Hybrid Building Construction with Minimal-Footprint Structural Cores
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional construction methods for small-to-medium format buildings, whether Site-built or Pre-fabricated, fail to efficiently address difficult build sites due to limitations in site preparation, logistical difficulties, and inflexible customization, leading to high costs and ecological disruption.
Innovation Solution
A hybrid construction system combining modular and flat pack methodologies, allowing for a Universal Architectural System (UAS) that can be assembled quickly on challenging sites with minimal site clearance, incorporating a structural core and flexible interior design, enabling efficient trade integration off-site and customizable building envelopes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If Site-built Construction is used, then customization flexibility is improved, but construction time and cost efficiency deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The building is divided into modular components that can be pre-assembled off-site and then quickly connected at the build site. This segmentation allows customization through different module configurations while maintaining fast assembly through standardized connection systems.
Solution Approach 2:
Building components are pre-assembled and prepared in controlled off-site environments before delivery to the build site. This preliminary action enables quality control and customization planning to occur before site constraints impact the construction process.
2Productivity
If Pre-fabricated Installation is used, then construction time efficiency is improved, but customization flexibility and site adaptability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-fabricated system incorporates adjustable and reconfigurable elements that allow the building to adapt to different site conditions and customization requirements. Modular components can be arranged in various configurations to meet specific architectural and functional needs.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the building can have different levels of pre-fabrication and customization. Critical path components are pre-assembled for speed, while areas requiring high customization are prepared as adaptable modules that can be configured on-site.
3Ease of operation
If generous vegetation clearance and grading is performed, then build site accessibility is improved, but ecological impact and site disturbance worsen
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of clearing and grading the entire build site, only the minimum necessary area is prepared for foundation and module placement. The system requires limited site access for crane operations and module delivery, allowing most of the surrounding vegetation to remain undisturbed.
Solution Approach 2:
The build site preparation is segmented into minimal essential zones (foundation area, crane access path, module delivery zone) rather than requiring uniform clearance across the entire site. This allows ecological preservation in non-essential areas while maintaining construction accessibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A building apparatus, system, and method are disclosed in which a structural core, with a minimal footprint, provide the backbone for building units that are multiples of the size of the footprint of the structural core with minimal additional support. Such units may be combined repeatedly and in various orientations to create more complex systems. The design, configuration, and assembly process disclosed is for a composite structural system that achieves an occupiable space capture through the use of a small footprint 3-D structural box frame that is strong enough to provide the shear strength for multiples of the depth of the frame base from a foundation anchorage merely equal to the size of the structural box frame base. Thus, each structural box frame solves for its own structural performance, or a combination of structural box frames may combine to solve for the combined structural performance. This strategy reduces the structural footprint relative to total occupiable space capture and reduces the number of building parts required to achieve occupiable space capture, which accelerates and simplifies builds, and reduces the staging area demands of construction.