Finished and handed in!

Santiago Calatrava

I found this interesting article which sums up much of what makes him such a unique architect, I found it at: http://www.esquire.com/blogs/cube/santiago-calatrava-video

Santiago Calatrava has devoted his career to bridging the gap between structural engineering and architecture, bringing artistic flair to functional civic buildings. Already well-respected in Europe for his train stations, airports, and bridges, Calatrava is moving to the forefront of American architecture with several major U.S. projects. His first U.S. building was an addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum. The dynamic white structure, whose winglike roof opens and closes twice daily, has become as much a draw as the artwork inside. In 2003, Calatrava was selected to design the $2.2 billion transportation hub at the World Trade Center site. (Like many aspects of the WTC site, his original designs have been scaled back for budgetary reasons.) He is also working on residential buildings in New York and Chicago, including the Chicago Spire, which will be the tallest building in North America when it’s completed in 2011.

Much of Calatrava's work begins in his paintings or sculptures. He is as heavily influenced by the natural world—a venus flytrap, the human eye—as by his background in engineering, and he also leaves cables and other structural elements exposed. Trained as an architect in Spain, he moved to Switzerland in 1973 and earn a Ph.D. in civil engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. In 2005, Calatrava won the Gold Medal, the American Institute of Architects’ highest honor.

model in progress

The model detail I'm working on is of a section through the floor on a two storey office building. It includes, a suspended ceiling, bondex slab, I-beams and glass paneling.

Stamped Concrete Videos Decorative Concrete Video

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ8Sf46gTdM

Two storey office block- section at column (tute 6)

This is obviously late being put up but I've had difficulties uploading it.

Major Assignment research

A part of my detail included a suspended ceiling, however I was unsure how it should appear so I searched on the net. I came across this website: http://www.armstrong-aust.com.au/commclgpac/aus/ep/au/grid_browse_category_form.content. It was difficult to find exactly how they should look in detail but I realised there are different ways that it can be achieved such as framing or small steel bars. The use of bars is the type I decided to use for the major assignment.

Termites? Earthquakes? Mold? No Problem with a Steel Frame

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9iaiEWDuKk#

Burning issue for structural steel

Edit:Rakic, John Steel Australia, December 2007, vol.20, no.4, Burning issue for structural steel, pg 34

Major Assignment- Calatrava

Together with Ray and Rafia we have been looking at Calatrava as inspiration for the major assignment. He is a new architect to me but his designs are incredible. One of the main aspects to his designs is that all components have a structural purpose despite how aesthetically pleasing they look, due to his background in engineering. This is a major point to remember when designing our own warehouse.
Some of the buildings of Calatrava's we looked at include:


Liege Guillemins TGV station

BCE place- this was a building that i liked a lot
but it wasn't practicle as there would be too many columns in what should be free space in a warehouse.



Lyon Airport station- this is the design we are workin off. Love the combination of the roof style and the wall angle, also there is a large open space on the inside perfect for a warehouse.

Concrete Elegance

Edit: Article location- Concrete Society, December 2007/ January 2008, vol 41., no. 11.

Deakin waterfront extensions

Originally the buildings levels were 3m floor to floor which is not adequate therefor the floors had to be moved. They were lifted and are now 3.6m floor to floor, after services are put in the ceiling height is 2.7m.

Steel bracing is used to tie the building together. One particular example of this is tieing the pre-cast lift core to the rest of the building. The image below is an example.

Both steel and timber studs are used in the building. Where timber is used often steel nogging is used where something is going to be hung on the wall when finished, this means that some foresight is needed.

In the images below and above it is obvious to see that the steel columns are painted white. This gives it a fire rating, otherwise two layers of fire deck plaster would've needed to be used. The idea is that the paint won't absorb the heat.

The props, as seen in the next two images, remain until the building is tied together, then it will have natural stability.



Edit: photos taken April 28

The Herald Sun (April 27)- $150 Million Facelift

Brauer College development

This is a new development in the grounds of Brauer College in Warrnambool, situated on Caramut road. Unfortunately I wasn't home to capture when the pre-cast panels went up in the background but was able to take photos of the portal frame.

This building is a new technical college in the Brauer grounds and has been made from two different types of commercial building practices. I'd assume the use of pre-cast panels and a steel portal frame is to differentiate two areas that will have different uses. I'd suggest that the portal frame is the area for classrooms whilst the panels are where workshops will be held.

Edit: These pictures were taken on April 27

TAC building- Brougham Street

In the above image the falsework is visibly supporting the framework.



The above two images are of a concrete column being lifted into place by a crane. As it got closer to it's position three men arrived to try and line it up, a difficult process I would imagine.

Edit: These photos were taken on April 23rd

Construction site

This is a site down Gordon Avenue, it's made of pre-cast concrete panels. In the detail pictures the propping is evident, two per panel. These resist the wind loads and also the construction loads. The props are then connected to cast in inserts.

Pre-cast concrete panel-end wall (tute 5)

pre-cast concrete panel (tute 4)

geelong carousel

end wall section of a steel portal frame (tute 3)

As far as steel framing goes, the portal frame is the most common. The load is shared across the frame but isn't absorbed into the structure, instead all loads are transferred to the footing.

One of the great advantages of portal framing is that it can span long distances, (15-45m), therefore a building can have large open spaces without the interference of columns.

At times of great development it is somewhat surprising that portal frame sizes are governed by the size of the truck transporting them. If the frames are too large then consideration would have to be given to special transporting or additional field splices. Problems come with using field splices though because these joints weaken the overall beam. To counter this they are usually placed as close as possible to a dead load.

my first entry- visit to a commercial building

My chosen building is the The Arc at Warrnambool. It plays host to netball, basketball, volleyball, the occasional concert and more. It was opened in 2001 on July 16 and is situated on Caramut Road. Currently I haven't been able to find the architect or builders involved but when I do they'll be posted.