Part A: Conceptual design (30%)
You have been appointed as the structural engineer to design a six-storey office building in the
Uxbridge Business Park, which typically has 400 employees at any one time. It is up to you, as the
engineer, to design the required dimensions of the building but, of course, costs need to be
minimized.
The client is a commercial estates owner and operator and they have commissioned your firm to do
an initial structural design.
There are a number of requirements of the building. The ground floor should include a reception
space as well as a conference/meeting room which can accommodate up to 100 people as well as
several smaller meeting rooms.
It must also have a number of smaller office spaces, two common rooms and a bar/restaurant, as
well as the required service areas.
The remaining space on the ground floor should be leisure facilities (see Figure 1). Access to the 1 st,
2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th floors is via lifts or a staircase. There must be a suitable number of lifts
and staircases. The 1 st to 5th floors comprise meeting rooms and offices as well as corridors and
other service rooms (see Figure 2). The 6 th floor contains a staff canteen.
The client wishes the building layout to remain reasonably flexible to allow for future changes in
demand (e.g., future flexibilities) and therefore requires a structural arrangement that does not
compromise their ability to alter to width and mix of office spaces.
The depth of the floors needs to be as small as practicably possible to minimize the overall height of
the building. All servicing plant including water tanks, boilers and lift mechanisms are to be located
at roof. Please compose a formal 200-300-word English description detailing the primary factors that
structural engineers must take into account during the initial stages of the design process
Part B:
Detailed design (70%)
In Part B of the design project, you are required to complete a detailed design of an office building.
The geometry of the building is shown in Figures 1. Figure 1 shows a plan and elevation views.
Concrete slab on profiled metal decking should be considered for all floors and roof. The width of
each span is “X” meters. X=6 meters when both the last and second last digits of your ID number is
even numbers (e.g., 3002224). X=7 meters when both the last and second last digits of your ID
number is odd numbers (e.g., 3002273). X=8 meters when the second last digit of your ID number is
odd number but the last digit of your ID number is even number (e.g., 3002272). X=9 meters when
the second last digit of your ID number is even number, but the last digit of your ID number is odd
number (e.g., 3002227).
Assume that concrete slab restrains lateral-torsional behaviour of secondary beams only. Also
assume that there are simple beam-to-beam, beam-to-column, and column-to-base connections (so
no bending moment is transmitted between these components). Bracing against horizontal actions
of wind load is not shown, but its configuration must be chosen and its design conducted as part of
the project. Characteristic actions (unfactored loads) on the building are given below as well as
further useful information.
Typical floor loading:
Depth of concrete slab 150mm
Floor finishes 0.4 kN/m2
Services 0.4 kN/m2
Imposed floor loading 3.0 kN/m2
Roof loading:
Depth of slab 150mm
Floor finishes 0.4 kN/m2
Services 0.4 kN/m2
Snow weight 0.6 kN/m2
Wind loading (to be factored by 1.5):
Characteristic dynamic wind pressure (transverse and longitudinal face) 0.5 kN/m2
Density of building materials: Density of reinforced concrete = 2500 kg/m3
Additional notes:
 Design calculations should be conducted in accordance with Eurocode 3. Use grade S355 steel
throughout.
The following steps should be followed:
1. Calculation of design loads in beams
o Report the design loading on beam (B in Figure 1) at second floor. Assume the following:
 The self-weight of the primary beams is 0.8 kN/m (secondary beam: 0.4 kN/m, if any)
. 2. Calculation of design loads in a columns
o Report the design loading on column (C in Figure 1) between first and second floors. Assume the
following:
 The column self-weight is 2 kN/m.
3. Beam design
o Determine the cross-section of beam (B in Figure 1) at second floor. o Use hot-rolled UB section.
Assume the following:  All beams are simply-supported.
 Use a vertical deflection limit of L/200.
4. Column design
o Determine the cross-section of column (C in Figure 1).
o Use hot-rolled UC section.
5. Brace design
o Distribute the wind loading into point loads acting at the first floor to roof.
o Determine the brace location.
o Determine the cross-section of braces.
o Show the locations of braces by means of a sketch.
Bracing should be provided in the longitudinal and transverse directions.
Design the tension bracing members.
Figure 1: Plan and elevations Submission requirements:
Your project report should include the following major components:
(1) A cover page (given at the end of this document).
(2) Part A: The conceptual design essay (200-300 words). You may discuss framing type, construction
technology/methodology, and sustainability considerations from the structural engineer’s
perspective.
(3) Part B: Calculations, as outlined above. This should include details of the load combinations
examined.
(4) Drawings, as outlined above.
(5) A clear and concise descriptions of your design approach (e.g., how you selected steel structural
members).
Design calculations must be set out in the professional format (example is given at the end of this
document).