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Construction Techniques

LSACan

Currently working on a project that involves the expansion of a primary school located in Leicester (East Midlands) We have been given a budget of £60k-£250k. Its a single storey structure with a mixture of flat and pitched roofs. A general cavity wall was my initial idea however I am not sure on what construction technique I should use. Wood frame? Steel frame e.t.c This construction technique needs to be sustainable and cheap.

 

I am a Architecture student at the Leicester School Of Architecture and I am working with 13 others students on a live project thus I am still inexperienced :) 

 

Thank you for your help 

 
Mar 1, 15 10:42 am

Consulting starts at $350/hr. plus expenses.

Mar 1, 15 11:04 am  · 
 · 
chigurh

In the US, there are specific construction/material requirements dictated by division of the state architect for schools.  Not sure if there is a similar set of rules for schools in the UK, but you should look into it.  Even if there is not, you can just look at a handful of similar projects to see what the precedent it, i.e. all schools are built out of cmu block, it is probably not the cheapest material or construction technique (framed walls) because they want to get some longevity out of the buildings and they have to stand up to some pretty heavy wear and tear. That is a low budget, even for a small project.....

Mar 1, 15 11:06 am  · 
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LSACan

Its a very difficult project to work with, the existing building has a 300mm cavity wall which is the average thickness of a Brick/Insulation/Block/Plasterboard wall in England. We wanted to keep the brick look of the existing building however we are expected to use a cheap construction method. In-situ concrete frames are being avoided as this project is a small scale project and hybrid concrete construction is obviously used for projects that are multiple storeys and need greater support. 

Thank you for the answer!

Mar 1, 15 11:20 am  · 
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Carrera

While code is where to start, strength of materials is a close second. The minimum size of a kindergarten classroom in California is 1,350 square feet, if square that's a roof/floor span of 36 feet, pretty hard to find wood that will span that far (not impossible) then when you span that far with anything it increases the loads on the walls making wood a difficult choice (again not impossible). You probably don't have kids but drywall is a bad choice for finish despite what I see everywhere in new schools lately... then there's money and by the time you run through all the alternatives all roads seem to lead back to CMU's, unfortunately.

Mar 1, 15 11:37 am  · 
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gruen

Miles, inflation!!!

My experience is from the US. I'm sure it' similar in the UK. 

The FIRST thing you need to resolve is the construction type of the existing building AND what it means for the allowed size of the building (the total building, including your addition) AND if you decide to switch construction type - if you would be required to have a separation between the existing building and the new one.

Here, this is all in the building code.

Generally, it's best to keep the same building type throughout. 

If I was doing an addition to a CMU / Brick cavity wall school, I'd probably be using CMU / brick cavity wall for the addition too. It's also important to match roof types as well. 

Is this always true? No. 

Is this always going to result in the best architectural solution? No. 

But it gets you started in terms of the basic technical requirements for the new building. 

Here, frequently schools are built from masonry exterior walls with steel joist (small trusses) roof with steel deck on top of the trusses. The exterior walls are bearing walls, and sometimes the interior (hallway) walls are also CMU bearing walls. This means that you have a fire rating for your bearing walls and that you DO have bearing walls (because you don't have steel columns and beams). 

Your roof may or may not be fire rated depending on the building type. A single story will usually not be fire rated. 

Hopefully this give you a bit more insight, at least as to what the issues are. 

Mar 1, 15 3:59 pm  · 
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LSACan

These answers are all incredibly useful, much appreciated. We are working in a very small area and are restricted to 130m2. Our brief consists of 1 Classroom, Kitchen, Office, Wet/Mess area, Cloakroom, Toilets, Storage rooms. The existing building is a typical old Victorian building, they have used the old fashioned masonry. Thank you!

Mar 1, 15 6:40 pm  · 
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