article

Construction industry hit by worst slowdown in a decade

By David Prosser, Deputy Business Editor
Wednesday, 4 June 2008

Britain's construction industry suffered its worst slowdown in more than a decade during May, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (Cips) said yesterday, as builders were hit by the slowing economy and a collapse in the housing sector.

Cips said activity in the construction sector slowed for the third month running in May, with an index reading of 43.9 compared with 46.1 in April. Any reading below 50 signals a slowdown.

The decline between April and May was the fastest rate of contraction since Cips began its monthly surveys of the construction sector in April 1997.

Roy Ayliffe, the group's director of professional practice, said: "May data for the sector heralded a further, more marked contraction in levels of new business and, notably, the use of subcontractors fell at the fastest rate in survey history as demand for their service continued to wane."

Activity in the housing market was particularly depressed, with the index for this sub-sector of the construction market falling from 40.3 in April to 32.7 last month. A series of housebuilders have issued profits warnings and cut building plans in recent weeks.

The figures reflect fears that the economy is sliding towards recession, with Cips also warning this week that the manufacturing sector's three-year run of monthly growth had come to an end. Manufacturing has until now been the most resilient sector of the economy.

Meanwhile, Nationwide Building Society said yesterday that consumer confidence had slipped further during May, registering a new low for the second consecutive month. Fionnuala Earley, the society's chief economist, said: "Darker economic news throughout the month as fuel prices reached new highs, food prices remained elevated and uncertainty about an early cut in interest rates heightened, are likely to be major factors in this."

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee begins its monthly two-day meeting today but few economists expect it to announce a cut in interest rates tomorrow, with fears of rising inflation outweighing concern about the slowing economy.

Site Visit 2: Coles construction, Shannon Avenue, West Geelong.

Designed by architect Terry Atchison, construction began September 2007 and is expected to completed near the end of 2008. Previously this building was a Safeway, so some elements of the previous structure had been retained in the new construction.

Because of the existing safeway building that was there previously there, the new coles building is incorporating some of the aforementioned structure as is evident with the wooden members in the image above.

The image above highlights the tilt up panels being supported and the wood and steel members comprising the roof structure.

Above is a detail of the connection between the supports temporarily holding the tilt-up panel in place.

Birds Nest

This video is a brief introduction to the documentary on the National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic games in China. The structure comprising of steel is very much related to this unit.

Tutorial Week 6

thefreelibrary.com

thefreelibrary.com not only has books, but also magazines online that can be read free of charge!
The architectural review is just one of magazines that can be read on this site.
Here's the link

Carousel, Geelong Waterfront

Designed by the well known McGlashan Everist architecture firm, the carousel pavilion began construction in 1999 and has become one of Geelong's main attractions.

One of the six supporting columns, I'm not 100% sure on how the roof load transfers its force through these members but undoubtedly the diagonal members must assist in the dispersal of a substantial amount of the load from above.

The above image shows the seperate roof members meeting, there is no vertical support underneath this location however so obviously structural loads are not apparent here.

interesting link

I came across this website while conducting research for one of my MANY assignments, can't really remember which one, BUT here's the link anyway.
basically it's got this sites top 100 blogs from 2007, and these blogs range from topics relating to urbanism, environmental/sustainable architecture even to photography.

Site Visit 1: Warehouse Essington St, Grovedale

As is evident in this photo the concrete tilt up panels are being held in place via the supports

This photo shows the comprising members of the roof, the purlins, gutter, safety mesh, insulation and fly bracing. The cross-bracing between the U.B strancion in order to restrict its movement is also evident in this image.

This image shows a detail of the temporary connection of the supports that hold the concrete panels in place.

Week 5 Tutorial Exercise

Week 4 Tutorial Exercise

K.D Stewart Gym, Deakin University Waurn Ponds

detail showing connection of bracing for the steel frame

steel frame with hole to allow for air duct to run through

connection of steel roof frame to wall

Week 3 Tutorial Exercise

Week 2 Tutorial Exercise

Bunnings Warehouse, Waurn Ponds

An overall view from behind of Bunnings Warehouse in Waurn Ponds, designed by the Bird dela Couer architecture firm and officially opened on the 31st of October 2003.

This figure to the right is of one of the many steel beams that assist in the dispersal of the roof load toward the foundations.









This image to the left is a detail of a steel column aiding in the support of a steel beam and also depicts the connections of these members. The picture below gives a more broader view of this system.