THE MITCHELL FRAMING SYSTEM
A building system that encourages
homeowners to have a direct involvement
in driving building growth and expansion
Neal Mitchell Associates
1041 Sutton Street
Northbridge, MA 01534
Tel: 508-234-8646
E-mail: nmitchell2@aol.com
WHY US ?
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Low Cost Materials
Low Cost Equipment
Expands Using Local Capabilities
Encourages Growth Of Local Businesses
Same Components for 1 to 4 Story Buildings
Flexible Architectural Solutions
Flexible Architectural Unit Planning
Ability To Create Entire Cities
Ability To Put Lots Of People To Work
The Basic Frame Is Made With 4 Elements
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Column
Beam
Tie Beam
Slab
The System Uses A Steel Jig
To Accurately Locate Footings
Components Can Be Easily Lifted
And Carried By Two People
Components Are Easily Assembled
By Unskilled Workers
Component
Erection
Component erection can be
labor intensive when people
need jobs, or when lifting
equipment is not available.
Components can also be
erected using small scale and
inexpensive hydraulic lifting
equipment. Generally a small
truck with an extending boom
crane has been efficient for
this work.
The Frame Has Been Designed So that It Can Be
Easily Expanded In The X, Y, And Z Direction
Beams Can Be Lifted By
Hand Labor To Upper Floors
HOUSING
GROWTH
New frames can be added at any
time so that the buildings can
grow with the availability of
homeowner funding. This permits
possible expansion for up to four
floors.
Architectural designs are available
for single unit buildings up to four
story apartment buildings.
The structural frame for buildings
for the poorest members of the
society must be designed to carry
the same loads as those for the
richest members of the society, so
the investment in the frame
becomes a permanent asset.
CONNECTIVITY
The Design of the
beam/column connection
involves a bolted connection
between steel plates. The
plates are rigidly attached to
the forms during component
casting so exact location is
insured.
All vertical connections are
steel-to-steel connections so
vertical heights are fixed.
Frame Construction Accuracy
of ¼” is insured in all
directions by the fabrication
process.
Building Permits Frames To Grow
Together And To Grow Up
FRAME UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
This picture illustrates a basic
frame before the infill walls
have been added. This
demonstration project
illustrates a one, two, and
three story building attached
together to produce row
housing for a small city.
Note that the three story unit
has a two story living room.
The other holes in the slab
are for the various utilities for
the prefabricated kitchen and
bathroom units.
Frame Construction Permits The Use Of A
Variety Of Different Local Wall Materials
LOCAL MATERIALS
LOCAL SKILLS
A feature of the system is the
use of locally available skills,
and locally available building
materials.
In this case, the wall system is
using field cast concrete
blocks. In the Middle East
these are commonly
referenced as “Yemeni Blocks”
because of their low strength
and minimal use of cement.
We coat these non-structural
wall panels with an
elastomeric skin coat for
proper weather resistance.
The Building
Frame
The frame can be in-filled
with standard panels using
various materials. The
modular dimension of the
frame allows the owner to
bolt standard prefabricated
panels for use as the building
face. These panels can be
unbolted and recycled when
the owner wants to change
the window location or size.
The frame permits both easy
growth and fenestration
change as the owners income
permits.
TYPICAL LOW-INCOME UNIT PLAN
TYPICAL FINISHED
UNITS
These demonstration Units
for Lancaster provided one,
two and three story units with
wood framed walls.
The single story house was
built in Austin and it won a
competition for design and
minimal construction cost of
$7,500. The house, built to
American Standards, had two
bedrooms, a kitchen, a
bathroom and a dining/living
room along with heating and
air conditioning.
Typical Mid Rise Buildings
Low Cost Mid-Rise
Apartments
Unit plans are available for a
large number of different
designs for one to four story
buildings.
Flexibility of infill walls
between the frames permits
designers to apply a broad
range of different elevation
solutions. This architectural
flexibility permits a rich
variety of building elevations.
Self Help Housing In Vietnam
TWO STORY HOUSE
This house used wall components
that were purchased in the
existing market. However, these
wall components could not be
manufactured in sufficient quality
or quantity to satisfy an expanded
market demand.
We helped the owner apply new
technology to the manufacturing
process for these wall screens,
and then purchased the existing
output from this small shop.
The business owner used the
technology that he received from
us to improve his product , and
the money that he made from our
order to increase his capacity.
The Design Of Human Spaces
Architectural Spaces Using
Standard Components
Low Cost Does Not Mean Low Quality
Interior View – Low Cost House
USER NEEDS
FOR LOW COST
HOUSING
By using large space modules
it is possible to tailor housing
unit design to the specific
needs of a family.
Flexible wall treatments
coupled with the ability to
easily expand units puts the
growth of housing in any area
in direct relation to available
funds and needs.
Papers On The Technology Have Been
Published By The United Nations
THE FRAME HAS
BEEN STRUCTURALLY
TESTED
This was the first full scale
structural building system that
was tested by the National
Bureau of Standards.
The building system resisted
four times the required
ultimate load with about ½”
member deflection due to
vertical and horizontal loads.
At this load the NBS testing
frame failed.
The structural tests resulted in
over 40 new additions to the
building code.
What We Offer
Unit design, unit clustering
design, urban design, plant
design as well as technology
transfer for the construction
of various building
components that will support
the growth of a local building
component industry.