INTERIOR DESIGNING SCHOOL IN KERALA

TRIO CHAMBERS, KANJIKUZHY,KOTTAYAM, City: KANJIKUZHY    District: Kottayam Country: India
6 months diploma course		for details http://www.keralaindex.com/dpview.asp?ADID=1205

Interior Design oppertunities

           turn your talent and imagination into
a career as a professional interior
designer creating functional and aesthetic
environments for work and play. The
Certificate Program in Interior Design and Interior
Architecture from UC Berkeley Extension, founded
in 1984, prepares you to work in residential and
commercial design. The program provides adult
students with a comprehensive interior design
education that is professional, affordable, and available
to working individuals on a part-time basis.

The specific aims of the certificate are to help you:

• Gain a theoretical and historical context as a
basis for problem solving.
• Develop communication and presentation
skills, both verbal and technical, including
knowledge of the most current computer-aided
drawing programs.
• Learn to design in a responsible way that abides
by codes and best practices.
• Understand sustainability issues and ways to use
materials in the most renewable ways.
• Create a portfolio that illustrates your readiness
and capability to compete.

                  Through a comprehensive curriculum, the Certificate
Program in Interior Design and Interior Architecture
can help you prepare for state and national
examinations, including the IDEX California® exam,
sponsored by the California Council for Interior
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Interior Design Qualification (NCIDQ) exam.
With UC Berkeley Extension’s Certificate Program
in Interior Design and Interior Architecture, you
gain the education and experience to enrich the
design profession through your technical skills and
creative talents.

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ARCHITECTURAL BLOCKS /CAD BLOCKS free download links

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architechtronics.tripod.com
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www.cadforum.cz/catalog_en/
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seek.autodesk.com
cad-notes.com
revitclinic.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/.../note-blocks.html

Ecological oriented construction/designs

This building in Puerto Rico is called "hooch" by the owner.
construction is put up on an existing concrete base with
cesstank and is used like a bedroom. sun- collectors on the roof produce
current for a ventilator and a small lamp.

Commercial natural buildings

Project in cooperation of the Bamboo center Germany and the company
PROFAIR:
Pavilion of the Company JAPAN TELECOM, Geneva

product by the Dutch group FLEXIMAC:
two bamboo- supports as pylons for bent awnings. Because of the double
curve of the membrane the surface in tension is stable

Temporary plants

BAMBUCO is the group of artists and climbers brought together by Artistic
Director Simon Barley to create unique aerial performance construction events.
Simon has been designing performance space and building site specific
installations for some years, with an emphasis on exploration of aerial space.
Study of bamboo construction followed from an interest in lightweight
structures. After research in SE Asia and a period as a trainee scaffolder at
Kowloon Bay CITA, Hong Kong, he collaborated with the contemporary dance
company Danceworks to produce the giant bamboo installation BRIDGE for
Melbourne International Festival 1995.

The crowds gathering to watch the builders at work confirmed the idea of a
spectacular construction process viewed as a performance event.
it has a core artistic and management group based in Melbourne,
Australia. Construction crews are drawn from many countries.
Construction involves techniques adapted from modern rock climbing -
although the work appears dangerous, attention to safety at height is given the
highest priority. Once on site they add to this a sense of humor in several
languages and a willingness to engage with the audience.

Economical design Timothy Ivory

Timothy Ivory is the Director of Design for Furniture. com and trained
originally as a theatrical designer at the University of Michigan and New York
University, receiving his MA in Design from University of Michigan. He also
studied Pantomime with Marcel Marceau's mentor , Etienne Decroux and at
the L'Ecole de Cirque Nationale de Paris.

He is now designing and building original pieces by commission and
developing a line of  furniture. His past work has included creating
theatrical environments mixing six foot masks on bamboo poles with fabric as
wings, staging performance pieces mixing circus, theatre and
sculpture and creating temporary or transitional structures to educate as to
the benefits of building with bamboo as a green/sustainable material.
In 1995 he created a Bamboo Pool Bar and also a Massage Spa Shade
Structure using Tonkin Cane Bambu at the Delano Hotel. He also designed
and built a pool house using Guaduas Angustifolia from Colombia.

Bamboo architecture 2

One year later he set up a prototype of a 'low-cost-house', which could be
built by the inhabitants.
The building is extremely resistant to earthquakes and is based on bambuco
and loam. It has 60 square meters divided on two floors and the value in
Columbia is about 5000$.
Most of his buildings served to create a good image of bambu even in
higher social class of Columbia. This may be the way to integrate and
establish bamboo next to concrete, steel, wood and stone as a full building
material.

Shoei Yoh was born in 1940 in Kumamoto-City/Japan.1970 he founded his
office 'ShoeiYohArchitects' .In his long career he won many architecture
prizes and at this time he teaches at the 'Graduate School of Keio
University'.
In two projects he used that as main static structure. He also designed
a geodetic cupola [1989].
He also attended with 'grating- shell construction' .In Chikuho-Fukuoka he
was inspired by the local artisans.

The "Festival of Vision" in summer 2000 connects the cities Berlin and Hong
Kong, while both are in a time of change and reorientation. The 'House of the
Cultures of the World' demonstrates in this context the important attitude to
contemporary art made in Hong Kong.
In this context the pavilion of the architect Rocco Yim from Hong Kong was
distinguished in front of the 'House of the Cultures of the World' in a lake.
it on the one hand has an essential meaning for his static structure
for high buildings, on the other hand for temporary stages or Chinese
festivals.

Michael McDonough is an architect and furniture designer, who discovered
bamboo some years ago. Since that time he attended with the possibilities
of this material.

After some furniture designs he wanted to realize his project 'Mendocino
high-tech Bamboo Bridge' in 2000 . This should be a demonstration of the
constructive qualities of material. This framework construction is able to
strain over 33 meters and is also able to compensate more than 60 times of
its own weight. The static structure is based on the principle of 'tensegrity',
which was coined by Buckminster Fuller and Robert Le Ricolais.
"The word 'tensegrity' is an invention: a contraction of 'tensional integrity.'
Tensegrity describes a structural-relationship principle in which structural
shape is guaranteed by the finitely closed, comprehensively continuous,
tensional behaviors of the system and not by the discontinuous and
exclusively local compressional member behaviors. Tensegrity provides the
ability to yield increasingly without ultimately breaking or coming asunder."
( "Synergetics", by R. Buckminster Fuller )

Bamboo in costruction

It is a fact that literature about bamboo in modern architecture is hard to find.
At this time bamboo is just used as a forming and constructive element.
it was introduced to Europe through some sporadic organizations and
trial projects.
In regions where it is domestic, it was not just integrated in culture,
but even in architecture. The logical conclusion is that architects of these
regions are more interested in presenting the qualities of this material to us.
it has the image of being the building material of the poorer class, for
example in Colombia the upper class especially prefers concrete. In India the
highest caste builds with stone, the middle castes use wood and only the
lowest castes used that.
The material is not standardized so people in Europe are confronted
with difficulties, if they want to build with structurals.
Nevertheless some famous architects and engineers already made their
experiments with this natural product. The qualities of bamboo are also
appreciated by Renzo Piano. He was interested in combining light metal
elements [tubes /slabs] with it. In this way there arise intersections
between material- and modern light metal- constructions, Arata Isozaki,
Buckminster Fuller und Frei Otto.

Vélez is a graduate architect, from the University of Colombia in Bogotá. He
was born in Manizale/ Colombia in 1949 and has completed over 100
projects using concrete,  (Guada Angustafolia), mangrove wood,
woven palm mat lathing (or expanded metal lath) and clay roof tile.

Vélez has developed a very interesting model for building experimental
structures. He builds only with his own well-trained crew of workers, so he is
able to constantly draw upon past successes and failures in detailing. He
intentionally keeps drawings simple, usually freehand on single sheets of
8x11 graph paper. Cad- drawings only are made for the purchaser or for
building improvements.
The clearest concept to be seen in his drawings is the necessity for balance.
These cantilevers are very large, but maintain an obvious center of gravity
over the support.

The main mistake some architects do is to use it like wood. His
efforts are trials, because he always tries to plan with respecting thebambo
and its peculiarities.

Aveleda’s HOME STYLE

Architect: manual ribeiro

location :portugal

About it....

Its a villa designed to accommodate the light as a source of inner experience of housing. The basic idea of the project, parts from the concept of being located near by the old Roman city of “Bracara Augustae”, where the ancient Roman houses, the Domus, were built around an internal square. Hence all the subtlety of the house is achieved with a careful distribution. In other hand, it was searchable to provide all 6 senses of life.

The main body which houses the social functions of the house is situated at the same elevation of the square, assuming the sloping ground with the Hall higher, comparatively to the social part and creating a view of all from this; the social area involves open spaces, living and dining room without doors to the kitchen, and bathroom service is disguised within.

Down below the architect created a space for a gym and an office, supplied by the natural slope of the terrain.

The private area with 4 bedrooms (1 suite and 3 rooms) and a large bathroom facility support is at the elevation of the entrance hall, raised highly in comparison of the external square, without losing the visual field.

The suite room is also a closet, and a large bathroom, where there is a division between the uses (bath, sanitary and sinks).

On the square that is outside, we can find the pool that reminds us the Roman “compluvium” of a “Domus”, centered on between two areas of housing. Uniting all construction towards the valley and enhanced with the Sun´s circuit along with the glass façade.

The engine room, the locker room and a support kitchen area in a under elevation of the square, as a support for the outdoor activities.

“The plasticity of the object HOUSE (purpose built) will always be overridden by the phenomenological aspect, giving identity and character to the building and so, it’s able now to provide a center of life, functional and familiar at the same time that explores the pleasure of landscapes, spacious zones and materials.

This will not be only a “home”, but always a Domus. All the project intends to explore the human being as well as it senses: touch, sight, smell, hearing, taste and passion. These are aspects that never been neglected. On the contrary, they are always present”,

 

Energy Efficient SIEEB Buldings in china

                 

                 architects:    MarioCucinella  Architects

                 Standing location:   Beijing, China

                  project area: 215,300 sq ft

it was joint venture between the Italian and Chinese Governments. It is for a new 20,000 m2 faculty building in Tsinghua University, housing the Sino-Italian education, training and research centre for environmental protection and energy conservation. The building is designed as a showcase for the potential for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in China.

The design integrates passive and active strategies to control the external environment in order to optimise internal environmental conditions.

The building is U shaped in plan around a central courtyard and on the ground floor public areas look onto a landscaped garden. It is closed and well insulated on the northern side that faces the cold winter winds and open and transparent towards the south.

Offices and laboratories on the upper floors have terraced gardens shaded by photovoltaic panels that produce energy for the building.

ARCHITECTURAL STYLE Shinkin Bank

   

Building design concept: Rainbow mille-feuille

 Shinkin Bank is a credit union that strives to provide first-rate hospitality to its customers in accordance with its motto: “we take pleasure in serving happy customers.” Having completed the design for branch outlets of Sugamo Shinkin Bank located in Tokiwadai and Niiza, we were also commissioned to handle the architectural and interior design for its newly rebuilt branch in Shimura. For this project, we sought to create a refreshing atmosphere with a palpable sense of nature based on an open sky motif.

 

A rainbow-like stack of colored layers,
peeking out from the façade
to welcome visitors.
Reflected onto the white surface,
these colors leave a faint trace over it,
creating a warm, gentle feeling.
At night, the colored layers are faintly illuminated.
The illumination varies according to the season and time of day,
conjuring up myriad landscapes.

ceiling is adorned with dandelion puff motifs that seem to float and drift through the air. In Europe, there is a long and cherished custom of blowing on one of these fuzzy balls while secretly making a wish. Bits of fluffy down gently dance and frolic in the air, carried by the wind.

ATMs, teller windows, consultation booths and an open space laid out with chairs in 14 different colors are located on the first floor.

The second storey houses offices, meeting rooms and a cafeteria, while the third floor is reserved for the staff changing rooms.

Three long glass airwells thread through the first and second levels of the building, flooding the interior with natural light as well as “blowing” air through it.

 

NASA annual competition

The Annual NASA Design Competition(ANDC) is NASA’s own design competition, which touches upon issues ranging from current trends to theoretical approach of architectural design



Results from 53rd Annual NASA Convention, Hubli 2010.

Citation I:
IES 117 - SVCA Hyderabad

Citation II:
IES 48 - IIT Roorkee

Special Mention:
IES 75 - MNIT Jaipur
IES 113 - MES Kuttipuram

BRICKS FIELD TESTING AND IDENTIFICATION

However, there are some simple tests which can be done in the field. Firstly, when you handle a brick, see if it's soft. Can you pick off the edges? Can you scratch the surface with your fingernail? If so, the brick is probably under fired - one of the most common problems. Now, break a brick in half. Was it easy? Is there a 'core' of different colour material? If the brick breaks easily or has a core like this, then it's under fired. What about the cross section? Are there lumps or stones, internal cracks or holes? If so, the soil probably wasn't mixed well enough.

Soak bricks in cold water for 48 hours. If you weigh bricks before and after soaking, you can calculate the percentage of water they absorb. A good brick shouldn't absorb more than 15% of its dry mass. If bricks are too absorbent they suck moisture out of mortar and weaken the bond. You may find the brick dissolves altogether. In this case, it's definitely under fired - and dangerous to use in any building. The presence of lime may also be detected by soaking bricks. If lime is present as lumps, it may expand and cause fractures, exposing powdery white deposits. 

Laboratory tests

If bricks have to satisfy an official standard, they will probably have to be tested in a laboratory. These tests will need to be repeated periodically to maintain quality control. Tests normally specify the sizes for bricks and the acceptable compressive strength - how much weight they can bear before crushing.

 

Raw material tests

The quality of brick which can be made at a particular site is largely predetermined by the type of soil available. There are some simple soil tests which don't need very special equipment. In the sedimentation jar test, a sample of soil is dissolved in a transparent jar of water. When the soil settles you can get an idea of the fractions of clay, fine and coarse sand that are present. Another test is the linear shrinkage test. A sample column of wetted and mixed soil is pressed into a mould and allowed to dry. The shrinkage indicates how much clay there is in the soil and whether problems can be expected when drying bricks. Soil test are useful indicators, but you really only find out whether good bricks can be made by firing samples. Before investing in a full size kiln, however, it is possible to fire cubes or eggs of soil either in a laboratory kiln or a simple field oven.

Methods of compation of concrete

Vibration:

To compact concrete you apply energy to it so that the mix becomes more fluid. Air trapped in it can then rise to the top and escape. As a result, the concrete becomes consolidated, and you are left with a good dense material that will, after proper curing, develop its full strength and durability.

Vibration is the next and quickest method of supplying the energy. Manual techniques such as rodding are only suitable for smaller projects. Various types of vibrator are available for use on site.

Poker Vibrators

The poker, or immersion, vibrator is the most popular of the appliances used for compacting concrete. This is because it works directly in the concrete and can be moved around easily.

Sizes:

Pokers with diameters ranging from 25 to 75mm are readily available, and these are suitable for most reinforced concrete work. Larger pokers are available - with diameters up to 150mm - but these are for mass concrete in heavy civil engineering.

Radius of action:

When a poker vibrator is operating, it will be effective over a circle centred on the poker. The distance from the poker to the edge of the circle is known as the radius of action.

However, the actual effectiveness of any poker depends on the workability of the concrete and the characteristics of the vibrator itself. As a general rule, the bigger the poker and the higher its amplitude, the greater will be the radius of action. It is better to judge from your own observations, as work proceeds on site, the effective radius of the poker you are operating on the concrete you are compacting.

The length of time it takes for a poker vibrator to compact concrete fully depends on:

1.                  The workability of the concrete: the less workable the mix, the longer it must be vibrated.

2.                  The energy put in by the vibrator: bigger vibrators do the job faster.

3.                  The depth of the concrete: thick sections take longer.

Different types of mortar

Types of Mortar

The best mortar for a particular job is not necessarily the strongest one. Other properties like workability, plasticity or faster hardening can be more important, though the strength of the mortar must of course be sufficient for the job. The Mortar should neither be much stronger or much weaker than the blocks with which it is used.

- Cement Mortar: This sets quickly and develops great strength. It is used in proportions of one part cement to three parts sand (1:3), which makes quite a strong and workable mix; down to a 1:2 mix, a lean mix which will be rather harsh and difficult to use.

- Lime Mortar: This is usually very workable and does not easily lose water to the blocks, but it is weaker than cement mortar and hardens slower. Lime mortars are nowadays largely replaced by cement mortars or combinations of lime and cement.

- Cement-Lime Mortar: This combines the properties of cement and lime to give a workable and strong mortar. The cement makes the mortar stronger, denser, and faster setting; while the lime makes the mortar workable and reduces the shrinkage during drying, because it retains the water better.

Batching

Before mortar can be mixed, the ingredients have to be measured in their correct proportions.

The ingredients can be measured by:

• Volume.

• Weight.

Mixing by Volume

Volume mixing can be carried out by hand or by machine, while weight mixing can only be carried out by machine.

Volume mixing by hand using a shovel

Materials calculated by volume should be accurately gauged or measured into the correct quantities for each specified mix. The crudest method is gauging the materials by the shovel-full. The amount on the shovel can vary according to the material, e.g. shovels of sand are often greater than shovels of aggregate.

Volume mixing by hand using a bucket

A slightly more accurate method is to use a bucket to measure the materials. As each bucket full is the same size, it will have the same volume.

Volume mixing by hand using a gauge box

This method is similar to using buckets, but wooden boxes are made to the correct volumes for the specified mix.

The boxes do not have bottoms and this allows the gauged material to fall through onto a board for shovelling into the mix.

Mortar volume batching

The first gauge box is placed on the ground and filled to the top with building sand and levelled off. The second box is placed on the top and filled to the top with cement and levelled off. The boxes are then lifted away to leave the materials in a heap ready for mixing.

Mixing by Weight

Traditional weight batching

By using a weight batch mixer, the weight of the aggregate is recorded as it is shovelled into the hopper. This is a more accurate method of batching materials than any of the previously described methods. The materials can be loaded into the hopper while the previously batched materials are being mixed. The weight of materials can be read on a dial by the operator who controls the weight, based on previous calculations for the constituent weights for the required mix.

Concrete compactions

• Concrete Placing and Compaction of Concrete

The operation of placing and compaction are interdependent and are carried out simultaneously. They are most important for the purpose of ensuring the requirements of strength, impermeability and durability of hardened concrete in the actual structure. As for as placing is concerned, the main objective is to deposit the concrete as close as possible to its final position so that segregation is avoided and the concrete can be fully compacted. The aim of good concrete placing can be stated quite simply.

It is to get the concrete into position at a speed, and in a condition, that allow it to be compacted properly.

To achieve proper placing following rules should be kept in mind:

1.                  The concrete should be placed in uniform layers, not in large heaps or sloping layers.

2.                  The thickness of the layer should be compatible with the method of vibration so that entrapped air can be removed from the bottom of each layer.

3.                  The rate of placing and of compaction should be equal. If you proceed too slowly, the mix could stiffen so that it is no longer sufficiently workable. On no account should water ever be added to concrete that is setting. On the other hand, if you go too quickly, you might race ahead of the compacting gang, making it impossible for them to do their job properly.

4.                  Each layer should be fully compacted before placing the next one, and each subsequent layer should be placed whilst the underlying layer is still plastic so that monolithic construction is achieved

5.                  Collision between concrete and formwork or reinforcement should be avoided.

6.                  For deep sections, a long down pipe ensures accuracy of location of concrete and minimum segregation.

7.                  You must be able to see that the placing is proceeding correctly, so lighting should be available for large, deep sections, and thin walls and columns.

 

Compaction

Once the concrete has been placed, it is ready to be compacted. The purpose of compaction is to get rid of the air voids that are trapped in loose concrete.

It is important to compact the concrete fully because:

§                     Air voids reduce the strength of the concrete. For every 1% of entrapped air, the strength falls by somewhere between 5 and 7%. This means that concrete containing a mere 5% air voids due to incomplete compaction can lose as much as one third of its strength.

§                     Air voids increase concrete's permeability. That in turn reduces its durability. If the concrete is not dense and impermeable, it will not be watertight. It will be less able to withstand aggressive liquids and its exposed surfaces will weather badly.

§                     Moisture and air are more likely to penetrate to the reinforcement causing it to rust.

§                     Air voids impair contact between the mix and reinforcement (and, indeed, any other embedded metals). The required bond will not be achieved and the reinforced member will not be as strong as it should be.

§                     Air voids produce blemishes on struck surfaces. For instance, blowholes and honeycombing might occur.

Summing up, fully compacted concrete is dense, strong and durable; badly compacted concrete will be porous, weak and prone to rapid deterioration. Sooner or later it will have to be repaired or replaced. It pays, therefore, to do the job properly in the first place.

Stiff mixes contain far more air than workable ones. That is one of the reasons why a low-slump concrete requires more compacting effort than one with a higher slump - the compaction needs to continue for a longer time, or more equipment has to be used.

Even air-entrained concrete needs to be compacted to get rid of entrapped air voids. The difference between air voids and entrained air bubbles should be noted at this stage. The air bubbles that are entrained are relatively small and spherical in shape, increase the workability of the mix, reduce bleeding, and increase frost resistance. Entrapped air on the other hand tends to be irregular in shape and is detrimental to the strength of the mix. It is to remove this air that the concrete must be properly compacted. There is little danger that compaction will remove the minute air bubbles that have been deliberately entrained, since they are so stable.

Bricks used in building constructiion

RAW MATERIALS

Clay is one of the most abundant natural mineral materials on earth. For brick manufacturing, clay must possess some specific properties and characteristics. Such clays must have plasticity, which permits them to be shaped or molded when mixed with water; they must have sufficient wet and air-dried strength to maintain their shape after forming. Also, when subjected to appropriate temperatures, the clay particles must fuse together.

Types of Clay

Clays occur in three principal forms, all of which have similar chemical compositions but different physical characteristics.

Surface Clays- Surface clays may be the upthrusts of older deposits or of more recent sedimentary formations. As the name implies, they are found near the surface of the earth.

Shales- Shales are clays that have been subjected to high pressures until they have nearly hardened into slate.

Fire Clays- Fire clays are usually mined at deeper levels than other clays and have refractory qualities.

Surface and fire clays have a different physical structure from shales but are similar in chemical composition. All three types of clay are composed of silica and alumina with varying amounts of metallic oxides. Metallic oxides act as fluxes promoting fusion of the

particles at lower temperatures. Metallic oxides (particularly those of iron, magnesium and calcium) influence the color of the fired brick.

The manufacturer minimizes variations in chemical composition and physical properties by mixing clays from different sources and different locations in the pit. Chemical composition varies within the pit, and the differences are compensated for by varying manufacturing processes. As a result, brick from the same manufacturer will have slightly different properties in subsequent production runs. Further, brick from different manufacturers that have the same appearance may differ in other properties.

MANUFACTURING

Brick are produced by mixing ground clay with water, forming the clay into the desired shape, and drying and firing. In ancient times, all molding was performed by hand. Phases of Manufacturing

The manufacturing process has six general phases: 1) mining and storage of raw materials, 2) preparing raw materials, 3) forming the brick, 4) drying, 5) firing and cooling and 6) de-hacking and storing finished products

Mining and Storage- Surface clays, shales and some fire clays are mined in open pits with power equipment. Then the clay or shale mixtures are transported to plant storage areas.

Continuous brick production regardless of weather conditions is ensured by storing sufficient quantities of raw materials required for many days of plant operation. Normally, several storage areas (one for each source) are used to facilitate blending of the clays. Blending produces more uniform raw materials, helps control color and allows raw material control for manufacturing a certain brick body.

Preparation- To break up large clay lumps and stones, the material is processed through size-reduction machines before mixing the raw material. Usually the material is processed through inclined vibrating screens to control particle size.

Forming- Tempering, the first step in the forming process, produces a homogeneous, plastic clay mass. Usually, this is achieved by adding water to the clay in a pug mill a mixing chamber with one or more revolving shafts with blade extensions. After pugging, the plastic clay mass is ready for forming. There are three principal processes for forming brick: stiff-mud, soft-mud and dry-press.

Stiff-Mud Process - In the stiff-mud or extrusion process water in the range of 10 to 15 percent is mixed into the clay to produce plasticity. After pugging, the tempered clay goes through a chamber that maintains a vacuum of 15 to 29 in. (375 to 725 mm) of mercury. De-airing removes air holes and bubbles, giving the clay increased workability and plasticity, resulting in greater strength.

Next, the clay is extruded through a die to produce a column of clay. As the clay column leaves the die, textures or surface coatings may be applied. An automatic cutter then slices through the clay column to create the individual brick. Cutter spacing and die sizes must be carefully calculated to compensate for normal shrinkage that occurs during drying and firing

Soft-Mud Process - The soft-mud or molded process is particularly suitable for clays containing too much water to be extruded by the stiff-mud process. Clays are mixed to contain 20 to 30 percent water and then formed into brick in molds. To prevent clay from sticking, the molds are lubricated with either sand or water to produce “sand-struck” or “water-struck” brick. Brick may be produced in this manner by machine or by hand.

Dry-Press Process - This process is particularly suited to clays of very low plasticity. Clay is mixed with a minimal amount of water (up to 10 percent), then pressed into steel molds under pressures from 500 to 1500 psi (3.4 to 10.3 MPa) by hydraulic or compressed air rams.

Drying- Wet brick from molding or cutting machines contain 7 to 30 percent moisture, depending upon the forming method. Before the firing process begins, most of this water is evaporated in dryer chambers at temperatures ranging from about 100 ºF to 400 ºF (38 ºC to 204 ºC). The extent of drying time, which varies with different clays, usually is between 24 to 48 hours. Although heat may be generated specifically for dryer chambers, it usually is supplied from the exhaust heat of kilns to maximize thermal efficiency. In all cases, heat and humidity must be carefully regulated to avoid cracking in the brick.

Hacking- Hacking is the process of loading a kiln car or kiln with brick. The number of brick on the kiln car is determined by kiln size. The brick are typically placed by robots or mechanical means. The setting pattern has some influence on appearance. Brick placed face-to face will have a more uniform color than brick that are cross-set or placed face-to-back.

Firing- Brick are fired between 10 and 40 hours, depending upon kiln type and other variables. There are several types of kilns used by manufacturers. The most common type is a tunnel kiln, followed by periodic kilns. Fuel may be natural gas, coal, sawdust, and methane gas from landfills or a combination of these fuels.

In a tunnel kiln brick are loaded onto kiln cars, which pass through various temperature zones as they travel through the tunnel. The heat conditions in each zone are carefully controlled, and the kiln is continuously operated. A periodic kiln is one that is loaded, fired, allowed to cool and unloaded, after which the same steps are repeated. Dried brick are set in periodic kilns according to a prescribed pattern that permits circulation of hot kiln gases.

Firing may be divided into five general stages: 1) final drying (evaporating free water); 2) dehydration; 3) oxidation; 4) vitrification; and 5) flashing or reduction firing. All except flashing are associated with rising temperatures in the kiln. (Vitrification allows clay to become a hard, solid mass with relatively low absorption).

Cooling- After the temperature has peaked and is maintained for a prescribed time, the cooling process begins. Cooling time rarely exceeds 10 hours for tunnel kilns and from 5 to 24 hours in periodic kilns. Cooling is an important stage in brick manufacturing because the rate of cooling has a direct effect on color.

De-hacking- De-hacking is the process of unloading a kiln or kiln car after the brick have cooled, a job often performed by robots. Brick are sorted, graded and packaged. Then they are placed in a storage yard or loaded onto rail cars or trucks for delivery. The majority of brick today are packaged in self-contained, strapped cubes, which can be broken down into individual strapped packages for ease of handling on the jobsite. The packages and cubes are configured to provide openings for handling by forklifts.

Advantages of timber

The Environmental Advantages of Timber

Within today's day and age there are few materials that can be used for the purpose of construction and still remain sustainable. Like oil, metals we commonly use for building purposes extracted from 'terra firma' cannot be replaced once all resources are consumed. Therefore metallic based materials can know longer be implemented in place of rival sustainable products.
Timber being one of the world's rare sustainable building materials, as they reproduce when harvested. Due to timber's sustainability, through adequate management and conservation as a whole, we can ensure timber's longevity and continual purpose as an adequate building material. This objective is contained through the continual process of planting forests and plantations on a sustainable level. When comparing timber to other substitute building materials which are generally non-renewable.
During the harvesting of timber carbon atoms are stored within the tree even whilst being manufactured into timber products. If the trees being harvested are left to perish and rot as unwanted waste, the carbon within the timber transforms into carbon dioxide which is released back into the atmosphere as a harmful Green House Gas.

Hardwood -Hardwood trees are generally broadleaved trees.   These tree species are deciduous, retaining their leaves only one growing season.   The designation Hardwood trees does not necessarily relate to the hardness of the wood.. Hardwood trees are also called broad leaf trees or deciduous trees. Typical hardwood trees include ash, elms, oak, maple, walnut, hickory, mahogany, and walnut. Woods grown in tropical climates are generally hardwoods.   Hardwoods have shorter fibers compared to softwood. Some hardwoods are evergreen.

Softwoods- Softwoods are one of the botanical groups of trees that have persistent needle-like or scale-like leaves; softwoods are evergreen and have longer-length fibers than hardwoods. Softwood trees include pines, spruces, firs, cedars.

Strength of Wood- Green wood has high moisture content (generally) and this results in reduced strength.As it is dried it loses the moisture content and becomes stronger.

Wood may be described as an orthotropic material; that is, it has unique and independent mechanical properties in the directions of three mutually perpendicular axes: longitudinal, radial, and tangential.   The longitudinal axis is assumed parallel to the fiber (grain); the radial axis is normal to the growth rings (perpendicular to the grain in the radial direction); and the tangential axis is perpendicular to the grain but tangent to the growth rings.  (Think of the grain as the tree rings running up the trunk /branch - planks of wood are simply sections of the tree trunk (or branch)

Sapwood and Heartwood

The structure of a tree stem can be broadly divided into two main zones. When viewing the end-section of a log or cross-section of a tree stem, the central wood zone, is usually considerably darker than the portion adjacent to the bark. Generally, the light coloured wood is the sapwood remainder.