BUILDING CONSTRUCTION - IV

MISCELLENOUS TOPICS
 LANTERN
LIGHT
Before the introduction of
plastic and fibre glass as
material for rooflights, the
majority of rooflights to flat
roofs were constructed as
lantern lights or deck lights
which were framed in timber
or steel and covered with
glass.
• It is constructed with glazed vertical sides and a hipped or
gable-ended glazed roof.
• They are used as openings for ventilation.
• Often used to cover considerable areas, the light being formed
with substantial timbers or iron and steel frames in form of a
glazed roof to provide top light to large stairwells and large
internal rooms.
• It remains frequent maintenance if it is to remain sound and
watertight.
• Effectively used in small factories and large halls where large
number of people work together.
• Advantage of lantern light is the facility of ventilation from the
opening upstand sides that can be controlled by cord or
without gear from below to suit the occupants needs or
space.
• They look similar to dormer windows. But dormer windows
are constructed on the sides of pitched roofs, whereas lantern
lights/roofs are constructed over flat roofs.
DOME LIGHT
• Dome light evolved after the Lantern light construction in
which the transparent material used was glass.
• The advantage of the square and rectangular base roof light is
that they require straight forward trimming of the roof
structure around openings and upstands and flashings to
curbs as compared to the more complicated trimming and
flushings around the circular base of dome lights.
• One of the commonly used roof-light is the rectangular base
dome light, which can be formed in one piece or made up in
sections and joined with glazing bars to cover large openings.
• The advantages of these lights are that they are economical to
manufacture and fix, are light weight and have adequate
strength and stiffen from the curved shape of the light.
• The round base dome light is more expensive to construct
than a square base light because of the additional labor
involved in trimming a round opening in a roof.
• Dome lights were preferred over lantern lights because of
economy in first cost and freedom from maintenance.
 MONITOR
ROOF
A monitor in architecture is a
raised structure running along
the ridge of a double-
pitched roof, with its
ownroof running parallel with
the main roof. The long sides
of monitors usually contain
clerestory windows or louvers
to light or ventilate the area
under the roof.
• These roof monitors allowed
sunlight into the 2-story
building through vertical south-
facing glass, which was then
controlled by the calculated
placement of baffles so that
direct sunlight was never a
problem.
• The monitors were about 15' on
a side and sloped down from a
7' high point. There were open
areas in the second floor to • Advantages: The four-way slope
allow sunlight to reach the first makes it much more stable than
floor. other roofing types, and allows
water and snow to run off with
• This project was built in 1997 by
ease. ...
Dutch-owned candy company
who had taken on the challenge • Disadvantages: Hip roofs are
of becoming sustainable by more complex than flat or
2004. (They were bought by an gable roofs, making the odds of
Italian candy company before failure a bit higher. They can also
achieving the goal.) be a tad more expensive
GEODESIC
PRINCIPLES
• A geodesic dome is a
spherical building in which
the supporting structure is
a lattice of
interconnecting
tetrahedrons
(a pyramid with three
sides and a base)
• A convexly curved surface is
stronger than a flat one.
• Most materials are stronger
in tension than in
compression.
• Geodesic spheres and domes
come in various frequencies.
The frequency of a dome
relates to the number of
smaller triangles into which
it is subdivided. A high
frequency dome has more
triangular components and is
more smoothly curved and
sphere-like.
Eden Project
ARCHITECT: NICHOLAS GRIMSHAW
YEAR:1996-2000
LOCATION: CORNWALL, ENGLAND
• Largest botanical
garden in the
world.
• Uses a highly
innovative
technology to
create different
climates
• Domes are formed by a
structure of galvanized
steel pipes of various sizes.
• The tubes have a high
resistance despite its light
weight and form a series of
hexagons, pentagons and
triangles of various sizes.
• The structure is completely
free of internal support. It
is a very efficient structural
design as it provides
maximum strength of steel
with a minimum and
maximum volume with
minimal surface.
The Eden Project's
domes are covered in
EFTE
(ethyltetrafluoroethylen
e) foil, a polymer that
offers good corrosion
resistance and excellent
performance when
exposed to high
temperatures. The
triple-layered
transparent surface
allows daylight to heat
the interior spaces and
then insulates them,
maintaining the stable
temperature that the
plants inside need.
PORTAL FRAMES
• Portal frames are a type of
structural frame, that, in their
simplest form, are characterized
by a beam (or rafter) supported
at either end by columns,
however, the joints between
the beam and columns are 'rigid'
so that the bending moment in
the beam is transferred to
the columns. This means that
the beam can be reduced in
sectional size and can span large
distances. Typically, the joint
between the beam and
the columns is made 'rigid' by
the addition of a haunch,
bracket, or by a deepening of
the section at the joints
• Portal frames were first
developed during the Second
World War and became popular
in the 1960's. They are now
commonly used to create wide-
span enclosures such as;
warehouses, agricultural
buildings, hangars,
entertainment and sport
venues, factories, large retail
units, and so on, where a clear
space is required uninterrupted
by intermediary columns.
• They were originally used
because of their structural
efficiency, meaning that large
spaces could be enclosed with
little use of materials and for a
low cost
Types of Portal Frames
• Pitched roof symmetric portal frame generally fabricated from
UKB sections with a substantial eaves haunch section, which
may be cut from rolled section or fabricated from plate. 25b to
35 m are the most efficient spans.
• Portal frame with internal mezzanine, floor office
accommodation is often provided within a portal frame
structure using a partial width mezzanine floor.
• Crane portal frame with column brackets where a travelling
crane of relatively low capacity up to say 20 tones is required
brackets can be fixed to the columns to support the crane rails
• Tied portal frame the horizontal movement of the eves and
the bending moments in the columns and rafters are reduced.
• Mansard portal frame may be used where a large clear hight
at mid span is required but the eaves hight of the building has
to be minimized
• Curved rafter portal frame may be constructed using curved
rafters mainly for architectural reasons
• Cellular beam portal frame rafters may be fabricated from
cellular beams for aesthetic reasons or when providing long
spans
• Mono-pitch portal frame is a simple variation of the pitched
roof portal frame, and tends to be used for smaller buildings
up to 15 m span
• Propped portal frame where the span of a portal frame is
large and there is no requirement to provide a clear span, a
propped portal frame can be used to reduce the rafter size
and also the horizontal shear at the foundations.
Base joint for portal frame
• The legs or stanchions of the portal
frame need connecting at the bottom to
a foundation.
• Here we can see the base joint
connection in place.
Ridge joint for portal frame
• Shown here is a ridge joint or apex
joint.

• It is Important that this joint is strong

hence the use of wedge shaped pieces
called gusset pieces to strengthen and
increase the bolt area.
Knee joint for portal frame
• Again the knee joint must be strong to
support the roof loads and prevent
bending.
• Gusset pieces will be used to increase
strength, give greater bolt area and
prevent deflection under load.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages
• Speed and ease of erection
• Building can be quickly closed in and made water tight.
• Framework prefabricated in a workshop and not affected by
weather.
• Site works such as drainage, roads etc can be carried out until
framework is ready for erection.
• No weather hold up during erecting the framework.
• Connected together in factories by welding and site connections
should be bolted.

Disadvantages
• Although steel is incombustible it has a poor resistance to fire as it
bends easily when hot.
• Subject to corrosion