The Structural Elements of a Commercial Building

There are various considerations when constructing a new building. There are instances when the designs are not practical and safe. All buildings must have solid structural support to maintain their intended lifespan and fulfill their intended purpose. Hence, the structural elements of a building must be long-lasting and can support its load.

Foundation

Every structure's foundation is its most indispensable feature. Many disasters are more likely due to poor foundations than any other factor. A solid foundation must not slide, distort, overturn, or malfunction in any other way to stay in place. Therefore, you must ensure that the base and ground work together to achieve stability.

Including the understanding of components for foundations and superstructures, it is crucial to examine the nature, strength, and probable reaction of soils bearing loads. The primary function of a foundation is to distribute the weight of the entire structure to the ground beneath.

The foundation is the lowest section of a structure directly above the surface. It distributes all live, dead, and other loads to the ground beneath the building. The foundation prevents the soil beneath it from being pressured beyond what is safe and acceptable for supporting weight.

A construction may necessitate deep and shallow foundations, depending on the nature of the existing soil at the location, its safe load carrying capacity, and the building type. Spread footings may serve as the foundation in the instance of load-bearing walls. For framed constructions, the foundation may take the shape of piles, rafts, mixed footings, or individual column footings.


Plinth

The area of the building directly above the ground between the floor's surface and the level of the surrounding soil is what you call the plinth. The surface of the surrounding earth is what you can call "formation or ground level," while the level of the building's first floor is "plinth level."

It would be best to choose the plinth elevation. Hence, there is no chance of rainwater seeping into the ground floor following good leveling and grading of the next building's soil (for good drainage). The plinth area is the built-up space you measure at the first-floor level.


Wall

To surround or partition the floor area in the desired design is why you have walls. They offer security, seclusion, and protection from exposure to nature's elements and other hazards. You can divide different floor spaces depending on the tasks you must carry out in the building.

In a carefully thought-out layout, the walls segment the room in a way that maximizes the carpet area and minimizes the circulation space. You can use building materials like stones, bricks, hollowed or solid concrete blocks, etc., to make walls.

Masonry is the construction method in which you join these components vertically and horizontally by mortar connections. Brick masonry refers to using bricks as building blocks, and stone masonry refers to using stones as building blocks.

A load-bearing wall bears its weight and the loads placed on top of it and distributed through floors and roofs. While a non-load-bearing wall supports no additional weight from the structure, it does carry its weight. Typically, they serve as divider barriers.


Shear Wall

These vertical wall structure elements protect a building's integrity from horizontal forces, such as wind and earthquakes. A shear wall has a reinforcement constructed of braced panels to bear lateral forces. The shear wall needs to offer lateral shear strength for the building to withstand a horizontal earthquake and wind stresses and distribute these loads to the base.

Shear Walls give buildings significant stiffness in the axis of their alignment, which lessens the building's lateral wobble and, as a result, the risk of structural damage during earthquakes or cyclones.


Column

It is a vertical load-bearing element whose width is not four times greater than its thickness and neither smaller than its thickness. Comparable to a column, a pier is a vertical load-bearing structural element that spans the entire wall height. It bonds into load-bearing walls at the sides to create an integrated part of the wall.

A pier is added to the wall to make it stiffer to support more weight or concentrated vertical stress. Additionally, piers fortify the barrier so it can withstand pressure without buckling.


Floor

Floors are the flat structural elements that hold a building. To fit more people on a particular piece of ground, they partition a building into various floors. A floor's primary function is to offer a solid, dry platform for individuals and other objects like furnishings, shops, equipment, etc.

A basement floor is a floor allocated for lodging underneath the ground level. All floors other than the one directly above the ground are you refer to as upper floors. It includes the first, second, and so on. A floor primarily consists of two components: a subfloor and flooring.

The flooring is the overlaying layer of preferred standard (cement concrete, tiles, terrazzo, etc.) supplied over the sub-floor as a finishing surface for appearances. The sub-floor is the structural element of the floor that sustains all weights (dead and superimposed).


Slabs

You can use slabs as the foundation and the ceiling and roof to carry the weight of the building to the beams and walls. The building's slab serves as its roof or ceiling. You can use the structural element to build horizontal flat surfaces like floors, ceilings, and roof decks.

Typically several inches thick, beams, columns, walls, or the ground holds and supports a slab. It is a horizontal structural element having parallel and close top and bottom surfaces. The slab's depth is relatively narrow, given its length and width.


Beam

It is a horizontal structural component. It can broadly support loads by resisting bends that span a range between one or more supports and carry vertical loads across its long axis. It is the structural elements that the slabs rest on and is a laterally loaded member.

Its cross-sectional dimension is not as large compared to its length. The columns receive the load from the slab through the beams.


Roof

It is the topmost part of a structure, and its principal purpose is to protect and shield the area below from the elements. The roof decking and the roof covering are the two primary parts of a roof.

A roof's style might be curved, flat, or sloped. The site of the building, the environment, the amount of money available, and the requirements for function, like the roof hatch detail, and aesthetics, are the considerations you need to consider when choosing the type of roof.

The structural elements of roof decking are typically a truss for pitched roofs, a shell or dome for curved roofs, and a flat slab for flat roofs. Terracing is what you call the roof covering for flat roofs. Manufacturers can make them of layers of varied thicknesses of materials such as concrete, lime, "Mud Phuska," etc.

The terracing has two functions: creating appropriate roof-top slopes for rainwater drainage and functioning as an insulating layer to give users of the area below a comfortable temperature.


Stairs

A stair is a structure comprising several steps connecting one floor to another. Designers must build the stair to be comfortable and safe to use and must be at a location that allows for simple communication. The significance of aesthetics, available budget, intended longevity, and fire resistance play a role in the material choice.


Weather Shae and Lintel

Building walls often have openings built into them for doors and windows. Designers must add a different structural element since the door or window's actual frame is not solid to withstand the weight of the wall above the entrance. This structure is what you call a lintel and resembles a beam in appearance.


The Takeaway

You must commit to regularly scheduled maintenance to ensure that your building's structural elements remain functional and extend their lifespan. Without the necessary upkeep, your building will suffer breakdowns which will cause your occupants to suffer and cost you more money on repairs.

By installing access doors and panels, your personnel can have efficiency and convenience when they work to maintain your structure. Call (800) 609-2917 to order your access door today!