Design Challenge
The model offers a streamlined approach to balancing structural efficiency with architectural flexibility. By automatically calculating the dimensions of columns and beams in a framed tube structure, designers can assess the building’s design and aesthetics while ensuring structural integrity with appropriately sized elements. However, since these automated calculations rely on reference values, they may not always be entirely accurate. To refine the design, the model can be reused once precise cross-sections are determined through a detailed structural FEM analysis. Additionally, it provides users with key metrics, including window surface area and concrete volume, to further support design optimization.
High performance criteria
Window area
Large windows for open bright spaces are a key consideration in modern architeccture. However, in framed tube structural systems, horizontal loads are carried solely by the outer tube, subjecting columns and beams to higher forces compared to systems with a central core or trusses. To bear these loads, the dimensions of the structural elements must be increased, which reduces the available space for windows. The parametric model provides designers with the window area in sqm and as a percentage of the total facade.
Concrete mass
The building’s concrete mass is crucial for e.g. assessing the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of the structure and estimating material costs. Addressing the environmental impact and economic feasibility of a building is a core challenge for modern engineers. This model serves as a valuable tool for engineers and architects, enabling them to make quick, sustainable decisions that reduce the overall concrete mass of a building.
Design Parameters
At a comprehensive level, the high-rise building is characterized by its height, length, and width. On a more detailed level, the structural system is divided into columns with the height of a single story and spandrel beams with a length that equals the spacing of the columns.
The user has to provide the following input parameters:
- Height of the building
- Length/Height ratio of the building
- Width/Height ratio of the building
- Story Height
- Number of Columns along the length/width of the building
The user has the option to provide the input parameters:
- Thickness of the components
- Height of the beams
- Cross-sectional length of the columns
Logic of the model
To ensure structural integrity of the system, cross-section dimensions must be adjustable. When beam spans or story height increase, the frames require added stiffness. To determine the dimensions of the structural components, users have two options: by default, the program calculates dimensions of the components based on experience values, using predefined maximum and minimum values. A scaling factor correlates column spacing and story height to these limits, ensuring proportional cross-section adjustments. Since the automatic calculation provides only a simplified representation of structural integrity, users can manually input precise cross-section values for greater accuracy.
Alternative design options
- Minimum Story Height: Maximizes window space, concrete efficiency, and usable area but requires a complex thin-ceiling system with smaller spans, potentially increasing costs. Column spacing matches story height for a balanced aesthetic and performance.
- Material Efficiency: Uses narrow column spacing to reduce concrete needs. Higher ceilings allow modern composite ceiling systems with larger spans, optimizing material use. However, smaller window surfaces should be considered in planning.
- Architectural Flexibility: Features tall ceilings and wide column spacing (>3m), maximizing window space and daylight, ideal for luxury apartments. However, fewer stories reduce usable space, and higher concrete volume impacts cost and sustainability.