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STRUCTURAL 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 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (including photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright holder except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, England W1P 9HE. Applications for the copyright holder's written permission to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the publishers. 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 Previous page 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 building'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 Previous page ix is blank 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 Previous page xi is blank 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, architects. As well as having a space-enclosing function the external walls of this building 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 structure 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]