newspaper article-constuction methods

Built to last: construction methods are changing so that our homes won’t cost the earth

Reporting on a domestic eco-revolution

By Gareth Chadwick
Saturday, 31 May 2008

Flower power: an artist's impression of The Orchid, an eco-house in the Cotswolds, recently sold for £7.2m [PA]

article on steel construction

Steel Helps Builders On Queensland's Sloping Sites
06 May 2008

Due to an increasing shortage of flat land, builders and developers in south east Queensland are using steel to encourage construction on sloping sites that were previously overlooked and considered too expensive to build on.
One local building company that is embracing this opportunity, Aurora Construction, is building on sloping sites at two new developments, Coomera Waters in the northern Gold Coast region and Edenbrooke Estate in Brisbane's western suburbs.
Patrick Brodie, owner of Aurora Construction, explains: "Flat land is very hard to find in areas close to the city in south east Queensland, so we are now seeing an exciting new approach to sloping sites that were previously thought too difficult to build upon."
"Steel foundations and framing are ideal to use on a sloping site as they eliminate the need to cut and fill the area, which in turn prevents erosion and enables the home to be designed to run with the natural contour of the land. They also allow for natural ventilation underneath the house which assists with cooling in the warmer south east Queensland climate."
"As a result of this, we have chosen to use steel Mega Anchor footing systems and steel house framing made from TRUECORE® steel on all of our new developments."

Building with steel gives builders and designers greater flexibility of design, allowing houses to be built on previously unpopular steep sites incorporating up to five levels in height and with plenty of space underneath to fit additional rooms and a rainwater tank. Also, steel is easy to use onsite as it is lightweight and prefabricated.Once the house frames have been completed, each home at the two estates will be topped by a roof made from COLORBOND® steel. Patrick adds: "I have been building with COLORBOND® steel for over 20 years now and wouldn't use any other material for a roof. It is strong and durable and incredibly efficient at collecting drinkable rainwater. As an environmentally friendly builder, there really is no other option."

For further information about Aurora Construction, visit www.auroraconstruction.com.au.

The Age Article

Keep construction sector watchdog: MBA
May 23, 2008 -

The proposed abolition of a commission set up to enforce workplace laws in the construction industry would see a "return to the dark ages of militant unionism", the Master Builders Association of NSW (MBA NSW) says.
The Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) was set up by the Howard government in 2005 and given powers to enforce workplace laws in the building and construction industry.
Workers can be questioned about union meetings and face a range of fines for breaches identified by the ABCC.
The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), the Australian Workers' Union (AWU), Electrical Trades Union (ETU) and the Plumbers Union launched a joint national campaign earlier this month to abolish the ABCC.
However, the MBA NSW says it is important not to confuse the ABCC with the unpopular Work Choices legislation, saying the commission's purpose is to try to improve conditions for workers.
"We need to be very clear about this - the laws governing the building and construction industry were not plucked from thin air and are not part of Work Choices," MBA NSW executive director Brian Seidler said in a statement.
"They are the direct product of a royal commission, which found an established culture of violence, intimidation and thuggery on worksites.
"Since its introduction in 2005, the ABCC has been responsible for an enormous boost in productivity and a significant drop in industrial disputes.
"If the ABCC and the laws that it enforces are abolished, we'd almost definitely see a return to the dark ages of militant unionism on building sites.
"This would result in delays on major infrastructure projects and the cost of these jobs would skyrocket."
© 2008 AAPBrought to you by The AGE
http://news.theage.com.au/national/keep-construction-sector-watchdog-mba-20080523-2hg2.html

concrete floor

i was fortunate to pass by a site whre a concrete floor was being poured on!!

newspaper article, timber frame construction

Mother Earth News
www.motherearthnews.com.au

by Rob Roy

Many natural building methods — such as straw bale, cord wood masonry and cob building — benefit from timber-frame construction primarily because these methods can involve infilling between the timbers that make up the building’s structural framework. Unlike conventional 2-by-4 stick framing, the center-to-center spacing of timber-frame posts is somewhere between 6 and 10 feet. This makes infilling much less tedious; imagine trying to fill the narrow spaces in regular stick construction with cord wood masonry or straw bales.

Also, there is a great practical advantage in erecting a timber frame first — getting the roof on as a protective umbrella, and then infilling the structure using one or more of these natural building methods.

Yes, you can accomplish all this with “traditional” wood-on-wood — such as mortise-and-tenon and dovetail — joining methods. But these methods require intricate cuts and exact measurements, and to do it right, a great deal of time and study must be expended, and there are a few specialized tools that need to be purchased. The reality is that most farmers, contractors and owner-builders use methods of timber framing (also called post-and-beam) that they have simply picked up from colleagues, relatives or neighbors. With the advent of relatively inexpensive mechanical fasteners, most builders — contractors and owner-builders alike — rely on other methods of joining, using truss plates, screws and bolts, pole-barn nails and even gravity (see illustration, Page 89).

TIMBER FRAMING ADVANTAGES

Whether you go with traditional timber framing or (modern) “timber framing for the rest of us,” you will discover certain advantages and disadvantages in both systems.

• Strength. Timber framing by either method is strong in real structural terms. Heavy-timber frames, with or without infilling, are more resistant to trauma from earthquakes, wind uplift and heavy snow load than light-frame construction.

• Conducive to infilling. Heavy-timber framing is more appropriate than stick framing for infilling with natural building techniques. With infilling, it is not critical that exact spacing be left between vertical studs or posts; masonry and cob can fit any space, and straw bales can be made to fit almost any width of space.

• Esthetic appeal. With many of the contemporary timber-frame houses, structural insulated panels (SIPS) are fastened to the outside of the frame, and the beautiful heavy timbers are exposed on the interior. On some cordwood homes, the heavy timbers are in evidence on the exterior, but not on the interior. In all cases, the exposed timbers lend character, texture and an esthetic sense of strength. All of this translates into comfort — spiritual and otherwise.

further reaserch-SAISBBURY CENTRE

The Sainsbury Centre is much more than a conventional gallery, where the emphasis is on art in isolation. Instead, it integrates a number of related activities within a single, light-filled space.

The building itself brought a new level of refinement to the practices early explorations into lightweight, flexible structures. Structural and service elements are contained within the double-layer walls and roof. Within this shell is a free-flowing sequence of spaces that incorporates a conservatory reception area, coffee bar, exhibition areas, the Faculty of Fine Art, senior common rooms and a restaurant. Full-height windows at either end of the structure allow the surrounding landscape to form a backdrop to the exhibition and dining areas, while aluminum louvers, linked to light sensors, line the interior to provide an infinitely flexible system for the control of natural and artificial light. Large enough to display the Sainsburys extraordinary collection, yet designed to be intimate and inviting, the main gallery space extends the spirit of the collections originally domestic setting.

the Centre has far greater flexibility in its programming. The new wing extends the building at basement level, exploiting the natural contours of the site to emerge naturally in the form of a glazed crescent incised into the grassy bank. In 2004 a further pro gramme of improvements was initiated to provide additional display space, an internal link between the main and Crescent Wing galleries, improved shop, cafeteria and other visitor facilities, and a new education centre.

BlueScope Steel

After guest speaker came i was interested about learning more about Bluescope and so i visited their website! it is well worth the visit for any of you who haven't done so already!

Bluescope Steel product range includes Steel Plate, Sheet and Coil, Reinforcing Fabric, Bar and Building Products, Merchant Bar, Structural Steel, Tubular, Engineering Steel and Aluminium products.

major project reserch

My Group has decided to use Norman Foster as our hero architect, we found much of this work to be much in sync with the long plan commercial construction that has been a major focus of study in this unit.


Norman Foster was born in Manchester in 1935. After graduating from Manchester University School of Architecture and City Planning in 1961 he won a Henry Fellowship to Yale University, where he gained a Master’s Degree in Architecture.

He is the founder and chairman of Foster + Partners. Founded in London in 1967, it is now a worldwide practice, with project offices in more than twenty countries. Over the past four decades the company has been responsible for a strikingly wide range of work, from urban masterplans, public infrastructure, airports, civic and cultural buildings, offices and workplaces to private houses and product design. Since its inception, the practice has received 470 awards and citations for excellence and has won more than 86 international and national competitions.

Current and recent work includes the largest single building on the planet, Beijing Airport, the redevelopment of Dresden Railway Station, Millau Viaduct in France, the Swiss Re tower and the Great Court at the British Museum in London, an entire University Campus for Petronas in Malaysia, the Hearst Headquarters tower in New York, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington and research centres at Stanford University, California.

He became the 21st Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate in 1999 and was awarded the Praemium Imperiale Award for Architecture in 2002. He has been awarded the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Architecture (1994), the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture (1983), and the Gold Medal of the French Academy of Architecture (1991). In 1990 he was granted a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, and in 1999 was honoured with a Life Peerage, becoming Lord Foster of Thames Bank.

www.fosterandpartners.com


The particular building that we have chosen to study and draw our inspiration from is the Sainsbury Centre of Visual Arts.