Watch the video on the different building shapes.
No doubt design engineering and steel optimization will always play an integral role in your pre-engineered steel building (PEB) facility. However, there are choices customers can make that would affect how your building is being designed. Apart from the exterior façade and colours, customers can also choose a building shape of their preference. In fact, selecting your preferential building shape is the first step of your building design journey, and Nova Buildings will develop an optimized engineering design to support your choice.
This article breaks down some common PEB design terminology to help you to decide what’s best for your facility.
There are two main considerations when selecting your preferred building shape:
1. Do you want a Slope roof or Gable roof?
2. Can your facility allow interior columns?
Slope Roof or Gable Roof
This is often an aesthetic choice, but there are some reasons why customers would choose one over the other. Gable roofs tend to have steeper slopes and rain can slide off easily on both sides, reducing the risks of leaks and water damage. Gable roofs also enable you to have a sustainable passive design with air vents at the roof peaks (“ridge”) promoting natural air circulation in the facility. With Gable roofs, extra space under the roof allows for a loft to be built. However, if you choose a multi-gable design, you may need to have a valley gutter which will collect leaves or other debris resulting in rust, blockages and mosquito issues if not maintained. A slope roof on the other hand, has a clean line design with a minimum roof pitch to enable rain fall-off. To mimic a flat roof, a fascia is used to hide the roof slope and the fixing space between the roof, eaves and wall.
Interior Columns
A building with no interior columns at all is a clear span building. There are some facilities that require large, unobstructed column-free space such as aircraft hangars, gymnasiums or sports stadiums, auditoriums, large exhibition halls. However, adding one or two interior columns will make massive buildings with immense floor space more economical to construct. Buildings with interior columns, sometimes referred to as multi-span buildings, are also easy to expand. As long as interior columns do not pose a hindrance in the facility, it is a practical choice for warehouses, offices and other industrial or commercial use.
If you have deliberated on the above, choosing a suitable building shape is straightforward.
