Table Of ContentM
MODERN
CONSTRUCTION
HANDBOOK
ANDREW WATTS
THIRD EDITION
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H
1 2 3
INTRODUCTION 4 MaTERIals 18 walls 82 ROOfs 200
Introduction to third edition 4 Tectonics in metal 20 Trends in facade design 84 Trends in roof design 202
structure and envelope 8 steel 22
Parametric design 14 aluminium 26 Generic wall types 90 Metal roofs
Copper, zinc and lead 28 1 Metal standing seam 206
Metal 2 Profiled metal sheet 210
Tectonics in glass 30 1 sheet metal 92 3 Composite panels 214
Glass 32 2 Profiled cladding 96 4 Rainscreens 218
3 Composite panels 100 5 Metal louvres 222
Tectonics in concrete 36 4 Rainscreens 104
Concrete 38 5 Mesh screens 108 Glass roofs
6 louvre screens 112 1 Greenhouse glazing
Tectonics in masonry 44 and capped systems 226
Masonry 46 Glass systems 116 2 silicone-sealed glazing
Concrete block 48 1 stick systems 120 and rooflights 230
stone 50 2 Unitised glazing 124 3 Bolt fixed glazing 234
Brick 52 3 Clamped glazing 128 4 Bonded glass rooflights 238
4 Bolt fixed glazing 132
Tectonics in plastics 54 5 Glass blocks Concrete roofs
Plastics and composites 56 and channels 136 1 Concealed membranes 242
6 steel windows 140 2 Exposed membranes 246
Tectonics in timber 60 7 aluminium windows 144 3 Planted roof 250
Timber 62 8 Timber windows 148
Timber roofs
fabrics and membranes 64 Concrete 1 flat roof: mastic asphalt
1 Cast in-situ 152 coverings 254
Materials for interior finishes 2 storey height precast 156 2 flat roof: bitumen-based
1 Internal partitions 68 3 small precast panels 160 sheet membranes 258
2 Plaster and wallboard 70 3 Pitched roof: tiles 262
3 Internal floors 72 Masonry loadbearing walls 164
4 Internal ceilings 74 Plastic roofs
Masonry cavity walls 1 GRP rooflights 266
Performance testing of 1 Brick 168 2 GRP panels and shells 270
facade material systems 76 2 stone and block 172
fabric systems
Performance testing of Masonry cladding 176 1 ETfE cushions 274
roof material systems 80 2 single membrane:
Masonry rainscreens 180 cone-shaped roof 278
3 single membrane:
Plastic barrel-shaped roof 282
1 Plastic-based cladding 184
2 Plastic rainscreens 188
Timber
1 Timber frame 192
2 Cladding panels 196
CONTENTs
4 5 6
sTRUCTURE 286 ENVIRONMEN T 354 aPPlICaTIONs 412 REfERENCEs 494
Material systems Environmental studies for 1 working with industry 414 Glossary of terms 496
for structures 288 envelopes 356 2 Triangular panels for authorship 500
twisted facades 416 Photo credits 501
Elements of structures 290 analysis for design 3 Twisted panels with flat Index 502
1 solar radiation 360 glass for curved facades 418
1 Braced frames 2 Daylight 364 4 solar shading louvres 424
Reinforced concrete 292 3 Thermal performance 366 5 Double-skin facades 428
steel 296 4 wind 368 6 Precast concrete panels
Timber 300 5 solar shading 370 for facades of complex
6 Double skin facades 378 geometry 430
2 Portal frames 304 7 Natural ventilation 384 7 Exoskeleton facades of
8 Thermal mass 386 complex geometry 434
3 loadbearing boxes 8 Diagrid structures 436
Reinforced concrete 308 low energy material systems 9 Hybrid systems forming facades
Brick 312 1 Embodied energy 388 of complex geometry 438
Glass 316 2 straw bales and hemp 392 10 Opaque cladding interface
3 Rammed earth, cob with full-height glazing 442
4 Trusses 320 and adobe bricks 394 11 Complex curved
4 Green wood glazed roofs 444
5 arches and shells 324 and bamboo 396 12 large-scale glazed
5 Green walls 398 facades 448
6 space grids 328 13 Panelisation of complex building
active design surface geometry 450
floor structures 1 solar power and 14 Opaque rainscreen
1 Cast in-situ / solar heating 400 cladding 454
cast-in-place concrete 332 2 Electrical lighting 402 15 full-height glazing with GRP-clad
2 Precast concrete 334 structural frame 456
3 steel and steel mesh 336 support services 16 GRC cladding interfaces 458
4 Timber 338 1 Maintenance and 17 full-height entrance
5 Glass 342 cleaning 404 glazing 460
2 lifts 410 18 GRP louvres on stick
stairs glazing system 462
1 Concrete 346 19 GRC cladding 468
2 steel 348 20 windows in GRC cladding 470
3 Timber 350 21 windows and unitised
4 Glass 352 glazing with GRC cladding 474
22 Unitised glazing with GRC
cladding 476
23 Complex glazed roofs with
supporting steel structure 478
24 Glazed roofs with complex
geometry 482
25 louvres and stick glazing 484
26 Tiled cladding 488
27 Rainscreens 490
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Introduction to third edition D
structure and envelope
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Parametric design
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Introduction to third edition
This book aims to set out the construction systems use in the the use of categories of ‘loadbearing’ and ‘non-loadbearing’ was
design of contemporary buildings, grouping the systems as not appropriate due to the imbalance of the categories. what
distinct chapters covering walls, roofs, structure and environ- emerged was that construction systems for the majority of
ment. The book begins with a chapter on building materials, and building construction are independent, with few systems relating
ends with applications of the systems described in the chapters to one another. Much of the skill of contemporary detailing
which follow. This format varies slightly from the second edi- is in knowing how to bring those systems together which are
tion, where the last chapter was called ‘future’, which has been fabricated or manufactured in isolation of one another.
renamed ‘applications’ in this edition to reflect the fact that sys-
tems presented as concepts in the previous edition have now The linking of building systems so that they might be able
been used in completed buildings. to interface more easily has long been an aspiration of
manufacturers, but the current situation is one where few
where 20th Century architecture admired simple geometric systems co-ordinate easily with one another. This suggested
forms and their rectilinear-based combination, material sys- that the taxonomy of building systems in the first edition
tems of the early 21st Century can be used to interact with the should be based on a robust set of genuinely different
existing built environment rather than completely replace that generic types that would have to be identified independently
previous environment. This approach is one enjoyed before the of current systems of classification, such as those described
mass industrialisation of building production in the early 20th in designers’ specifications. The structure of architecture-
century. This book aims to demonstrate that pre-industrial build- based specifications identifies components and assemblies in
ings, that form a part of our current urban environments, can inter-related sections, where each sub-item in the assembly is
find continuity with the digital fabrication and mass customisa- identified independently, such as ‘curtain walling’, which itself
tion techniques of the 21st century. comprises several generic external wall types set out in this
book. specifications then link items such as ‘curtain walling’ to
The organisation of the material in the Modern Construction their constituent materials of glass, seals, paint finishes and so
Handbook, which has been refined for this third edition, has on under quite different headings. while the system is useful in
undergone several stages of development, based on the idea describing a building for use by a contractor, particularly with
of grouping construction systems by the material used rather regard to national standards, including those for performance
than by their ‘function’, which is one of the most widely used testing, specifications do not relate the parts in a way that
construction-based classification systems. The materials-based can be easily used at the design stage to understand generic
approach specific to this book allows the text to draw parallels facade assemblies. The approach taken in the classification
between building ‘systems’ that are based on the same primary system in the Modern Construction Handbook was to group
material, since the development and use of those systems is items in a way known to building design teams: structure, walls,
informed mainly by the physical properties specific to each roofs, and services.
material and the way the material is worked, manufactured
or formed for use as a building material. Known classification The construction of buildings has, historically, been based on
systems create a mix between manufacturer-led names for a varying relationship between loadbearing structure, walls
systems, such as ‘structural glazing’, where the glass is often and roofs, and this forms the basis of classification in this
not structural at all, and ‘rainscreen cladding’, which covers book. In some buildings, walls, roofs and structure are a single
almost any decorative outer layer that has open joints. Rather entity as in medieval cathedrals, with the exception of their
than basing classification on that of existing categories, the additional timber roofs, used to protect the structural ceiling.
approach was to start from scratch and test material-based In framed construction the walls and roofs can be continuous
categories against one another. In the first edition, this evolved over a single supporting structure, while in many cases of
into categories of walls, roofs, structure, environment and 20th century construction, walls, roofs and structure are
fittings. another category of materials preceded this, since an quite separate, and are then subdivided within each category
understanding of the physical nature of materials is essential in to provide a ‘collage’ form of construction where systems are
construction-led architecture. overlaid in the manner of a visual collage.
an essential aspect of contemporary construction is the wide Most of the primary building materials can be used to make
range of construction systems which are non-loadbearing. loadbearing structures, where they serve as both structure
almost all contemporary construction is based on the structural and enclosure. Other uses of materials for walls and roofs are
frame; typically either steel or concrete, with the modest, but non-loadbearing cladding. However, sometimes where different
growing, use of timber frames as a lower embodied energy material systems are formed in the same material in a building,
alternative. as examples of loadbearing construction are rare, there is still some structural interdependency. where quite
MCH_ 6
different material systems are mixed, such as in a concrete Modern Construction Roofs, show how specific details can be
frame and enclosure, a different inter-dependency emerges, created, which forms the basis of an understanding of what
that of allowing each material to be expressed separately. is needed to be accommodated in different geometries. The
chapter on ‘future’ systems adds a parametric component to
The inclusion of fittings in the taxonomy of the first edition proved some of the examples, thus highlighting the range of possibilities
difficult, with smaller scale items of stairs, lifts, internal finishes that might exist for some of the examples shown.
and doors placed within the group. The term ‘internal fittings’
was too restricting, as some of these components could be used The materials chapter in this third edition presents essays on
externally. This was the least satisfying part of the first edition. how the tectonics of material systems was used historically
In this third edition this issue has been resolved by including and how digital tools are bringing flexibility back into building
stairs in the structure chapter, doors in the walls chapter, and construction, something which was considered to be too
internal finishes in the first section on materials. Lifts are now expensive until the arrival of CAD/CAM (computer aided design/
described in the environment chapter, since they are usually computer aided manufacturing), mentioned as a development
considered to be part of the mechanical systems, the layout bringing change in the first edition. This return to an almost pre-
of which is designed by a specialist consultant. As a result of industrial approach to design allows new buildings to develop
this last decision it could be seen that the environment section a much closer empathy with existing buildings, even if the
could include both systems that reduce energy consumption by technologies used are very different. The non-rectilinear nature
the use of low energy passive strategies, as well as high energy of some of the material systems allows them to engage more
active strategies, such as mechanical ventilation, and lifts can robustly and elegantly with existing fabric, both pre-industrial
be seen as part of this strategy to make tall buildings usable. and that of 20th century Modernism in architecture.
In environmental terms, the use of several layers of envelope Qualifying comments
and structure in a single building can create a much richer The building techniques discussed and the built examples
set of internal spaces than those provided by the single skin shown are designed to last for an extended period with a rela-
envelope. The outer wall can be made of a double skin, or tively high performance. Consequently, buildings for exhibitions
even as a deep zone within the building which is an inhabitable and for temporary use are excluded. In addressing an inter-
equivalent of the ‘twin wall’ or ‘double skin’ facade. This has national readership, references to national legislation, building
helped to inform both material systems, not all of which need regulations, codes of practice and national standards have spe-
to be sealed, as well as the environment chapter where passive cifically not been included. This book explains the principles of
cooling, heating and ventilation can be used to reduce overall accepted building techniques currently in use. Building codes
energy consumption, as well as create a stronger link between throughout the world are undergoing increased harmonisa-
the built environment of the city and the building itself. The tion because of increased economic and intellectual globalisa-
materials for roads and public spaces do not form part of the tion. Building components and assemblies from many different
scope of this book, of course. countries are often used in a single building. Since building
codes are written to protect users of buildings by providing for
Each generic system is described first in terms of the properties their health and safety, good construction practice will always
of the material, then how they are used as a material system, uphold these codes as well as assist their advancement.
and last how that material system ‘behaves’, or can be made to The components, assemblies and details shown in this book
‘behave’, to form a building by examining its detailing. Possible describe many of the building techniques used by the building
developments of some of these material systems are set industry today, but this book does not necessarily endorse or
out in the future chapter to show how the principles can be justify their use since techniques in building are in a continual
extrapolated for use on new projects. state of change and development.
Generic systems are discussed in terms of how they are
assembled, and how they work from a structural and/or
enclosure point of view. These paragraphs on ‘system design’
show how the generic example works. The way the system is
applied to different geometries is explained in ‘system details’.
The geometries show how the system can be set out on different
mathematically-based surfaces, and how the system can meet
at corners and junctions. Two other books in the Modern
Construction Series, titled Modern Construction Facades and
MCH_ 7
Structure and envelope 1
wells Cathedral, wells, U.K. Natural History Museum, Oxford, U.K. Natural History Museum, Oxford, U.K.
architect: Deane and woodward architect: Deane and woodward
In terms of construction, Modernist architecture can be openings that gave a ‘massive’ quality to buildings. In contrast,
considered to be an approach that was not an inevitable the use of the separate structural frame was able to create a
development of 19th century architecture but rather a response visual lightness and transparency that gave greater freedom to
to an industrialisation governed by mass production of building designers. However, the integration of skin and structure into
components such as steel sections for frames, bricks, blocks, loadbearing facades can also allow much greater freedom in
metal coil, timber boards and sections. The use of repeated, the design of the external envelope to suit the requirements of
rectilinear structural bays, both in plan and elevation, can be the spaces immediately behind. In the context of the existing
seen as a response to the way the raw products used in building built environment, a new building can almost ‘grow’ out of the
are manufactured, including the straight lines of cut timber and adjacent existing building using the same materials but with a
plywood used for concrete formwork. different material system.
20th century Modernist architecture can be considered in The use of a structural frame clad with non-loadbearing walls
terms of its response to mass production techniques through has led to an aesthetic typically concerned with either forming
the use of the structural frame. Building components and a ‘collage’ of different components, or as a repeated module of
assemblies were used as repeated identical elements in the same component. However, loadbearing construction can
building compositions. The use of steel or concrete frames embrace a design approach of structural and environmental
led to building envelopes being enclosed in non-loadbearing integration: the use of envelope and structure combined to
cladding. The use of repeated, rectilinear bays can be seen as create space in the facade and continuity in groundscape or
a response to manufacture, including the straight lines of cut urban context. Both loadbearing and deep rainscreens are
timber and plywood used for concrete formwork. Consequently, possible solutions for this approach. The recent introduction
as a result of the widespread use of the structural frame in of computer controlled tools has taken away the imperative
much of 20th century Modernist architecture, the separation of mass production, offering instead possibilities of ‘mass
of structure and external wall has dominated, where the facade customisation’ where many components of different size can be
is reduced to non-loadbearing walls. This approach has been a produced quickly to a high quality. Consequently, architectural
result of the development of structural forms, originally destined production is no longer determined by the need for repeated
for large scale buildings, which have found use in much smaller rectilinear units used in Modernist designs. In terms of the
scale constructions, even being used in individual houses in relationship between structure and external envelope, the
continental Europe. The use of loadbearing structures for introduction of mass customisation suggests that systems for
larger scale buildings resulted in facades with ‘punched’ window both facades and structures could become more complex and
MCH_ 8
Colonia Güell, Barcelona, spain. sagrada-familia, Barcelona, spain. sagrada-familia, Barcelona, spain.
architect: antonio Gaudi architect: antonio Gaudi architect: antonio Gaudi
interdependent, while remaining economic by the standards of In the early 20th century the architect antonio Gaudi saw that an
contemporary building construction. advantage of loadbearing construction was that individual blocks
of stone, bricks or concrete blocks could be corbelled inwards or
a tradition of the integration of structure and envelope outwards from the vertical plane of the external wall to create a
The integration of structure and envelope can be seen in the complex vertical section as well as a complex plan. Gaudi’s use
Gothic tradition: facades forming external spaces created by of brickwork was based on his own structural investigations,
the framing effect of flying buttresses of medieval cathedrals. as implemented at the sagrada familia in Barcelona. In the
such structures also communicate a sense of the communal years that followed, the buildings of Oscar Niemeyer integrated
effort required to construct the building: The walls, which seem structure and skin in projects of varying brief, from housing to
to integrate frame and infill wall into a single constructional churches to public buildings, exploring the possibilities inherent
entity, sweep inwards at roof level to create stone vaults that in reinforced concrete rather than following the imperatives of
form a continuity with the walls. Only a timber roof is required the rectilinear structural frame. In the 1950s, Eero saarinen
to protect the stone ceiling from the effects of the weather. used loadbearing concrete in the Twa Terminal at John f
The timber roof is not a ‘conceptual’ part of the masonry Kennedy airport in New York, a building which integrates the
structure, but rather a necessary addition that ensures the language of structure and enclosure with that of partitions,
construction provides a weathertight enclosure. Gothic Revival counters, desks and furniture. The furniture is curved to make
buildings of the 19th century, such as the Oxford Museum it comfortable for the curved human physique, linking the form
in England, combine medieval methods of loadbearing of what inhabits the building to inform the construction of the
construction with industrially manufactured iron ribs that building itself. This building can be regarded as an integration of
form a vaulted roof structure infilled with glazing. what can building, interior spaces and furniture that marked the buildings
be seen as a civic expression of the manual work of many of medieval Oxford. a building designed by Eero saarinen, the
craftsmen and labourers of the medieval world, was replaced Milwaukee art Museum, was recently extended to a design by
by an architectural expression of the use of mass-produced santiago Calatrava in a structure that creates a loadbearing,
building components that were used as the raw material for or skeletal, structure, reminiscent of earlier buildings by Oscar
the specialist fabrication of entire parts in small workshops, Niemeyer. Calatrava’s interest in animal skeletons goes one
rather than that of work being all performed on site. Gothic step beyond the interest in the structure of saarinen.
Revival buildings such as the Oxford Museum are built with a
mixture of loadbearing and framed construction.
MCH_ 9
Structure and envelope 2
Aerial view, Oxford, U.K.
Parametric modelling by Eric Mendelsohn integrated the needs of a research
This need for variation in more complex arrangements of linked centre comprising spaces for study and discussion, with the
spaces is tackled more comprehensively in projects by Zaha complimentary requirement for an astronomical telescope to
Hadid, whose work is informed by an interest in parametric be accommodated in the building. Rather than express the
design, where spaces can be linked by rhythm, and links ‘primary’ aspect of the telescope and fitting the ‘secondary’
achieved through the assistance of computer software, so research spaces into it, the design allows both aspects of the
that many more iterations can be investigated and explored design to combine as a more balanced composition. This was
than are possible by hand, by conventional 2D CAD, or even by achieved by designing the spaces from the outside in, creating
conventional physical modelling. Parametric modelling provides an envelope to suit the general enclosure of spaces, effectively
an interrelationship between parts of the building as well as wrapped around the telescope. The structure supporting the
the urban space surrounding it, making the cityscape one telescope is set inside the building, requiring a quite different
of interdependence as, once again, can be found in medieval support for the observation floor. The space between the
Oxford. The office of Frank Gehry has taken the use of parametric outer envelope and the inner telescope structure is inhabited
modelling as a tool for generating building forms that would not by the circulation space serving both telescope and study
be possible in a practical sense without computer software and spaces. The telescope can be considered to be designed from
its link to computer aided manufacturing. Gehry is concerned the inside out, while the study spaces are designed from the
that architects produce buildings that are generated by the outside in. The interstitial zone between the inner and outer
need to be resolved in 2D as drawings, and that buildings can structure is inhabited by the staircase which rises through
be seen as mere ‘built drawings’ rather than being conceived the building. In another project, the staircase itself could have
as ‘buildings’ in the first place. Gehry is less interested in been part of the overall building structure, but here the stair
loadbearing construction than in the built forms that can be is supported primarily by both inner and outer structures on
generated from a few material systems which are liberated its sides. The building’s external envelope is built from brick,
from the constraints of mass production towards an eventual covered in render. While the building could have been formed
approach of mass customisation. in concrete, the construction method of corbelling brickwork
in and out of vertical plane is ideally suited as a method to
Modernism and construction construct a form of this geometry.
Modernism developed from aspects of architecture of the
early 20th century, influenced by mass production techniques In our own time, the rise of digital tools permits this more
from about 1920 onwards. In contrast, the approach taken complex approach to tectonics that was dominated in the 20th
by architects such as Eric Mendelsohn in Germany during century by the use of the structural frame.
the 1920s considered ways of integrating different aspects
of programmes informed strongly by the way the building As set out in the previous essay, a characteristic of the
was constructed. The Einsteinturm in Potsdam, Germany, construction of Modernist architecture has been the separation
MCH_ 10
