CEN 403 – Advanced Simulation of Sustainable Structural Systems
Coursework Brief
SEM 2 2024-2025
Design briefing
The owner of a local lakeside park wants to build a two-floor café to supply refreshments to its visitors. You have been appointed as a designer. The client wishes to see a cost effective solution, and is concerned that construction is as environmentally friendly as possible. As the café is a highly visible structure in the park, an elegant design is preferred. Note that only the primary structure needs to be considered at this scheme design stage, and the necessary buildings to accommodate a variety of facilities do not form part of this design task. The BIM software to be used among the project participants is Revit.
The site is level. Due to site constraints, the maximum allowable area of land for the café is 50 m2 in a circular footprint. However, this does not mean that the structure at the ground level must be circular on plan. There is no limitation on the use of space above the ground level.
There are some requirements from the client:
• Each storey must have a clear height of at least 3.5 m.
• The total height of the building should not exceed 12 m.
• A minimum of 60 m2 of useable space at the top floor.
• The top storey can be used as a place for sightseeing. As such, 360° views with minimum obstructions are required. This does not mean that the storey must be circular on plan.
• Construction materials can be structural steel, reinforced concrete, a combination of these two, others.
Loading
• Dead load: Self-weight of the structure as calculated.
• Imposed load on exposed surfaces (if any): The imposed load on any roof or other exposed surfaces should be taken as 0.7 kN/m2.
• Imposed floor load: The imposed floor load should be taken as 3.5 kN/m2.
• Wind: For simplicity, an external wind pressure of 0.9 kN/m2 is to be taken. Assume this wind pressure does not change with height when the structure height is not greater than 10 m above the ground level. A consideration of internal wind pressure is not considered.
BS EN 1990 describes a variety of design situations and partial factors for actions. For the purpose of this coursework, the following partial factors may be considered:
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Persistent and
transient design
situation
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Permanent actions
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Variable actions
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Unfavourable
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Favourable
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ULS (STR)
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1.35 Gk
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1.00 Gk
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1.50 Qk
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SLS
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1.00 Gk
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1.00 Gk
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1.00 Qk
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Deflections
For simplicity, the following deflection limits can be assumed. The maximum allowable vertical deflection for flexural members is S/250 (S: the span of a flexural member such as a beam). The maximum allowable horizontal deflection in each storey of a building: H/300 (H: The height of the storey).
Coursework assignments
There are two pieces of coursework designed for this module to enhance the students’ with computer-aided design skills by using BIM and FEA tools. The marks of coursework 1, 2 and 3 will amount to 20%, 20% and 60% respectively, of the total mark of this module.
For the coursework assignments, if you believe some additional information is required to facilitate the analyses and the design processes, you may make assumptions – so long as the assumptions are sensible no marks will be deducted. However, the assumptions need to be stated clearly and the associated references (if any) should be provided.
Submission Requirements: Submit electronic files required to Learning Mall module website. Submission Deadlines:
Coursework 1: Friday Week 8, 11th April, 2025.
Coursework 2 and 3: Friday, Week 14, 23th May, 2025.
Coursework 1: Building Information Modelling with Revit
BIM is a revolutionary technology and process that has transformed the way buildings are designed, analyzed, constructed, and managed. The objective of this coursework is to explore fundamental functions of BIM (Revit, Navisworks) in building design. The main topics covered here are:
• 3D architectural design and modelling
• 4D scheduling simulation
• Material quantity take-off
• Energy analysis
Students are required to conduct a building design for the above case. Two design options should be provided in the conceptual design with distinguishable structure. One of the options will be used to create a detailed 3D model using BIM software. The following design documents should be submitted:
• An explanation about the design options. Present a Word file indicating the conceptual design procedure. Hand sketches are required to indicate the design process and brainstorming process. [15/100]
• An architectural model for the café in Revit. Present 2D drawings including two floor views, four side views and two cross sections; [40/100]
• 4D simulation of construction. Present the file as Windows AVI format, together with the Excel file of the schedule; [15/100]
• Material quantity take-off. Present an Excel file for the details; [10/100]
• Energy consumption analysis. Present a Word file with all assumptions and results. [20/100]