High-rise Building Structural Steel Plate

There are several reasons why we might select to use a framed structure rather than a traditional loadbearing structure for high rise buildings:

The ability of a loadbearing structure to cope with the accumulated loads from a high rise building relies on the increasing of the mass of the structure at the lower levels. Hence, there is a limit to how, high we can build with such structures before the crushing strength of the materials is exceeded and there is a need to increase the volume of the structural elements. Thus we would produce a building with very thick walls, which is uneconomic in terms of space generated and materials/labour costs of construction. This also has a significant implication in terms of speed of erection. In contrast framed buildings are quick to erect, can support high loads from tall structures with relative ease and offer a flexible and economic structural form.

In addition the cellular nature of loadbearing construction limits flexibility in floor layout during the building life as internal walls are likely to be loadbearing. In contrast a framed solution offers the potential to create larger open floor plates that can be remodelled in many different ways.

The separation of the loadbearing function of a framed structure from the ensclosure function of its cladding allows for the facility to upgrade the building during its life by applying new claddings, new internal layouts and different services. Thus the building is flexible in use.