UNIVERSITY OF GONDAR

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION
PLANNING OF BUILDINGS

(Daniel T.)
 Site Selection and Site Plan
 Principles of Planning
 Design and performance requirements

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 Site selection is vital to make a choice of suitable building site.
 It also enables to plan the building to suit the available site.

 In selection of building site, the following more important

general principles should be given due attention:
The site should be selected on the basis of the general scope of
the building and on the extent of desired privacy.
The plot should preferably be in the locality where various
community and utility facilities are available.
A site which comes within the limits of local authority bylaws is
preferred.
The plot area should meet owner’s requirements preferably with
future extensions.
The site should be located in a locality which is already
developed or fast developing.

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 The objectives of planning of buildings include:
To arrange all units of a building on all floors and levels
according to their functional requirements; and
To optimize and make best use of the space available for a
building.
 The shape of such a plan is governed by several
factors such as:
Human factor,
Climatic conditions,
Site location,
Surrounding environment, and
bylaws

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 Some of the following important factors to be
considered in planning are listed below:
Aspect
Prospect
Privacy
Grouping
Flexibility
Circulation
Aesthetic merit
Economy

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Aspect
 It is the arrangement of doors and windows in the
external walls of a building in such a way to allow
occupants to enjoy natural gifts such as:
Sunshine
Breeze
Scenery etc.

 Aspect is a critical consideration in planning since it

provides comfort, healthy and good environment.

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Prospect
 It is the impression, the house is likely to make when looked at
from the outside.
 It includes the attainment of pleasing appearance by the use of
natural beauties ; proper disposition of doors and windows;
and concealment of some undesirable views.
Privacy
 It is one of important principles in the planning of buildings of
all types in general and residential buildings in particular.
 Privacy requires consideration in two ways.
Privacy of one room from another, and
Privacy of all parts of a building from the neighboring buildings ,
public streets etc.

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Grouping
 It is the disposition of various buildings in the layout in
a typical fashion so that all the rooms are placed in
proper correlation of their functions and in due
proximity with each other.
 The objective of grouping is to maintain the sequence
of their functions with least interference.
Flexibility
 It is planning a room or rooms in such a way that,
though originally designed for a specific purpose,
it/they may be used to serve overlapping purposes
when the need arises.
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Circulation
 It is the space provided for movement.
Horizontal circulation: corridors, lobbies, halls, passages etc.
Vertical circulation: stairs, ramp, elevator, escalator etc.
Economy
 The economy of a client may restrict the liberties of the
architect and may also require certain alterations and
omissions in the original plan.
 A building designed for a good strength may be costly
in its initial cost, but may proof cheaper in the long run
as it saves maintenance costs.

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 A building structure should satisfy the following basic design and
performance requirements
A. The structure should have adequate margin of safety (factor of
safety) in addition to that necessary to support its normal
loading.

B. It must have sufficient stiffness so that its distortion does not

offend the eye or reduce the efficiency of the structure for its
normal purpose.

C. The building should be planned to provide sufficient comfort

and convenience to the occupants of the building.

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 To accommodate the basic functional requirements, a building
should satisfy the following requirements in its design and
construction works:
1. Strength and stability
 Any structural component of a building should be strong
enough to carry or support all possible types of loads to
which it is likely to be subjected.
 The Loads in a building are commonly classified as: dead
loads, super imposed or live loads and wind loads.

Dead loads: are static loads due to the weight of the respective
structural members, i.e. The wall partitions, roofs, slabs and
all other permanent fixtures in the building.

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Gravity Load

Lateral Loading
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 Live loads: also called as super-imposed loads, consist of moving
or variable loads, due to people or occupants, their furniture,
temporary stores, machinery, etc.

Wind loads: are loads, which can cause uplift on a building and
reduce the pressure on the foundation on the windward side
and increase pressure on the leeward side. The effect of wind
pressure increases with the height of the building.
2. Dimensional stability
 Refers to the resistance to dimensional changes in building
materials and structures caused due to:
 elastic and plastic deformations as a result of applied loads
 expansion and contraction due to changes in temperature
and moisture content.

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3. Comfort and convenience
 Should be satisfied by proper planning of the buildings and
its units.
 Optimum utilization of space
 Lighting considerations
 Orientation
4. Resistance to moisture penetration
 The presence of moisture in any building structure
deteriorates the materials strength, reduces durability and
could cause partial or total failure of the structure.
5. Fire protection
 A building structure should not ignite easily
 A building should provide means of fire escape
 A building should be designed to reduce the spread of fire

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6. Heat insulation
 The building should be designed in such a way to maintain
fairly constant temperature of the internal environment
independently of the varying climatic conditions externally.
7. Day light and ventilation
 Day lighting is essential to promote the activities carried in
the building and to create pleasant inside environment.
 Ventilation is essential to prevent undue concentration of
odours, fumes, dust, etc and maintain suitable condition for
the user of the building.
8. Sound insulation
 The insulation of noise is a very important requirement for
buildings such as hospitals, educational institutions, offices
and residential building located in noisy areas.

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9. Durability
 The durability of a building is defined as the time over which
a building remains serviceable and depends mainly on
 Type of building materials
 Environmental exposure
 Quality of workmanship
 Degree of maintenance, etc
10. Security
 Due considerations should be given in designing and
constructing external walls and openings to protect a building
against burglary or theft.
11. Economy
 The designer must exercise economy at every stage of
planning, design, construction, maintenance and operation.

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THANK YOU!

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