What is a design brief?
A design brief sets out before the design what a building has to achieve: rooms, performance, budget and constraints — the yardstick against which every design is judged.
What is a continuous moulded pier?
A continuous moulded pier is a pier or column in which the mouldings of the vault ribs run on down the shaft without a capital, so support and vault read as one.
What is a moulded brick?
A moulded brick is a brick with a profiled cross-section — wave, trapezium, serration or groove — used to bring relief into the face of a wall through light and shade.
What are structural steel sections?
Structural steel sections are steel rolled or formed to a fixed, standardised cross-section — UB, UC, channel, angle or hollow section — the basis of any steel frame.
What is a contour gauge?
A contour gauge copies the shape of an obstacle using sliding pins, so that laminate, tiles or skirting can be marked out and cut to fit exactly.
What is a load test?
In a load test a structural element or foundation is loaded with a known, incrementally increasing load while the deformation is measured, to establish real capacity.
What is a 3D printer in construction?
A construction 3D printer builds elements layer by layer from mortar or concrete, without formwork — with shape freedom and material saving as the main gains.
What is primer?
Primer is the first coat of a paint or finishing system: it bonds to the substrate, evens out its absorbency and forms the base on which the finish coat can build.
What is punched stone finishing?
Punching is a natural stone surface finish in which a point chisel or mechanical points drive a dense pattern of small pits into the face of the stone.
What is a bradawl?
A bradawl is a hand tool with a sharp steel point used to pierce a starting hole in timber, so that a screw or nail sits exactly where it was marked out.