The removed wall that should have stayed
This week I was asked to assess a house with rapidly growing cracks. On the ground floor, the contractor had removed a wall A perpendicular to the rear wall and, as often happens, installed a support beam to carry the vertical load. This 1920s house, however, had a […]
Read moreComparison of Eurocodes and NEN standards
Comparison of requirements for structural calculations (Netherlands) NEN-EN 1990 (new) Consequence class CC3 | high-rise h >70 m | 1.49G + Σ 1.65ψ0, i Qk, i (a) grandstands | i ≥1 exhibition | halls | 1.32G + 1.65Qk, 1 + Σ 1.65ψ0, i Qk, i (b) concert halls | i >1 Consequence class CC2 | residential buildings | 1.35G + Σ 1.5ψ0, i Qk, i (a) office buildings | i ≥1 public buildings | industrial buildings | […]
Read moreEigen Huis (Ver)Bouwen + Inrichten
On 1 April I visited this fair. The Utrecht fair drew around 25,000 visitors. Few of the architects on the stands, whether BNA members (the Dutch architects’ association) or not, knew that the Eurocode for structural calculations became mandatory in the Netherlands on 1 April. What impressed me most were the new low-cost screw pile foundations.
Read moreWinners of the Veemarkt competition
On 23 April, the Aorta architecture centre held an evening of talks by the two prize winners. The second prize offered a neat solution for a collective private commission (CPO) of musicians: an inner corner that gets little daylight. Since the group consisted of musicians, and a music practice room naturally needs little light, the practice room was […]
Read moreStair opening
An architect had told my client that a stair opening would not be possible because of the position of the reinforcement. Nevertheless, I can create a structurally sound stair opening.
Read moreRenovation
At the first Dutch Rowing meeting, held during the Heineken regatta in the new boathouse of the Amsterdam club ‘de Hoop’, it emerged that the construction and legal costs had come out at around four times the budget. You might then assume that nothing had been cut from the brief, but that turned […]
Read moreBridges
Structural measures determined for bridges on piles in peat areas, where the approach roads are subsiding. Main measure: a lighter transition slab topped with paving setts in a sand bed that can be topped up. (The transition slab rests on the abutment on the land side.) The load can also be reduced by replacing soil with “polystyrene” (EPS).
Read moreMechanics lessons
During a business development meeting with an architect, I was asked whether I would like to organise mechanics lessons. Naturally I am interested, and we will be doing this in the future.
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