Creating the Built Environment

The Practicalities of Designing, Constructing and Owning Buildings

Leslie Holes

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• Print ISBN:
  9780419208204
• eBook ISBN:
  9781135818241
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture Design

We spend most of our lives in buildings and almost every building is unique. The purpose of this book is to explain what buildings are and to provide an integrated overview of how they are built and sustained.
The book does not presume any specialist knowledge of buildings, seeking instead to explain why the different groups involved in designing, constructing, managing and occupying them follow certain procedures. It is particularly concerned with the generation and circulation of information between these groups. In taking this view, the book considers the recommendations of Sir Michael Latham's 1994 report Constructing the Team which called for better cohesion and communication between specialists in the construction industry.

PART ONE
Our Built Environments

INTRODUCTION

Part One is intended to expand the reader’s appreciation of what buildings are and how they are constructed. It starts by considering the qualities of the room the reader is in, and goes on to consider how such qualities are achieved in both new and older buildings.

We spend most of our lives in buildings, and can learn much about them just by looking. Although we can only see the surfaces of many of their materials, an appreciation of their thicknesses and purposes will enable us to visualize their internal detail. Watching their demolition from the street can also be revealing. Construction text books will show details of the parts of buildings and how they go together, but they are only an expression of the real thing. You do not have to be able to draw such details yourself before you can understand them.

Construction details can also be learned by visiting building sites, but do this only with the permission of those in charge, and wear a hard hat when requested. Few direct references are made to the UK’s current Building Regulations, but many matters in their Approved Documents are touched upon to create an awareness of their likely influence.

CONTENTS

1. Chapter 1 The internal environment Readers are invited to consider the qualities of the rooms and other spaces in the building they are in, and their reactions to them. Alternative ways in which the surfaces of the constructions that enclose these spaces can be given attractive and durable finishes are then described, and followed by descriptions of different kinds of doorways and windows. Readers are encouraged to look for examples. The internal circulation system, including staircases and lifts and means of escape in case of fire, and its importance to both occupants and visitors, is discussed. The features of sanitary accommodation, their water supplies and their drainage are outlined, together with those of heating and electrical systems.
2. Chapter 2 The external environment is mainly concerned with those parts of a building that are visible from the outside, and with their materials and the technology involved. These parts include sloping and flat roof coverings of various kinds, and the surfaces of external walls and their applied finishes. External works, including gravity drainage systems, are outlined. Some of the characteristics of the natural and the built environment are introduced, including vernacular and other building styles.
3. Chapter 3 The building structure Pitched and flat roof structures, floors, walls and foundations are considered in some detail, open frameworks being distinguished from continuous masonry and concrete structures. Emphasis is placed on strength, stability, dimensional stability and continuity. The soils to be found on a building site and the use of bench mark levels are introduced.
4. Chapter 4 Improving our built environments Various ways in which buildings are becoming more ‘hi-tech’ are introduced. They include improving weathertightness, dealing with condensation, improving thermal insulation, reducing sound transmittance and improving fire resistance. We are also concerned with the health and safety of operatives and occupiers, with security, and with the buildability, durability, resistance to wear, energy efficiency and other economic aspects of buildings.
5. Chapter 5 Construction products The various types of building materials (or ‘construction products’ as we shall be calling them) are introduced. Each type of product that can provide a part of a building with its required qualities will have others associated with it, e.g. wood flooring and flooring nails. Such sets are associated in a classification system that is used throughout the book. Most of the chapter is taken up with examples of such sets. Readers should take every opportunity to look at the displays at builders’merchants and DIY stores and to collect and study manufacturers’ catalogues.

1
The internal environment

A building is a space surrounded by bricks (Elizabeth Holes)

Buildings are built for people to use. Although we all enjoy being out of doors when the weather is kind, the quality of our lives depends on the artificial environments that past and present members of our communities have built and maintained over the years.

Almost all our buildings are unique, even if they differ from others only in their foundations or the colours of their paintwork. Fortunately for us, though, they are all likely to consist of the same kinds of parts. You will already be familiar with many of these, and will know their names and where they are to be found in a building.

The occupiers of a building are interested primarily in the qualities of the space they are in, and they are likely to take the construction of the building for granted. In contrast, those engaged in constructing a building may show little interest in the qualities of the interior spaces they are working to achieve.

Of course, we cannot have one without the other. Even so, in response to my question ‘what is a building?’, Elizabeth (see above) was right to put the spaces first as these are the purpose for which we build. When wishing to refer generally to these spaces, we shall call them either rooms etc. or internal spaces. The overall space within the external walls, i.e. the internal spaces and the floors and internal walls between them, we shall call the building space. The purposes of an internal space will include the following:

1. to provide sufficient space of a suitable shape for its designated activities to take place and for related objects to be accommodated;
2. to provide an environment that is safe and comfortable to the senses;
3. to complement the purposes of other internal spaces.

1.1
WHAT ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITIES SHOULD WE EXPECT?

We begin with some questions that could be asked about almost any building and any design. Initially, we shall assume you will be thinking about the building you are in at present. However, you should also take every opportunity to look for answers to these questions when in other buildings.

THE ROOM YOU ARE IN

Assuming that you are dressed normally for the time of the year, and that you have been sitting down for some time, are you comfortable? How satisfactory are the following:

the temperature, humidity, purity and movement of the air;
the visual quality of your surroundings including the ceiling and wall decoration;
the quality of the natural and artificial lighting including the natural light reflected to the back of the space by the ceiling and wall decoration;
the noise level—can you concentrate, or are you being distracted by, for example, the activities of other people, the operating of equipment in the room, the sounds of music, doors banging, raised voices, plumbing, or other noises elsewhere in the building?
the furniture; and
the amount of space around you? Normally, you should feel free to move without much constraint. Contrast this with how you feel when seated in a theatre.

Do you feel safe? Are you sure that:

you can control your immediate environment, e.g. by using radiator valves, electric switches, curtains, door and window locks, and by opening or closing windows;
the building will keep out unwanted visitors, animals, birds and insects (contrast this with how you might feel in a tent);
harmful gases are not being emitted from any part of the building, nor from the ground below;
the equipment in the building is functioning properly and is not polluting the internal environment in any way;
the building is structurally sound, is weathertight, and will resist fires;
you will be warned if there is a fire, you will be protected from smoke and you will be able to escape safely to the outside;
the floor is level but not too smooth;
you will not injure yourself by accidentally breaking an area of glass, perhaps not realizing it was there;
you know where the sanitary accommodation, refreshment and other facilities are;
you can move round the building with safety;
you can find your way easily?

Now, consider the room itself.

What is its purpose? Usually we can sum up the purposes of a room or other space by stating its generic name, i.e. the name we give to all those rooms that have those purposes, e.g. library, office, bedroom.
What facilities does it offer, e.g. desk, chairs, washbasin, electric lighting and power points, windows that open? Are these adequate and suitably placed?
Is the room big enough or too large for its purpose?
Is it a lofty room, or is the ceiling rather too close to your head?
Are its length and breadth in proportion?
Which way do the windows face, and is the penetration of natural light sufficient?
When the sun shines, is the contrast in light intensity sufficient to cause discomfort? Can this glare be regulated by curtains or blinds? Do some of the light fittings also cause glare?
Is the doorway suitably placed and does the door open back against the wall?
Would any of the contents burn and produce smoke?

THE REST OF THE BUILDING

What are your impressions of the rest of the building? That is:

What do you think of the finishes to the ceilings, walls, and floors, the lighting level, temperature, noise level, smell, security, and standard of cleanliness?
Do you feel the owner cares for the property and is looking after it properly?
Do you feel the owner is concerned for your well-being? For instance, are there smoke alarms; are fire doors shut or wedged open; are fire exit routes clearly marked; are fire extinguishers provided; is there an emergency lighting system?
How legible and helpful are the direction signs (if any), and is it easy to find your way to where you want to go?
Can stairs be ascended and descended easily, or do they have tapered treads, i.e. ‘winders’. How will a person in a wheelchair manage?
Can you see any structural cracking?

1.2
THE INTERNAL FINISHES

From your chair you will see the surfaces of the ceiling above your head, the sides of the walls, and the top of the floor. Usually, these will be the surfaces of materials that have been applied to the structural parts of the building to provide attractive, light-reflecting, easily cleaned and durable surfaces. Collectively, they are called the internal finishes. The finished surface of a floor and the steps of a staircase should be level and safe to walk on. Some floor finishes are also required to be warm and quiet in use although in hot climates it may be more important for them to be cool to the touch. Only occasionally will the surface of the structure be visible, and then it may be painted or otherwise decorated.

We take for granted that the surfaces will be continuous, will exclude smoke and creepy-crawlies, and will give time for occupiers to leave in case of a fire. We should also be able to take for granted that the materials used for a finish will not:

1. contribute heat to a fire;
2. allow flame to spread across its exposed face; and
3. allow flame to spread across its inner face where it is exposed within the structure.

Most finishes are likely to consist of a surface finish and its base. We can regard each as a distinct part of the building. Each will have a different purpose and be constructed by different workpeople with different skills, e.g. by painters and plasterers. They will be the result of disti...

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• PREFACE
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• PART ONE OUR BUILT ENVIRONMENTS
• PART TWO DESIGN
• PART THREE CONSTRUCTION
• PART FOUR THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
• APPENDIX A GLOSSARY
• APPENDIX B OPERATIVE PROCESSES AND PERFORMANCE RATES