Fundamental of

Architecture
Lecture:2; Building and their types

3rd December, 2015, Ar. Indu Duwal

College

Khwopa Engineering

Class Outline
1. Introduction
2. Functional Classification of
Buildings
3. Basic terminologies used in
building
4. Construction System of
Buildings

Introduction
Buildings classification is based on use
of function performed in the building.
Based on functional use of the building,
buildings are classified into ten types:
1. Residential Buildings
2. Educational
3. Institute for Care
4. Health Care Building
5. Business Building
6. Mercantile
7. Industrial
8. Storage
9. Hazardous
10.Garage

Functional Classification of
Buildings.. 1

Residential Building:

Any building or portion thereof providing sleeping and

living accommodations to related or unrelated groups of
people with bathroom, cooking and dinning facilities.

Types of Residential Building

1. Single-Family/ Detached
house
2. Duplex/Semi-Detached
House
3. Row House
4. Apartment Housing

Different spaces in Residential

Building

Generally a residential
building consists of
following spaces:

Living room
Dining and kitchen
Bedroom
Attached or common
bathroom
5. Car porch (Depends
on requirement of the
owner)
6. Store
1.
2.
3.
4.

Space Linkage in Residential

Building
KITCHEN
DINING
ROOM

BACKYARD

STORE

BEDROOM
STAIRS

LIVING ROOM

CARPOCH
ENTRY

Single-Family/Detached
house

- A single family home is a typical

private property where the building
can be owned or rental.
- In case, the building is owned by the
owner then the land on where the
building is constructed also belongs to
him/her.
- The space requirement and design of
the building fully depends on the
owners preferences and need.
- Generally, size, height, area, no of
rooms and types of rooms in the
building depends on the requirement
and budget of the owner.

Single-Family/Detached house..2
Advantage of Detached House:
1. These types of homes provide more privacy and space than other types of
home.
2. Since the owner does not need to share the property with anyone else, the
owner is free to choose his own design.
3. Resale value of the building is more than other types of dwelling units
Disadvantage of Detached House:
4. All the maintenance and reconstruction cost of the building has to be done
by the owner.
5. Safety of the building depends on the personal arrangement of the owner.

Single-Family/Detached house.3

Different types of spaces in a detached housing

Duplex/Semi-Detached house1
- Normally, duplex or semi-detached
house share a wall or has one
common wall in between two
buildings.
- Some buildings may have a
separate entrance for each unit or
same may share a main entrance.
- Commonly these types of buildings
has two different resides.
- In some cases, people buy one
side of a duplex property while in
come cases, investors buy duplex
to earn rental income.

Duplex/Semi-Detached house2
Advantage of Semi-Detached House:
1. This type of house is best for the one who are interested for
investment and earn through renting out the property by living close
to the rental building.
2. Two family members can live in same place with individual living unit.
Disadvantage of Semi-Detached House:
3. It is less private than detached house.
4. Similar to the detached house if the building is owned then all the
maintenance cost have to carried out by owner.
5. The owner has to bear extra running cost until he/she finds people to
rent the house

Picture: Example of a semi-detach house

Row House1
- Single family dwelling units which
are attached to each other by
common walls
- Usually row housing
common faade.

have

- Usually
it
is
series/line
unbroken series house

of

Row House

Picture: Example of a Row House

Apartment Building..1
- Usually a set of rooms
(one
unit)
used
for
accommodation purpose
like living, dining, kitchen,
bedroom etc arranged in
one floor.

- More than one unit may

be arranged in a floor
based on the availability
of the space and design of
the structure.

Apartment Building..2
Advantage of Apartment:
1. There is minimal responsibility on the house owner to contribute in maintenance of whole
building. Maintenance in the building is shared by among all other residents living in the
building.
2. In some apartments there are facilities like gyms, lounge areas, pools, community hall,
community buildings etc, which might be very expensive or impossible for individual units
Disadvantage of Apartment
3. Remodeling of the apartment unit cannot be carried out as per requirement or need of the
house owner. Since there should be uniformity in the outer appearance throughout the
building.
4. Sometimes there might be rental restriction and restriction in having a pet in a building.
Thus the owner is not allowed to live as per hi/her will in the building.
5. In apartment owner shares different spaces with other family or individuals. Hence,
theres not as much privacy compared to other types of residential building.

Picture: Example of plan of an apartment

Functional Classification of
Buildings..
2
2. Educational Building:
Building used for education, training
and care to children/ adults
Types of educational building:
Education facilities from pre-primary to post
graduate level
For instruction, education and recreation on
regular basis to fulfill the requirement of an
academic curriculum approved by the government

Facilities for training

Involves assembly for instruction,
education, training and recreation.

Functional Classification of
Buildings..
3
3. Institution for Care:
Building that provides institutional care for
its occupants, such as detention for
correctional purposes where the personal
liberty of the inmate is restricted.

Types of Institution for care buildings:

i. Child Care

ii. Custodial institution for physically

abled and disabled adults
iii. Mental institution for children and adults

iv. Penal institution: eg: prison

Functional Classification of
Buildings.. 4

4. Health Care Buildings:

-

Main purpose of the building is to provide

medical care, diagnostic facilities and
treatment to people suffering from
physical discomfort
In
these
buildings
sleeping
accommodation may or may not be
provided. Eg: Health-post, hospital, clinic
etc

5. Business Buildings:
- Buildings which is used for any business
transaction rather than direct sale of any products.
- Office where paper works, documentations,
display of samples or administrative or consulting
services, banking etc activities are carried out.
For eg: town hall city hall, Bank etc

Functional Classification of
Buildings..
5
6. Mercantile Buildings:
Building or a group of buildings which is
used for display and sale of
merchandises.
Example:
i. Small shops and market
ii. Large shops and shopping complex

7. Industrial Buildings:
On the basis of hazard potential of the
contents and the processes of the industry;
Hazard shall generally mean the relative
danger of the start of fire and the danger of
smoke and gases generated during
production of products.

Functional Classification of
Buildings.. 6

8. Storage Buildings:

Used primarily for storage or sheltering

of goods, ware, vehicles, animals etc

9. Hazardous Buildings:
Used as storage, industrial, research
and other facilities dealing with
hazardous material

10. Garage
Buildings used
for
storage of vehicle.
Types:
Parking Garage
Private Garage

repair,

resale,

Basic Terminologies used in

buildings1

A building has basically two parts:

1. Sub-structure or foundations
and
2. Super-structure

1. Sub-structure
-

Lower portion of the building, usually

located below the ground level
Function is to transfer /transmit
loads of super-structure to the soil
Also known as foundation

2. Super-structure
-

Structure above ground level that

serves the purpose of its intended
use

Basic Terminologies used in

buildings2

a) Plinth:

- The portion of the structure between the

surface of the surrounding ground and
surface of the floor, immediately above the
ground

b) Lintel:
- A Horizontal Structural member provided
over door, windows or other openings, to span
the gap, so as support the super-imposed
load carried by the wall above the opening.

c) Sill:

Lintel

- A Horizontal Structural member

provided under door, windows or other

openings, to span the gap

Sill

Basic Terminologies used in

buildings3

e) Parapet:

Parapet

A low Wall or railing around the

edge of a roof or balcony.

f) Balcony:
- External extension of an upper
floor in a building
- Serves to enlarge the living
space and range of activities
possible in the dwellings

Balcon
y

Basic Terminologies used in

buildings4

g) Facade:

- The main exterior face of a building

h) Fenestration:
the arrangement and design of
windows and doors in a building

i) Portico:
A covered entryway attached to
house, usually open on three sides
and supported by posts or column

j) Masonry Wall:
Wall constructed using different
types of mortar (cement, mud etc),

Basic Terminologies used in

buildings5

k) Stair:

- A set of steps leading from one

floor to the other.
Basic terminologies in stair
i) Tread: The upper horizontal portion
of a step upon which the foot is placed

Landin
g

Flight

ii) Riser: The vertical portion of a

step providing a support to the tread

iii) Flight: an unbroken series of

steps

iv) Landing: The level platform at the

top or bottom of a flight between the
floors

Tread

Riser

Building Construction System1

Basically there are two types of
construction systems:
i) Frame construction System

ii) Load Bearing Masonry

Wall construction system

Building Construction System2

i) Frame construction System:
- The structures having the combination
of beam, column and slab to resist the
lateral and gravity loads
- Frames carry the load of other parts of
the buildings and transfer loads to the
foundation.
Advantage of Frame construction
System:
- Easy in construction and very easy to
teach the labor at the construction site
- Rapid construction
- Economical designs.

Disadvantage of Frame
construction System:
- Restriction in span length of
the space

Building Construction System3

i)

Frame construction System Cond

Types of Frame construction system:

a. Concrete Frame Construction System
b. Steel Frame Construction System
c.
Wood Frame Construction System

Concrete Frame Construction

System:
-. Consists of frame or skeleton of concrete
-. Horizontal member of the frame is
beam, vertical member column and flat
planes of concrete is called slab.
-. Column , the primary load-carrying
element of the building
a.

Building Construction System4

i)

Frame construction System

Cond

b. Steel Frame Construction

System:
- Mostly steel construction is carried
out using mild steel.
- Important feature of the steel
frame is its flexibility. Thus it can
bend without breaking
- Plasticity and ductility of steel
does not crack suddenly, thus
provides warning to inhabitants
before failure of the structure
- Steel
frame
structure
rarely
collapses, thus it is regarded as
one of the most appropriate
structure in earthquake prone
areas.

Building Construction System5

i)

Frame construction System

Cond

c. Wood Frame Construction

System:
- One of the most popular types of
building method in the United
States and parts of Europe.
- Light weight, quick construction
with
no
heavy
tools
or
equipment are some advantage
of the system.
- Able to adapt itself to any
geometric shape and can be
clad with a variety of material
- However it is not highly fireproof.
- Not strong enough to resist
major wind events

Building Construction System6

ii) Load Bearing Masonry
construction System:

wall

Mostly used form of construction in

1700s to mid 1900s.

At present, rarely used for construction

of multi-storey buildings, but used in
construction
of
smaller
scale
residential buildings

Essentially consists of heavy masonry

walls of brick or stone to support entire
structure, including the horizontal
slabs

Every wall acts as load carrying

element. Thus fenestration cannot be
done in a wall that connects two rooms

Thank You
Questions???