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Tag Archives: buildings
Babylonian Law: The first building regulations
The oldest structure in the world is a 23,000 year old stone wall, at a cave entrance, in Greece. It is known as the Theopetra Cave. Ireland oldest structure, New Grange, although older than the Pyramids, is still comparably young at an estimated 5000 years … Continue reading
Irish Rain: Keeping Ireland dry
It is often said about Ireland’s wet and mild climate that ‘it would be a great Country if you put a roof over it’. People saying this often forget that it is the wet weather that makes the countryside look … Continue reading
Posted in New Building Issues
Tagged buildings, ireland, rain, roofs, shelters, wet weather
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Hand sketches: The buildings of the Phoenix Park
Hand sketching remains a very important part of the engineers skill set. Its a quick and easy way to communicate complex building details and concepts. Now that we can scan and e-mail sketches it means that little of the detail … Continue reading
Posted in Technical & Discussion
Tagged artist, buildings, dublin, hand drawings, sheelagh duff, sketches, The Phoenix Park
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Are your wall vents ducted?
There is greater interest at this time of the year in reducing heat loss from our homes and reducing fuel bills. Most home-owners correctly concentrate on the areas of biggest heat loss by upgrading the insulation to their roof, walls or windows. … Continue reading
Historic buildings and sustainable design
The Bornabreenan reservoirs in South County Dublin are a lovely peaceful area to go walking or fishing. While I was there recently, I was pleased to find a delightful cut stone administration building on the grounds. The building dates from … Continue reading
Posted in Historic Buildings
Tagged buildings, Cut stone building, ireland, natural materials, sustainable deign
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The tallest building in Europe, for the moment: The Shard
London’s tallest building, The Shard, officially opened today to great fanfare. It is currently the tallest building in Europe at 310m high (1016 feet). It will retain the tallest in Europe title until the end of the year when The … Continue reading
Posted in Technical & Discussion
Tagged Australia, Britain, buildings, floor height, London, tallest building in Europe, tallest buildings, The Shard
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House insurance. Rebuilding costs.
When renewing your home insurance the insurance company will ask for an estimate of the rebuilding costs. But if you over estimate this figure (over-insure) you will only receive the actual rebuild costs if you have to make a claim. On the other … Continue reading
Posted in Existing Building Issues
Tagged building insurance, buildings, construction, home insurance, House rebuild costs, ireland
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Precious copper roof cladding
The price of metals continues to rise on world markets. In a previous article we discussed a road sculpture being stolen for its metallic content. Click here to read. But believe it or not, copper cladding and lead flashing have now become … Continue reading
Posted in Existing Building Issues
Tagged building cladding, buildings, copper, historic building, Lead, Older property problems, theft
2 Comments
Slate. A fragile wall cladding
Using slates as cladding for walls must have seemed like a great solution……at first. Slates are an inexpensive material, self cleaning, easy to source and the skills to install them are readily available i.e. roofers. But unfortunately they fail the … Continue reading
Posted in Technical & Discussion
Tagged buildings, Slates, unsuitable cladding, wall cladding
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What does a Structural Engineer do?
Structural Engineers: what do they do? It can be hard to explain if the person is not familiar with the building process. Thankfully the Institution of Structural Engineers spends time thinking about these kinds of questions and part of their … Continue reading
Posted in Various
Tagged buildings, construction, engineer, ireland, steel frame, structural engineer, Tullamore
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