Design Considerations for Steel Buildings
Most steel building manufacturers and suppliers have developed very diverse building systems. This allows today’s consumer to select the proper system to best meet their required building characteristics and specific building load specifications.
One of the first building systems to be discussed is that of steel hybrid structures. Hybrid structures integrate the integrity of the metal building system construction processes with the strength of conventional steel members. Hybrid structures are able to meet or exceed heavy loading requirements by providing a very effective design profile. There is marked design flexibility inherent with a hybrid steel structure. Hybrid structures are, most often, supplied by one vendor and make shopping around for ancillary components and accessories unnecessary. Hybrid steel buildings are able to be put up fast and comparatively easily. In fact, most hybrid structures are able to go up in a fraction of the time that more conventional materials such as wood and brick would take. A wide expanse of engineering options can fulfill any design requirements no matter how large or complex your building project will be. Larger projects can realize substantial cost savings when the use of a hybrid steel building is employed.
There are many configurations utilized in steel building construction to best fit and adapt to the consumer’s specific needs.
The first design configuration to consider is the lean-to. This design option is specifically designed to give you additional square footage under roof alongside your existing building structure. A lean-to structure will attach right at or just below the eave of your existing structure. A lean-to can provide shelter for a variety of uses including commodity and equipment storage along with livestock boarding. A lean-to can be partially or fully covered depending on your design requirements.
Another building design option is the single slope. This is a simple sloping roof in one plane. The slope of the roof on this steel structure is from one sidewall to the opposite sidewall and, obviously does not come to a gable. Many retail strip mall storefronts utilize this type of construction.
The unsymmetrical gable steel building is a popular choice. This is a ridged or otherwise known as a double slope building where the ridge of the roof is specifically designed to be off-center. This particular is used by some restaurants or specialty shops, for example.
The last design configuration to consider is the symmetrical gable steel building. This is a ridged or double slope building on which the ridge of the roof is in the center of the building. This is the most popular configuration of steel building chosen and can be used for a vast array of design configurations and uses.