9 minute read
Materials
from Technical Report
by Phil Win
In-Situ Concrete The design intent requires a difference in concrete mix between a harder and stronger front North facade, in contrast to a smoother and lighter rear South facing facade.
To acheive this, a fly ash cement will partially replace standard cement. This cement is produced using the ash from the combustion process of coal. It produces a darker looking concrete. This together with a higher conrete mix will provide a darker and rougher concrete finish.
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The rear facade will have a lower aggregate mix, with cement which is partially replaced with Ground-granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS). This slag is produced during the production process of Iron. GGBS will provide a paler looking concrete which would appear lighter with the addition of South facing sunlight.
Locharbriggs Sandstone
A local red sandstone which comes from Locharbriggs quarry, located in Dumfries, Scotland. (Roughly 70 miles away from Glasgow). The sandstone has been quarried at Locharbriggs since the 18th Century and was a frequently used building material throughout the civic boom of the industrial revolution. Many of these buildings remain intact in present day Glasgow.
The stone is used for facade cladding throughout the design, providing a local material with local History and heritage.
Left: North facade, adopting a rougher and darker concrete mix
Below: South facade, adopting a smoother and lighter concrete mix
CASE STUDY CASE STUDY Bottom right: London Aquatics centre with a lighter concrete mix with the use of GGBS cement replacement. Far right: Angel Building, London, uses a darker concrete mix with the addition of fly ash cement replacement. GGBS and FA low carbon cements GGBS and FA low carbon cements
PROJECT: Byron Street - Glasgow PROJECT: Byron Street - Glasgow
STONE DESCRIPTION:
A Permian Sandstone from the Locharbriggs Quarry in Dumfries, Scotland, one of the oldest and largest and actively worked red sandstone quarries in Scotland. Quarried since the 18th century, this pink to red medium grained sandstone is widely used across Scotland and England for walling, traditional and contemporary cladding and masonry styles. Extensive reserves are readily available.
STONE DESCRIPTION:
A Permian Sandstone from the Locharbriggs Quarry in Dumfries, Scotland, one of the oldest and largest and actively worked red sandstone quarries in Scotland. Quarried since the 18th century, this pink to red medium grained sandstone is widely used across Scotland and England for walling, traditional and contemporary cladding and masonry styles. Extensive reserves are readily available.
The impressive list of reference sites for Locharbriggs red sandstone dates back to the 1700’s and includes sites across Scotland and England as well as landmark buildings in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The impressive list of reference sites for Locharbriggs red sandstone dates back to the 1700’s and includes sites across Scotland and England as well as landmark buildings in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Aquatics Centre, Zaha Hadid Architects / ARUP Angel Building, London AHMM /AKT Aquatics Centre, Zaha Hadid Architects / ARUP Angel Building, London AHMM /AKT
PROJECT SUMMARY:
A new affordable housing project at Greater Govan and Glasgow Harbour, Whiteinch. Using natural sandstone cladding materials to enhance the quality and character of the external space.
PROJECT SUMMARY:
A new affordable housing project at Greater Govan and Glasgow Harbour, Whiteinch. Using natural sandstone cladding materials to enhance the quality and character of the external space. Left: Sandstone Cladding used in current design. 100mm Ashlar cladding to front facade. 50mm Sandstone Skirting to rear facade. GGBS is pale/white Fly Ash is dark grey (30% in diving boards) (34%) GGBS is pale/white Fly Ash is dark grey (30% in diving boards) (34%)
THE BUILD SOLUTION:
These residential apartments needed to be striking in appearance in order to attract residents; they also needed to meet the latest legislation which includes the buildings durability - with all construction materials contributing to the buildings overall thermal performance. Using Locharbriggs red sandstone 100 mm cladding on the outer façade, designers have establish sound relationships between the old buildings and the new development project, placing a unique stamp on this residential property in terms of character and style.
THE BUILD SOLUTION:
These residential apartments needed to be striking in appearance in order to attract residents; they also needed to meet the latest legislation which includes the buildings durability - with all construction materials contributing to the buildings overall thermal performance. Using Locharbriggs red sandstone 100 mm cladding on the outer façade, designers have establish sound relationships between the old buildings and the new development project, placing a unique stamp on this residential property in terms of character and style. Below: Byron street, Glasgow. High use of sandstone throughout the City of Glasgow. Bottom right: Sandstone, stone texture with a fiery red colour
Scottish Oak Timber
Scottish oak is a locally produced material which was predominantly used as a traditional ship building material during the industrial revolution.
It is a naturally durable material due to its natural production of tannic acids, a powerful chemical which reproduces skin and which provides resistance towards decay. This material is ideal for use outdoors as maintenance on the wood is not required.
The material is a hard and decorative wood. it is a darker coloured wood compared to European larch. The material will mainly be used as a structural wood, giving a hierarchy between the oak and European larch, which will be used as a cladding material.
European Larch Timber
Larch is a locally produced material which possesses a warm, reddish brown/terracotta colour. This provides a consistent material palette with the colour being similar to the red sandstone which is used elsewhere on the building facade.
The 2 materials provide a visual contrast, yet at the same time an association in colour palette. The material will be used as cladding, most significantly being used as the permanent formwork which will double up as the cladding for the ship building workshop.
Larch, just like Scottish Oak, is a strong and durable local material which is popular for it’s outdoor usage.
Left: Use of Scottish hardwood in the design of the structural and internal cladding of the main mixed use space.
Below: Example of oak structure texture.
Left: European larch is used for the cladding of the rear facade, providing a lighter contrast to the sandstone front facade.
Bottom right: Example of European larch cladding.
Environment & Technology has been a very useful and important module for me this year. The simulations which we have been taught have allowed us to apply our theoretical knowledge to analyse and test our designs against environmental factors.
Testing especially the acoustics and lighting of my design and learning how they performed allowed me to amend my design and take it to a level where it is integrated. I was surprised to find an extremely high Reverberation time of 8 seconds for my concrete core. This helped me to realise how easy it is to design spaces which do not work. It is important to analyse spaces before they are built as post construction amendments can be very costly. I particularly enjoy using DIVA to mould a lighting design which is diserable both aesthetically and from a visual comfort point of view.
As a designer, it is assuring to be able to test designs out using simulation software. It allows the designer to be more confident about their design, knowing that the spaces designed will be both visually pleasing and comfortable to inhabit.
Digital Mockup
One uncertain aspect of my design was the amount of lighting the building would get. Especially the workshop space which had an 800mm strip of overhead glazing and a few panels of frosted glass. I was unsure if these openings would provide sufficient light within the overcast climate of Glasgow.
The digital mockup of the workshop space allowed me to explore the lighting within the space. The mockups were modelled in 3DS Max and imported into Rhino, where daylight Autonomy calculations were performed using the DIVA plugin. This calculation would inform me whether this space receives sufficient lighting. This calculation would also provide me with a mean daylight factor for the space.
UK requirements ask us to provide a minimum of 500 lux for 50% of the time. We learnt that the space provided a figure of just under this requirement at round 30%-40%, however it did provide us with an acceptable mean daylight factor of over 2%.
We adjusted the digital mockup to give it extra North facing glazing, This extra glazing provided us with a daylight autonomy result of over 50%.
The 2 images below show the 2 design options. This process allowed me to critique my design, analysing the pros and cons of each option, analysing it against how it would affect other building performance criterias such as thermal comfort and ventilation.
This digital mockup was very useful as it allowed me to test any unknowns of my design before it is constructed. It is a very useful tool to have at this early design stage.
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