Table Of ContentSTRUCTURAL DESIGN
FOR ARCHITECTURE
ANGUS J MACDONALD
Structural Design for Architecture
Angus J. Macdonald
Architectural Press
Architectural Press
225 Wildwood Avenue, Woburn, MA 01801-204
An imprint of Butterworth-Heinemann
Linacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford 0X2 8DP
A division of Reed Educational and Professional Publishing Ltd
A member of the Reed Elsevier plc group
OXFORD BOSTON JOHANNESBURG
MELBOURNE NEW DELHI SINGAPORE
First published 1997
Reprinted 1998
© Reed Educational and Professional Publishing Ltd 1997
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Macdonald, Angus J.
Structural design for architecture
1. Architectural design 2. Structural design
1.Title
721
ISBN 0 7506 3090 6
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Macdonald, Angus, 1945-
Structural design for architecture/Angus J. Macdonald.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 7506 3090 6
1. Buildings. 2. Structural Design. 3. Architectural design.
1. Title.
TH846.M33 97-27237
624. 1'771-dc21 CIP
Composition by Scribe Design, Gillingham, Kent
Printed and bound in Great Britain
Contents
Foreword vii 4.3 A brief introduction to concrete
technology 118
Preface ix
4.4 Structural forms for reinforced concrete
Acknowledgements xi
130
1 Structure and architecture 1
5 Masonry structures 147
1.1 The role of structure in architecture 1
5.1 Introduction 147
1.2 Structural requirements 4
5.2 The architecture of masonry - factors
1.3 Structure types 5
which affect the decision to use
1.4 Structural materials 11
masonry as a structural material 147
1.5 Structural design 17
5.3 The basic forms of masonry structures
164
2 Structural design for architecture 22
2.1 Introduction 22
6 Timber structures 179
2.2 The relationship between structural
6.1 Introduction 179
design and architectural design 24
6.2 Timber and architecture 180
2.3 Selection of the generic type of
6.3 The material, its properties and
structure 34
characteristics 190
2.4 Selection of the structural material 40
6.4 Properties of timber 192
2.5 Determination of the form of the
6.5 Grading of timber 196
structure 41
6.6 Timber components 198
2.6 Conclusion 47
6.7 Structural forms for timber 215
3 Steel structures 49
Selected bibliography 233
3.1 Introduction 49
3.2 The architecture of steel - the factors Appendix 1: The relationship between
which affect the decision to select steel structural form and structural
as a structural material 49 efficiency 235
3.3 The properties and composition of
steel 61 Appendix 2: Approximate methods for
3.4 Structural steel products 63 allocating sizes to structural elements 239
3.5 Performance of steel in fire 72 A2.1 Introduction 239
3.6 Structural forms 73 A2.2 Structural analysis 239
A2.3 Element-sizing calculations 249
4 Reinforced concrete structures 99 A2.4 Steel structures 258
4.1 Introduction 99 A2.5 Reinforced concrete structures 262
4.2 The architecture of reinforced concrete - A2.6 Masonry structures 263
the factors which affect the decision to A2.7 Timber structures 263
select reinforced concrete as a
structural material 100 Index 265
V
Foreword
Angus Macdonald states that this book is symbolised and high tech (i.e. celebrated or
primarily for architects. In my view it is also an expressionist) is apt but contentious and could
extremely good reference book on architectural result in some lively discussion between
structures for students and practising architect and engineer,
structural engineers. The book then divides into sections on the
He stresses that buildings are designed as a major structural materials - steel, concrete,
collaborative task between architects and masonry and timber. Each of these sections
engineers and that the earlier in the design follows a similar pattern and includes
process this happens, the better the result. properties, advantages and disadvantages,
Current teaching ideas in many universities common structural forms, etc.
are, at last, acknowledging the benefits of joint Structural Design for Architecture is a
student working and it has certainly been my comprehensive and up-to-date work on the
experience that close working produces the relationship of structure to architecture and will
best product. form an extremely useful reference work for both
The early part of the book covers the history, students and practitioners of architecture and
technology and structural philosophy of engineering. I highly recommend it and look
numerous buildings and building types and forward to having a copy in our office library,
has a very comprehensive review of structural
systems with excellent examples of seminal
buildings and their structures. It also covers Professor Tony Hunt
the history of structural'material development. Chairman
The section on structure in relation to Anthony Hunt Associates
architecture: structure ignored, accepted, June 1997
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vii
is blank
Preface
The architect who considers him or herself to mine the maximum sizes of the internal spaces
be an artist, dealing through the medium of and its type affects the extent to which the
built form with the philosophical preoccupa- sizes and shapes of the spaces can be varied
tions of the age in which he or she lives, is both within an individual storey and between
surely engaged in a titanic struggle. One storeys.
aspect of that struggle is the need to deter- The relationship between structure and
mine building forms which are structurally architecture is therefore a fundamental aspect
viable. All artists must acquire mastery of the of the art of building. It sets up conflicts
technology of their chosen medium but few between the technical and aesthetic agendas
face difficulties which are as formidable as which the architect must resolve. The manner
those who choose buildings as their means of in which the resolution is carried out is one of
expression. The sculptor has to contend with the most testing criteria of the success of a
similar structural problems but his or her diffi- work of architecture.
culties are trivial by comparison with those of This book is concerned with structural
the architect. The difference is one of scale - design for architecture. It complements my
the size of a building, compared to that of a previous volume, Structure and Architecture, and
work of sculpture, means that the technical discusses the selection of structure type, the
hurdle which must be surmounted by the selection of structural material and the deter-
architect is of a different order of magnitude to mination of structural form. It deals primarily
those which are faced by most other artists. with the development of the idea of the struc-
The structure of a building is the armature ture for a building - that first stage in the
which preserves its integrity in response to structural design process which is concerned
load. It is a bulky object which is difficult to with the determination of the elementary form
conceal and which must somehow be incorp- and arrangement of the structure, before any
orated into the aesthetic programme. It must structural design calculations are made. It is
therefore be given a form, by the building's intended primarily for architects and it is
designer, which is compatible with other hoped that it will enable students and
aspects of the building's design. Several funda- members of the profession to gain a better
mental issues connected with the appearance understanding of the relationship between
of a building including its overall form, the structural design and architectural design. The
pattern of its fenestration, the general articula- basic structural layouts and approximate
tion of solid and void within it and even, pos- element sizes which are given in Chapters 3 to
sibly, the range and juxtaposition of the 6 should, however, also allow building design-
textures of its visible surfaces are affected by ers to use the book as an aid to the basic
the nature of its structure. The structure can planning of structural forms.
also influence programmatic aspects of a build-
ing's design because the capability of the struc-
Angus Macdonald
ture determines the pattern of internal spaces
Edinburgh
which is possible. Its span potential will deter-
July 1997
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Acknowledgements
1 would like to thank the many people who are due to all those who supplied illustrations
have assisted me in the making of this book. and especially to the Ove Arup Partnership,
These are too numerous for all to be George Balcombe, Sir Norman Foster and
mentioned individually, but special thanks are Partners, Paul H. Gleye, Pat Hunt, Tony Hunt,
due to the following: Stephen Gibson for his the late Alastair Hunter, Jill Hunter, Denys
excellent line drawings, the staff of Lasdun Peter Softley and Associates, Ewan and
Architectural Press for their hard work in Fiona McLachlan, Dr Rowland J. Mainstone and
producing the book, particularly Neil Warnock- the Maritime Trust. I am also grateful to the
Smith, Zoë Youd and Sarah Leatherbarrow. I British Standards Institution for permission to
would also like to thank the staff and students reproduce tables,
of the Department of Architecture at the Finally, I should like to thank my wife
University of Edinburgh for the many helpful Patricia Macdonald for her encouragement and
discussions which I have had with them on the support and for her valuable contributions to
topics covered in this book. the preparation of the manuscript and
Illustrations, other than those illustrations,
commissioned especially for the book, are
individually credited in their captions. Thanks Angus Macdonald
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Chapter 1
Structure and architecture
1.1 The role of structure in particular, with the question of the structural
architecture support which must be provided for a building
in order that it can maintain its shape and
The final form which is adopted for a work of integrity in the physical world. The role of the
architecture is influenced by many factors building as an aesthetic object, often imbued
ranging from the ideological to the severely with symbolic meaning, is, however, also
practical. This book is concerned principally central to the argument of the book; one
with the building as a physical object and, in strand of this argument considers that the
Fig. 1.1 Offices, Dufour's
Place, London, England,
1984. Erith and Terry, archi-
tects. As well as having a
space-enclosing function the
external walls of this build-
ing are the loadbearing
elements which carry the
weights of the floors and
roof. [Photo: E. & F.
McLachlan]
Structural Design for Architecture
Fig. 1.2 Crown Hall, 1IT, Chicago, USA, 1952-56. Ludwig basic carcass of the building - the armature to
Mies van der Rohe, architect. This building has a steel-
which all non-structural elements are attached.
frame structure. The glass walls are entirely non-structural.
The visual treatment of structure can be
subject to much variation. The structural
contribution of the structure to the achieve- system of a building can be given great prom-
ment of higher architectural objectives is inence and be made to form an important part
always crucial. Technical issues are accordingly of the architectural vocabulary (Fig. 1.3). At the
considered here within a wider agenda which other extreme, its presence can be visually
encompasses considerations other than those played down with the structural elements
of practicality. contributing little to the appearance of the
The relationship between the structural and building (Fig. 1.4). Between these extremes lies
the non-structural parts of a building may vary an infinite variety of possibilities (see Section
widely. In some buildings the space-enclosing 2.2). In all cases, however, the structure, by
elements - the walls, floors and roof - are also virtue of the significant volume which it
structural elements, capable of resisting and occupies in a building, affects its visual charac-
conducting load (Fig. 1.1). In others, such as ter to some extent and it does so even if it is
buildings with large areas of glazing on the not directly visible. No matter how the struc-
exterior walls, the structure can be entirely ture is treated visually, however, the need for
separate from the space-enclosing elements technical requirements to be satisfied must
(Fig. 1.2). In all cases the structure forms the always be acknowledged. Structural constraints
Structure and architecture
Fig. 1.3 HongkongBank
Headquarters, Hong Kong,
1979-84. Foster Associates,
architects. The structure of
this building is expressed
prominently both on the
exterior and in the interior.
It contributes directly as
well as indirectly to the
appearance of the building.
[Photo: Ian Lambot.
Copyright: Foster &
Partners ]
Fig. 1.4 Staatsgalerie,
Stuttgart, Germany,
1980-83, lames Stirling,
architect. This building has
a reinforced concrete struc-
ture and non-structural
cladding. Although the
structure plays a vital role
in the creation of the
complex overall form it is
not a significant element in
the visual vocabulary.
[Photo: P. Macdonald]
