Steel Buildings in Europe

Part 1: Architect’s Guide 2 - iii Contents Page No FOREWORD i SUMMARY v 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Steel as a construction material 1 1.2 Steel in single storey buildings 7 2 ADVANTAGES OF CHOOSING A STEEL STRUCTURE 8 2.1 Low weight 8 2.2 Minimum construction dimensions 9 2.3 Speed of construction 9 2.4 Flexibility and adaptability 10 2.5 A sustainable solution 11 3 FORM OF PRIMARY STEEL STRUCTURE 12 3.1 Structure types 12 3.2 Connections between columns and beams 26 4 BUILDING ENVELOPE 28 4.1 Cladding systems 29 4.2 Secondary steelwork 30 4.3 Roofs 30 5 FIRE SAFETY 33 6 OVERHEAD CRANES 34 7 CONCLUSIONS 36 8 FURTHER READING 37