In structural design, the placement of building materials is critical to the overall look and functionality of the space. Architects and designers can utilize building structure to create unique, eye-catching designs.
The ancient Roman architect Vitruvius formulated the broad obligations and opportunities of architecture in his dictum “Commodity, Firmness and Delight.” The application of these principles is more important than ever.
Wood
Wood is an incredibly versatile material, providing natural warmth and beauty to any space. It also offers many environmental benefits, including carbon-capture, insulation and air quality improvements. Wood has low thermal conductivity, meaning it’s an efficient insulator and can save energy in homes. It also has high acoustic performance and naturally reflects sound, which makes it ideal for open plan spaces and multi-level buildings.
Hardwoods come from deciduous trees that shed their leaves in autumn, while softwoods grow from evergreen trees that keep their needles year-round (also called gymnosperms). Hardwoods are typically softer than some softwoods.
The chemical composition of wood varies between species, but it typically contains 50% carbon, 40% oxygen, 6% hydrogen and small amounts of nitrogen, sulfur, chlorine, silicon and phosphorus.
Wood’s visual appeal can be enhanced by color, grain and texture. It’s a natural material that can be stained or painted to add a unique aesthetic to any project. Its natural hues can include yellows, browns, oranges and red shades, while its grain can be coarse or fine.
Prefabricated mass timber structures offer a balance of engineering, constructability and aesthetics to create high-performance buildings that are 25 percent faster to build than concrete alternatives. This means safer job sites and reduced construction traffic, making them a great option for urban areas. Using mass timber in buildings is an excellent way to support the AIA’s theme of “Blueprint for Better Cities.”
Steel
Steel is among the most aesthetically pleasing construction materials available. It can be fabricated into various shapes and structures, allowing architects to create unique designs for their projects. The material is also highly durable. It can withstand everything from high winds and rain to fires and earthquakes. It is also resistant to rust and termites. Steel is also non-combustible, which reduces the chance of fire accidents during the construction process.
Steel building frames are also lightweight, which makes them easier to transport and assemble. This reduces the number of people required on the construction site, which cuts down on labor costs and increases safety. Steel structures are also strong and able to resist bending, which is an advantage when it comes to designing complex structures. This flexibility allows architects to design a more fluid structure that blends with the surrounding environment and changes its appearance depending on the weather and time of day.
Using metal cladding is a great way to make your building stand out from the rest. The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, designed by Frank Gehry, is a good example of this. The building’s sinuous forms are clad in titanium panels, which reflect light and change the appearance of the structure throughout the day. The flexibility of metal cladding also allows for new stairways and other features to be added without affecting the structure’s structural integrity.
Concrete
Concrete is one of the most common building materials. It is a versatile, strong and durable construction material that can be used to build homes, skyscrapers, bridges, dams, roads, sidewalks and even boats and airplanes. It can also be molded into unique shapes and sizes for decorative purposes. Concrete is also an environmentally friendly material. It can help prevent soil erosion, water pollution, and flooding by slowing surface runoff. It can also reduce the amount of landfill waste and air pollution.
Concrete consists of fine and coarse aggregates that are bonded together with a fluid cement that hardens over time. It can be colored and stained with various additives to achieve desired results. There are also special admixtures that increase concrete’s strength, ductility, or resistance to corrosion. These include chemical retardants that slow the hydration of concrete, accelerators that speed it up, and plasticizers that make it more workable.
A variety of different types of concrete are available on the market, including ready-mix concrete, precast concrete, and prestressed concrete. Other concrete-like products include mortar, grout, and terrazzo, while silicate hydrates and roller-compacted concrete are “cousins” of concrete that are used for pavements and dams. These concrete functional extensions have gained popularity recently due to their environmental and economical benefits.
Masonry
Masonry is a construction material that uses bricks, stones, granites, marbles, tiles and concrete blocks to create buildings. These materials are bound together with mortar. There are various ways that the binding mixture can be modified to improve a building’s aesthetics. One way is by using color. The other way is by incorporating different aggregates into the mix. The most common aggregates used in masonry construction are limestone, gravel and sand. The mortar that holds the aggregates together can be made from various items such as lime, cement and sand.
Structural masonry walls can enhance a building’s aesthetics by interacting with changing sunlight and appearing to change color. This interaction can be further enhanced by the use of electric lighting. However, surface-mounted light fixtures and sconces that shine directly on a masonry wall can inadvertently cast unwanted long shadows on the structure’s facade or interior surfaces. To avoid this, specialized fixtures adapted for use with masonry can internally refract, reflect, deflect, partially block, diffuse and/or shade light to prevent it from direct impinge on the wall surface.
Masonry can be used in a building’s load-bearing walls as well as its façade, but as cities adopt increasingly stringent energy codes, it may not be cost-efficient to build a masonry-only building when there is a wood or steel framing. In these cases, a masonry veneer system is often preferred.