Underpinning

The process of underpinning can be confusing sometimes to understand,I particularly found it odd when my dad told to me to fetch him a book about it, I remember thinking before I began my course "What on earth is underpinning" at first I thought it had something to do with inserting pins into a building to help it stay up in some way but I later found out that it was basically a really good way of supporting buildings with weak foundations or buildings that had been the subject of subsidence.

I remember the first time I saw a building that had subsided, it looked like something out of a story book and while these things did happen I did not expect it to look so real in front of me. 

I had accompanied my dad to the site and this was the first time I had actually heard the engineer talk about the situation of the house, there turned out to be more problems than normal and the underpinning had to be done as soon as possible because the home owner had a big family and were going to start school any time.

At first I was baffled at how they were going to sort this mess out, luckily for me we had a Geotechnical lecture the next day and it was all about Underpinning, our teacher showed us that since its completely different to new foundations this type of work is carried out on existing structures. He explained how the procedure is carried out in sections usually numbered and formed in sets of "1's 2's and 3's" and so on. The following image shows an Illustration of how the sets are made.

Here you can see that the sets go from 1 to 4 and are completed in a sequence to insure that the structure is supported underneath and doesn't just collapse.

Fortunately I was able to go on a few site visits and the Chief engineer sent me to check how grout was being dry packed at the required level which was 75mm as he was worried that the workmen were not carrying out the work properly. In the end the underpinning was completed and it looked really good, I actually wish I had pictures but I couldn't take proper photos as the days I went were just too hectic.

One major point to take into consideration is the amount of labour involved in the procedure of underpinning as this usually adds to the cost of £1000/metre. 

Does anyone else have experience with working with underpinning? Do you have any special tips? 

Houda  

Olympic Park | My thoughts

Ok so the Olympics are nearly over but the legacy of the structures that are scattered all over the Olympic park will remain a part of London's historic attractions. I personally cannot even decide on what I love the most, whether its the Olympic stadium taking centre stage or the Velodrome that was so amazing I was addicted to watching the sprinters on their bikes.

I was lucky enough to visit the Olympic park before its completion in 2009 and I still remember the day I was a few meters away from the Aquatic centre no words can describe how amazing it is,the triangular structure that holds up the smooth curvy roof is rather spectacular. I wasn't surprised that the Architect responsible for the structure (Zaha Hadid) won the prize of having her design be the final one to implemented for the Aquatic centre her idea was easy on the eye yet screamed water,perfect for the sport it would be hosting.

Thankfully my friend was able to attend the opening ceremony and take a few snaps of the Stadium and when I saw them I got goosebumps all over me its an engineers dream to see such structures and while it looks huge from outside it looked even bigger from inside.

Just before the opening ceremony starts love the triangular masts around the stadium

Olympic rings!!!!!!!

Love the chain of the flags

 Amazing at night!

The crowds have filled the stadium!

I personally loved the tribute to Brunel and the industrial revolution the master of engineering 

The steel rings go up!

Arcelor Mittal Orbit not my cup of tea but still interesting I do hope go up it one day

Overall I im really excited about all the different structures that were made for the Olympics and it will remain a part of London and what it achieved for the Olympics.

Here are a few photos I found on-line of the velodrome which are amazing the links are available here, here and here.

What are your thoughts on the Olympic venues? Do you think they are as amazing as they were hyped to be? Leave your comments below :)

Sheeps wool as insulation

OK, so as you may know everyone is trying to go "green" whether it be recycling their daily waste such as packaging and food, using less energy or walking more, people are trying to find more ways to live a better life in terms of helping the environment and one industry as mentioned previously in my blog posts is the construction industry.

One of the latest trends to use as insulation for houses and buildings has been "Sheep's Wool" , and is probably one of the best materials that can be used to provide insulation for homes.

Why?

Because as a country we have so much sheep it would be mad not too, a local source, sheep's wool is something we specialise in, they are all over the country side and they shear their coats sheared around twice a year for clothing and other industries why not use it to keep your house warm like a woolly jumper keeps you warm?

As I mentioned in a previous post about the "Natural House" at the BRE in Watford they used Sheeps wool to insulate the loft and the walls.

It is also useful in partitioning walls and timber frame structures, not only is it available locally and has minimal processing when being prepared for use, it also has the natural ability to balance and control moisture levels in the building, preventing the formation of damp and mould which could lead to health problems especially for people with asthma.

The ability to have clearer air is also an important aspect of trying to go green as you would want to be independent of air conditioners and anti humidity filters.

Furthermore, since it is a natural product it is durable and is resistant against harsh weathering.

However there have been a few comments about people not liking the fact that if the wool gets we,t as it is natural it can sometimes smell a little of dead sheep.

During my research I came across a company that was featured on Grand Designs which is a programme I love! they are called Blackmountain and have a few bits of useful info on their website about using sheep's wool as insulation.

Has anyone else used this type of insulation in their home and what are your experiences?

Whats going on inside the huge building site of St Bart's Hospital?

OK, so I am really itching to have a look inside the construction site that is the future building of St Bartholomew's Hospital.

The reason simply being that everytime I pass the building site when im walking to the bustop I get a small glimse of the deep pit that us going to be for the foundations and as it is a small glimse it is breathtaking!

I wish I could get a photo but the only time any member of the public would ever see such a thing is when a huge scary lorry is leaving the site hence my hesitation not to stand there and sneak a photo, but ever since I knew what was going on I have been astonished at the scale of the project and how it lies tightly within the city of London.
Here are a few photos off Google although is doesn't really show what's going on inside:

WOW!

As you walk along the pavement there are information boards explaining what is going on and when it will finish which is about 2016 so it won't be ready for the Olympics but still it s nice to see that along with Crossrail  there will be a few giant projects hanging around.

I even tried looking on Google to see if there are any birds eye views of the site or if any one had taken a few photos and published them some where.

I know the contractor is Skanska famous for huge projects so this will definitely be a high quality  building and I am so pleased to see that it is a hospital since this means there will be better facilities and departments (lets hope).

I am hoping to see write more about the buildings I see when I tend to walk anywhere as I believe this is the best way to learn about a building and see what is going on and despite London being tightly packed there is always something new happening somewhere around the corner :)

Has anyone else been to walk around the area of St Paul's and see this amazing project?

The Princes's House ( Natural House) at the BRE

OK so in my previous post I talked a a little about my trip to the wonderful BRE (Building Research Establishment), but since I saw and liked so much of it I thought I would right a post about my favorite house there. The Natural House.

Formerly known as the "Princes's House" in honour of HRH the prince of Wales, they then changed it to a more suited name of the "Natural House" as there are few natural materials used in this house.

Lets start by how the idea pf the house came by.....

Well upon this visit to the BRE prince Charles went on tour around the site looking and observing the different houses and their features, the BRE team asked him what he thought and he frankly told them he did not like the way the houses looked and felt that there must be a better way for houses to be environmentally friendly without looking like something off a catwalk.

The Natural House* ‘doesn't wear its "greenness" as if it was the latest piece of haute couture'.
HRH The Prince of Wales

So he challenged them to create an Eco-friendly house, using traditional methods of construction and creating a house that also had the looks of a traditional house.

The House is of level 3 in the Code for Sustainable Homes, and looks typically like a traditional terrace house, it is made up of 2 halves


Our lecturer briefed us a little on this house before we went and he asked us if we could guess how they managed to stick to the 300mm of insulation without making the rooms in the extremely small, and when I saw what they did I was astonished and felt really dumb not to guess it my self!

The blocks are made of natural clay and the air pockets provide insulation without stuffing into the walls, they also used Lambs wool in the roof to insulate the roof and stop heat leaving up there and this also allows the loft area to be converted into a bedroom.
As most people know when it comes to accessing  the loft it is usually the coldest place in the house so I really liked this idea.

This was the house I chose to talk about for my project too, mainly because I felt if I was going to spend time on an essay on what house I liked it was going to be this one, there were other nice and interesting houses there too and one Healthcare center but for me if I was going to live in an Eco-Home I would definitely choose this because you simply do not feel like you are living with all these extra things that have been changed rather they are saving you money in the long run.

I also do find my self leaning to the classical types of Architecture and I guess i would not get bored of it, I was also told at the BRE that this type of house is being tested to go into social housing, however based on the cost of this house it would not be that easy to be implemented in such a way.


What do you guys think of the "Natural House"? would you want your Eco Home to look like this?

BRE Trip

A few weeks ago I went to the BRE (Building Research Establishment), which is a essentially a large scale science lab that specialises in the built environment.

To simplify they try as hard as they can to build houses that adhere to the Code for Sustainable Homes regulations with the top level being zero Carbon Level 6.

There are several houses there all different in shape size and level of sustainability, at first their main objective was to see how and what they could achieve without money being an object but slowly they have been able to try and find ways to make buildings more environmentally friendly without the heavy price tag.

You may ask why so much money and research spent on such a thing, but the government is aiming to be zero carbon by 2016 which is not exactly an easy job. However this world leading establishment is more than environmentally friendly they also research methods of allowing residents of a house hold to make use and recycle their energy or water.

Projects such as recycling "grey water" which is used water from washing dishes, bathwater to flush toilets that dispense up to 9 litres of water in flush which ads up to at least 120 litres per day, and this is also going to be reduced by the government to 80 litres per day this aims to lower water bills as well as saving energy.

Other features include Triple Glazed argon filled windows which is a feature on all the houses, this is said to reduce air leakage and reduce the need to use heating as much hoping to save energy bills.

All these clever innovations have showed successful and of course once these ideas are implemented it will be a little difficult to follow with some people claiming that the argon filled windows may not hold up long enough to span the life of the house itself, others saying that the new amount of water to be allowed at 80 litres is too little ans will be rather frustrating since to achieve this number taps will have to run at a lower rate than they do now.

However Graham Hardcastle of the BRE is visitor liason officer and he told us upon our visit at his presentation that he did not find the new flow rate of the taps that annoying as he had one fitted in to his shower.

Whether you believe in climate change and that CO2 Omissions are affecting the globe or not, I'm sure a few people if not most will appreciate the use of triple glazed windows and save a few ££'s on their energy bills every three months.

Here are a few photos of my visit to the BRE:

What do you think of the Government saying they want all new buildings built in 2016 to be"zero carbon"?

Lack of posts :(

Appologies for the lack of posts I havent had enough time to actually organise and research a topic and since this is about engineering I am hoping to get photos of what I talk about too.

stay tuned I have a lot to show in this wonderful world of construction

xxx