Structures

If after Tuesday’s discussions on structure you are still confused (and I can certainly empathise with that state) please just try to remember the following basic rules when designing (especially when drawing your plans, and I hasten to add that the number of people I saw on Tuesday who did not design according to these very fundamental rules was disturbingly high);

Most buildings greater than 1 storey high have a regular grid of columns that rise from the ground to the roof that carry the load of the roof, floors, building contents and external climatic pressure loadings (a load that is distributed horizontally by beams and diagonal bracing). These columns are usually but not always perpendicular to the ground, which means they tend to be in the same position horizontally from one level to the next. The columns tend to dictate the position of vertical partitions such as walls. This is why walls on floor plans usually (but not always) align from one level to the next. The greater the span (the greater the load), the greater is the sectional area of the beam and/or column.

If you follow these rules, and as long as your members are stiff enough (do not deflect too much) you cannot go too far wrong. Please try not to be frightened by the subject of structures.