Working with the other disciplines

Where the mistakes arise

Not inside the disciplines but at their boundaries: where everyone assumed the other would do it. Boundaries of responsibility.

What has to be supplied to the structure

From the architect

• build-ups with weights,
• the opening layout, finalised,
• finishes and their sensitivity — the deflection limit comes from this,
• ceiling heights and structural depths.

Input data from the architect.

From the services engineer

• the position and size of penetrations,
• plant weights and their locations,
• the routes of the main risers,
• the requirement on the service cavity.

Web holes and service openings · Service cavity.

From the fire designer

• the fire resistance requirement on the structure,
• the material class limits in the build-up.

Fire design.

What the structure gives back

• foundation reactions to the geotechnical engineer,
• structural depths to the architect,
• where and how large penetrations may be, to the services engineer,
• the position of the shear walls, which binds the floor plan.

The four typical clash points

On LGS and steelwork projects it is always the same four:

1. service routes in the structure,
2. fire requirements and the build-up,
3. energy and thermal bridging,
4. the architectural opening layout and the bracing.

Design disciplines.

Why it has to happen early

Because with a prefabricated structure the design fixes earlier. What can still be changed on site in a masonry house is already manufactured here. Coordination between disciplines.

The point

Every discipline looks at the same building through different glasses. A good design is not the sum of the disciplines but the result of their discussion.