Building Technology

FORMAT

All submissions should have a cover sheet identifying the module, the date and the student’s name and roll number. In addition to the in-text citations, all submissions shall have a reference list of the sources used in the preparation of the report. The School has adopted the Harvard system (APA 6th) as standard and guidance is available from the link below: –

http://www.salford.ac.uk/skills-for-learning/home/using-and-referencing-information/referencing

SUBMISSION

This assignment MUST be submitted electronically through Turnitin®. An upload link will be available in the ‘Assignments’ tab in the module Blackboard area. If you run into problems while submitting your work, you should first contact ITS for assistance. Before final submission, you ought to use the DRAFT submission link to examine report/essay and see if it displays correctly in the Turnitin system. Please check the allowed file format and the maximum file size beforehand.

Late submissions of up to one calendar week will be capped at the pass mark. From this year there are no stepped application of late penalties and further details can be found in the Academic Regulations found by following the link below: –

http://www.salford.ac.uk/about-us/corporate-information/governance/policies-and-procedures/academic-taught

After one calendar week submissions will not be marked unless the student has approved PMC’s which allow for late submission.

PRE-SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

Before submitting your assessment; ask yourself the following questions, just to be sure you’ve met all the requirements:

v  Have I correctly referenced all the sources which I have used?

v  Have I used Turnitin to check my referencing and bibliography so that my tutor knows where I have found all my information?

v  Have I completed the assignment within the word limit and/or stated my word count?

v  Have I used a spell checker and proof read my work?

Task

You are acting for a private developer who is considering the purchase of a Preston City centre brownfield site. The developer – your client – has asked that you prepare a report advising on a basement and foundation design for a five-storey steel framed student accommodation building. The information you give will appraise the developer of your recommendation for a suitable foundation and basement construction method that responds to both the building’s use and form of construction as well as the specific site conditions as noted below.

Broadly the report is to be split into the following three main parts: –

1.      Introduction – clarifying the address and location of the site and the purpose of your report.

2.      Initial Site Appraisal – clarifying the results of your desktop studies together with the information supplied by the client in this brief & how these results might impact on the choice of basement and foundation design for part 3 below.

3.      Basement & Foundation Design – Recommending a suitable basement & foundation design for the client’s proposed five storey, steel-framed student accommodation building. The basement will be a single level below ground level and there will be five further storeys above ground level.

Figure 1. Site Plan (not to scale) 2015 Source www.Mariomaps.com

Figure 2. Location Plan (not to scale) 2015 Source www.mariomaps.com

The Site

The site under consideration is situated in the City of Preston in the County of Lancashire, UK on Marsh Lane just off Corporation Street and to the rear of numbers 58 to 67 Friargate.

Most of the site is currently used as a private car park and although the site has had other uses in the past the client does not know exactly what these uses were.

Most of these previous buildings have been demolished but it is unknown if any parts of these former structures remain in the ground.

A site plan is given above. (NOTE: SITE ENTRY IS NOT PERMITTED. YOUR APPRAISAL SHOULD BE BASED ON RESEARCH TAKEN FROM DESKTOP STUDIES ALONE)

The Report

·         Your report is to be produced in A4 printed format (Word document) and should comprise no more than 2,500 words plus illustrations for parts 1,2 and 3 which are the introduction, initial site appraisal and the basement & foundation design respectively.

·         The report should be referenced in the Harvard style (APA 6^th) throughout.

·         An annotated sketch is required as well as a written description for the basement and foundation design. This sketch is not intended to be sufficiently detailed so as to be used by a contractor to construct the building from. It is intended that the sketch will help the client visualise your proposals. Your sketch may be completed by hand or by using a computerized drawing programme such as AutoCAD or Sketchup. Extra marks will not be awarded for computerized sketches as it is not the intention of this assignment to test a student’s abilities to use such programmes. All sketches, however produced, should be drawn and annotated accurately and neatly.

The report may be split into the following parts containing, typically, but not limited to, the information as described below:

Part 1 – Introduction – The introduction should clarify the address and location of the site, the date the report was carried out and by whom. A brief description of the report’s purpose should also be given.

Part 2 – Initial Site Appraisal – This part must communicate to the client the following information:

·         A brief description of the site – e.g. Size, shape, location, surrounding buildings etc.

·         A brief summary of site history – e.g. past usage (buildings, purpose etc)

·         A summary of anticipated potential issues found below ground (such as sewers) or above ground (such as adjacent buildings) which might affect construction of the basement and foundations.

·         You should clearly explain how the clients proposed construction might be affected by what you have found in your investigations.

Part 3 – Foundation Design – Given the investigations you have undertaken in part 2, you are to offer your client a recommended basement and foundation design suitable for the client’s proposed five storey steel framed student accommodation building. This design must be communicated both descriptively and in the form of a sketch drawing which depict a ‘typical section’ through the foundation.

The design must respond specifically to the following factors:

• The building will have a single storey basement to allow for a student common room and a mechanical plant room only. It will be formed under the entire footprint of the proposed building. The specific layout of the basement is up to you.
• The specific location of the clients building within the site as outlined in red on the site plan above is up to you.
• The shape of the building footprint is up to you, although the client will need a car park for 10 cars located outside the building.
• Borehole analysis undertaken by the client previously, has shown the site is covered with man-made fill material consisting of brick, ash and organic waste up to 1.4 m deep. This lies on top of an organic peat layer up to 7m deep. Below the peat is solid granite bedrock. No strength tests have been done as part of the ground investigations to date.
• A general indication of your foundation depth is to be given but not the specific diameter or spacing of any proposed piles etc.
• The winter ground water level is 1.4 m below ground level and the summer level is 2.5 m below ground level.  Construction is proposed to begin in October 2021.

On successful completion of this assessment, you will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

1.Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of a range of different construction designs/techniques

2.Devise and apply appropriate methods of achieving constructed solutions in a range of circumstances, demonstrating an appreciation of the relationships between technological solutions, efficiency of delivery, and the economics of the process.

3.Critically evaluate the impact that forms of construction have upon functional suitability, fitness for purpose, and occupational standards.

Transferable Skills and other Attributes;

4.Develop critical awareness of applied technology.

5. Achieve a level of competence in the critical evaluation of alternative solutions to significant issues and problems.

6.Develop an appreciation for the views of various stakeholders involved in the process of adapting existing buildings.

1. To develop a critical awareness of the property life cycle and the expanse of existing buildings which make up the built environment.

2. To develop systematic knowledge, awareness and understanding of the design approaches, techniques, materials, and processes employed in the construction of a broad range of building types.

3.  To develop the ability to systematically and creatively make well informed decisions when dealing with complex issues.

Your submission should consist of no more than one report 2,500 words long.  This includes every word, excluding only any initial contents/title page, and the reference list(s) located at the very end of your submission and be comprised of respected and academic sources and set out in Harvard referencing style. Only the first 2,500 words (as defined above) will be marked.  Any words you write in excess of 2,500 (as defined above) will be ignored.

Provisional coursework marks and written feedback will be available within 15 working days of your submission via the Turnitin submission on Blackboard.

You have an opportunity to gain formative feedback on your proposed submission via the support sessions noted below under support arrangements however, formative feedback will only be given on production of written work and this will only be given once.

You can obtain support for this assessment from the lecture sessions and tutorials and the lecture learning materials uploaded onto blackboard, tutor office hours by appointment, emails, etc (please see contact information on the first page of this brief). Your email queries will be answered within 48 hours during week days.

The University offers a range of support services for students through askUS.

Good Academic Conduct and Academic Misconduct

Students are expected to learn and demonstrate skills associated with good academic conduct (academic integrity). Good academic conduct includes the use of clear and correct referencing of source materials. Here is a link to where you can find out more about the skills which students require http://www.salford.ac.uk/skills-for-learning.

Academic Misconduct is an action which may give you an unfair advantage in your academic work. This includes plagiarism, asking someone else to write your assessment for you or taking notes into an exam. The University takes all forms of academic misconduct seriously.  You can find out how to avoid academic misconduct here https://www.salford.ac.uk/skills-for-learning.

Assessment Information

If you have any questions about assessment rules, you can find out more here.

Personal Mitigating Circumstances

If personal mitigating circumstances may have affected your ability to complete this assessment, you can find more information about personal mitigating circumstances procedure here.

Personal Tutor/Student Progression Administrator

If you have any concerns about your studies, contact your Personal Tutor or your Student Progression Administrator.

Marks for your assessment will be allocated based on the weightings shown below.

1. Presentation (10%). Clarity in written and graphic communication of the chosen basement and foundation design and associated construction techniques using appropriate terminologies and adopting an appropriate report like structure for an industry client.
2. Site Appraisal (50%). Accurate identification of key site issues below or above ground and discussion of how they may subsequently affect construction of any proposed basement and foundation design.
3. Basement and Foundation Design (40%) Formulation of a suitable design which responds to both the stated requirements of the brief and those issues identified by the site appraisal. Designs should be safe and technically feasible.

Grade Descriptors:

This coursework constitutes 100% of the module. Performance in respect of each criterion will be graded in accordance with the university grade descriptors as below (more details:
http://www.salford.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/610669/AssessmentAndFeedbackTaughtAwards.pdf):

Your assessment is not eligible for in year retrieval.

For students with accepted personal mitigating circumstances, this will be your replacement assessment attempt.  Students should be aware that there is no late submission period at reassessment (this includes those students who have an accepted PMC request from a previous attempt).