Why is it important to accurately model the land features of your project site with a toposurface?
- What aspects of a building design are most affected by the terrain features?
Accurate modeling of a site’s land features helps ensure that engineered parts of the building such as the retaining walls are constructed appropriately in order to combat some of the lateral forces applied by surrounding soils. From a design perspective, it is important to build with the surroundings in mind because it allows project members to visualize the best opportunities for new development in comparison to those options which might be more costly.
When designing a project...
- Should the building adapt to the terrain?
- Or, should you adapt the terrain to the building?
As with many aspects of construction, a cost and energy efficient building typically means these two are adapted to each other. Adapting the terrain to a building is not always sustainable, especially on a hillside particularly susceptible to erosion. In such cases, foundations and tiebacks can only go so far before becoming too expensive. On the other hand, completely adapting a building to the terrain might compromise the owner’s goals for the project. This can ultimately affect the livability of a structure, its practicality, or other aspects important to a habitable building.
What are the advantages of stacking the levels of a multi-story building vertically?
- Can you share an interesting example of a building that doesn’t vertically stack (where the floor plates change their shaped radically between the floor levels)?
- What were the advantages or reasons for non-vertical stacking?
Stacking levels for a multi-story building can allow for efficient wall designs and construction processes. Among these methods are the extension of steel members across levels which help reinforce the building in cost-effective manner. This also often helps make fire escape and engineered fire protection measures more easily implementable into the building. However, a non-vertically stacked building has the potential for neat, decentralized HVAC systems potentially more capable of energy efficiency than their vertically stacked counterparts. The unique non-vertically stacked slabs also allow the designer and owner to very tangibly create different spaces to have different uses. Herzog & de Meuron’s VitraHaus in Germany strove for these goals while simultaneously aiming to optimize natural sunlight input.
Why do stairs follow specific proportions with a set relationship between the tread length and riser height?
- How can building modeling help prevent the mistakes that often occur when designing and installing stairs?