STRUCTURAL
BUILDING’S SYSTEMS
The first issues that came up were the dimensioning of these walls which would serve better, taking into consideration the structure above: the angle of their vertical section, their height and the distance between them so that the needed interior space could be wraped among them. The option of designing typical concrete beams was left aside as the desired result of levels floating transversing the vertical surfaces of the walls would not be achieved. These levels could also be hanging from the concrete element, but after consulting a structural engineer this option was considered dangerous in case of a fire – the stressed parts from which the slabs would be hanging could fail easily leading to a collapse of the whole prison to the public ground floor. Also cantilevered slabs were not considered an option as rough calculations demanded that they would be of a great thickness (up to 80cm) incorporating in this the needed beams and reinforcement. So what was decided was the use of steel H beams carrying hollow core slabs. These elements are thin enough so that they do not affect the floating image of the wings.
{dimensioning}
{connections with floor slabs}
{ EXIT THROUGH THE PRISON } g ra d u a t io n p ro je ct f o r M Sc in Arch it e ct u ra l En g i n e e r i n g b y D e s p o i n a P a p a do p o u l o u {N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 1 }
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