Glenn KatzYour Design Journal entries this week should highlight your design thinking that influenced your decisions about:
- your overall strategy and the features of the structural system
- the material and framing system selected
- the locations of structural columns and major framing elements
- any special structural challenges
Shown above is the 3D illustration of the structural model. The structural model is able to best reflect the feature of using modular construction on this building. To achieve the goal of at least 90% modularity, the smallest modular unit for assembly is the triangular unit shown below.
Once the smallest modular unit is determined, the rest of the area in the building can be separated by the modular unit and subsequently determine the depiction of the grid lines. However, for specific locations of the building such as the stairwells and the outdoor terrace cannot be divided using this modular unit and will need to be considered separately.
For example, the floor area on the first level can be divided into different geometries as shown below:
Additionally, viewing in 3D, each of the modular unit is a triangular cylinder, therefore, the beam layout on the current floor has to align with the one on the floor above to meet the logical consistency of modular construction.
The location of the columns as well as the beam systems are shown below.
Level 1:
Level 2:
Level 3:
Level 4:
Level 5:
Types used:
For the structural columns, I choose W10x49.
For the beams, I choose W14x30.
The location of the footings are shown below:
It is worth mentioning that using modular construction enables the beam/columns to be concealed within this modular unit so that it does not interfere with the HVAC system installation and beneficial to the aesthetic aspect of the building.
Modularity:
Here is an illustration to showcase the assembly/connection between standard modular units.
Structural Challenges:
- Since the modular construction does not advocate having large elements as the standard modular unit, the building needs to be essentially segmented into several pieces, this will create some inconvenience when it comes to knitting beam systems to each unit. Fortunately, Revit can detect the boundary of each modular unit, which made life much easier.
- As previously mentioned, some locations cannot be represented using the triangular modular unit and they need to be considered using standard construction method or as a larger/odd-shaped modular unit.
