Building Systems Information

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Building Systems Explained

Building Systems offer many solutions utilising off site construction methods to produce components, prefabricated elements or complete buildings for a wide variety of building types and uses of both a temporary or permanent nature.

These vary in scale from the timber framed garden shed or precast concrete garages to the prefabricated offices or classroom unit to the precast concrete or steel framed multi storey units. They offer the benefit of time in providing instant facilities for temporary living, teaching or office needs or the financial savings of producing repetitive elements as in cellular hotel and student accommodation or the economies of off the shelf standard prefabricated farm buildings, sports and leisure facilities and the like.

Building Systems can provide Modern Methods of Construction utilising low carbon technologies that are energy efficient with excellent levels of thermal performance and air tightness.

Portable & Prefabricated Buildings

Off the shelf units offer instant accommodation of temporary or permanent use for several building uses. In general they are suited to living, teaching, office, hospital ward or laboratory accommodation but could be adopted for other uses.

They are constructed in modules generally sized to suit the limits of road transportation for site assembly on a prepared base. The modules can be fixed together to produce a variety of room sizes using end and intermediate modules or stacked where site area may be restricted. Systems include sections fit out with toilet, and kitchen facilities to build up complete self contained units. Site works are reduced to preparing a base and service connections.

Some smaller units may not require planning permission if considered permitted development but the local planning office should always be consulted for specific advice.

Framed Buildings

Framed buildings offer the flexibility of using prefabricated elements to quickly erect a base structure to support a wide choice of wall cladding options.

The structural versatility of steelwork is suited to large volume buildings with wide spans and high eaves or alternatively as lightweight cold rolled or lattice elements which can be man handled to construct smaller cellular structures. The durability of precast concrete is more suited to providing low maintenance small to medium single or multi span units in agricultural or marine type environments. Its durability and strength can also provide fast track solutions for multi storey car parks.

Timber offers the more sustainable solution to a wide variety of building types. Its natural beauty combined with durability and strength are used to advantage in providing engineered pre-fabricated laminated beams or portal structures for sports and leisure facilities. Its durability is also suited to swimming pool environments. Alternatively its flexibility and ease of working are highly suited for both off site and on site pre-fabrication of stud work wall panels and roof trusses for the housing industry.

The choice of wall and roof coverings systems is also wide and varied. They include industrial colour coated insulated steel or aluminium cladding systems, precast concrete wall panels pre-fabricated brickwork panels or prefaced stud sandwich wall panels again with a varied selection of facings.

They may be built up on site or prefabricated off site as complete pre-fabricated units delivered to site for bolting to the frame.

Pre-fabricated Structures

Buildings with a repetitive cellular design or developments with repetitive modules may lend themselves to pre-fabrication. The size of prefabricated unit may be restricted to transport for off site production or cranage and handling limitations for on site production.

Prefabrication offers the benefits of manufacturing units or building elements in workshop conditions to achieve a high standard of accuracy and finish for fast track site assembly with cost advantages.

They are suited to modular buildings and modular building systems which have been developed to meet the repetitive accommodation designs for hotels, student, military and prison developments.

Precast concrete wall and floor panels can be manufactured to a high quality of finish to accept decoration and be constructed to include conduits for services and fixings to receive secondary elements.

Prefabricated bathroom and kitchen pods are often integrated into the accommodation structures and are generally pre-plumbed ready for hoop up to the service cores. Bathroom pods are manufactured from concrete, steel or fibreglass.