Chapter 8 Typical design considerations for generic building types

Engineering graduates may feel that they leave university and enter industry with the knowledge that ‘they can design a structure’. However, the specific knowledge they may well lack will be the subtle differences or indeed focuses of consideration that will be presented to them at the outset of design, in seeking to fulfil an individual brief set by a client for a building with a defined end-use. A client expects, and has the right to expect, that the engineer they employ will know what to deliver for their particular building use. The art of a good engineer is to be in a position to know what the structure for an end-use should deliver in terms of loading allowances, column grid, performance, floor heights and the like. Each end-use will have aspects of these which need different consideration or focus on one more than any other. This chapter seeks to inform engineers about to consider a structure for a particular end-use of the areas of design that they should specifically consider in order to deliver an appropriate brief for a client.