ERC Presentation

EASTERN RESOURCE CENTRE Description/classification Graphic structural diagrams, Materials Structural joints, fixings Sustainability, economic implications

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April Aitchison, James Brown, Benjamin Hayman and Marta Elefterijadis

Description and classification ERC FOUNDATION AND FOOTINGS * Concrete slab * Column and piling substructure * Pad/strip footings PRIMARY STRUCTURE (HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL) * Framework structure * Steel columns separating double-glazed glass paneling * Tensile structure (I think) roof affixed to the ERC to the south and the Doug McConnell Building to the north

SECOND STRUCTURE (HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL) * System of walls * Windows * Compressive structure * Brick masonry evident in DMB, concrete in ERC. * Timber paneling in facade

BIRDS EYE VIEW OF ERC

SIDE VIEW OF ERC

STRUCUTRAL DRAWINGS AND MATERIALS

Concrete: Concrete slab Serves as a combined floor and foundation system, concrete strength 25 Mpa Curing applied: thoroughly wetted, covered (for min. 7 days) with 0.2mm thick polythene sheeting Concrete to have maximum shrinkage strain of 750 micro strains Strip footings concrete, vertical support, transfers buildings loads to ground Steel: grade 300plus, joints with welds and bolts (high strength structural bolts of stress grade 8.8), columns and mullions have their base plates fully grouted with 40MPa grout Timber: Timber members are all naturally one piece (not laminated), non load bearing stud walls are tied at top and bottom into flooring and roof frame

Joints and fixings

Carbon Footprint - Due to the choice of materials and their ability to insulate well, the structure is able to provide a cool environment in warmer weather and a warm environment in colder weather.

- This means less energy is used in the overall heating or cooling of the space.

Embodied Energy - Less materials are used to make the structure as it uses the original outer side walls of both its adjoining buildings (mainly the ERC).

- The materials that are used are also of a quite basic nature i.e. steel, timber, concrete and glass.

- The structure, while being three storeys high is in fact only a single level building which again requires much less materials in order to build it, as well as making for a simpler design and therefore cleaner building process.

- All together these points contribute to the reduced embodied energy of the structure, as the ,materials used require little energy to produce, and the overall building uses less energy to get built due to its simpler design and minimal use of structural materials.

Recyclability - As this building was not designed to change or be altered in any way (e.g. it cant be reduced in size and therefore stripped of some of its materials which are then recycled), it might not be considered as a structure with a particularly high recyclability factor.

Economical Implications of Decisions - Using less materials as well as using quite basic structural elements costs much less in the long run to produce.

- Despite this, and despite the choices in materials, the vaulted ceiling could still - along with the incorporation of several electronic devices actively plugged and running within the space - be a source of higher costs, as energy is required to run heating/cooling as well as the technology within.