Week 8 Journal: Last week, the constructing tutorial was very interesting. Firstly, we had the drawing of our case study building and there were three sections pointed. These indicated that we had to explore the details of the sections.
Then we visited the case study building.
These picture showed the section detail 12. There was a window in the toilet. The main structure was frame structure. The lintel and the sash held the whole window. As we could see, the plastic(PVC) frame to surround the window. The plastic frame became more and more popular now. The window was in the tiled wall. There was a 2 degree slope at sill brick. The main materials of this section were glass and plastic(PVC). In addition, aluminum sill to connect the glass and tiled wall, the flat plate steel as lintel to hold the glass. The picture was drawn by me.
Pros and cons: The pro of the window is that it can collect the light from outside and make house become much brighter. It can save the electricity and it is an useful installation to achieve sustainability. The cons is that the window is sealed, so it can’t get fresh air. For the context of sustainability, aluminium has a large carbon footprint and it is not recyclable.
Also, we visited the section15.
The section15 was a glass roof in the corner. The main structure was aluminum frame. It could hold the window. The section near kitchen. The main materials were glass and aluminum.
These pictures were section5. It was french window. These windows looked very thick and stable. Also, the mullions formed a division between units of windows. The main structure was lintel to support the windows and the main material was glass. In general, the sections’ main material was glass. The windows could reflect and absorb the sunshine. The main materials of the building are glass, steels, reinforced concrete and slabs. It will not cause the population, so this building is friendly-environment. In additional, these materials are very common in architecture, and easy to gain. What’ s more, there cost are low when they are compared with other materials, such as metals.