cement Block Partitions

February 4, 2010 by Designer

What are Hollow Cement Blocks?

Hollow and dense cement concrete blocks known as hollow blocks, have been developed as an alternative to bricks. The products are widely used in construction activity. They are lighter than bricks, easier to place and also confer economics in foundation cost and consumption of the cement. The hollow blocks are made of cement, stone chips, stone dust and sand are not onlycheaper than bricks but have other specialities as well. These blocks have more tensile strength, the walls constructed from these blocks act as thermal insulaters because of their hollowness.

These blocks find wide applicability and construction cost is largely reduced. It is also observed that there is good demand for housing activity among tribals. As the construction activity is growing day by day, there is a good demand for hollow and cement concrete bricks.

Tubular Steel Roof Truss | Trussed large span Constructions

January 20, 2010 by Designer

Tubular Steel roof trusses are used for large span constructions such as factories, industry worksheds, shopping malls, huge exhibition centres, multiplexes etc. They are generally used for spans as large as 25-30m.

There is a similar kind of a truss called “Tubular Steel Monitor Roof Truss“. There are projections on the roofs called “Monitors” to admit daylight into the space.

Tubular Steel Roof Truss

It is in two halves with bolted joints at P and Q, the remaining joints being 5mm fillet welds made in the workshop.
The main tie member rises 130mm from L to N to counteract any appearance of sag that would be evident if it were horizontal.
A bend a N reduces the midspan height to 2m so that the half truss is a manageable size for transportation.