GB2274666A

GB2274666A - Foundation for, eg a conservatory

Info

Publication number: GB2274666A
Application number: GB9401290A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roger Alfred Bullivant
Original assignee: Roxbury Ltd
Current assignee: Roxbury Ltd
Priority date: 1993-01-30
Filing date: 1994-01-24
Publication date: 1994-08-03
Anticipated expiration: 2014-01-24
Also published as: GB9301889D0; GB2274666B; GB9401290D0

Abstract

A building structure, for example, a conservatory, comprises a surrounding support structure including a sectional pre-cast beam 30, supported on piles 32, on which an outer wall 38 is built; a polystyrene layer 12 is laid on the ground to within the beam 30 and a coating 16 of a fibre reinforced cementitious material is cast on the layer 12 and the beam 30 to form the floor without the need to excavate the ground surrounded by the beam. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements in or relating to the Erection of Building Structures The present invention concerns improvements in or relating to the erection of building structures, especially but not exclusively conservatories.

The erection of a conservatory alongside an existing building is regarded as a popular method of extending the living area of the building and, in view of the nature of the construction of the conservatory, provides a relatively economic building extension system.

It has to be realised however that the floor of the conservatory normally should coincide with the floor of the existing building and where the more desirable flooring system employing joists and floor boards or floor panels is employed a minimum clearance below the damp proof course of 150 mm is always present. If additional clearance is called for costly excavation within the perimeter of the conservatory will be required.

An object of the present invention---is--to obviate or mitigate excavation within the perimeter of the conservatory.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a building structure comprising a surrounding support structure, external walls supported on said structure, a floor assembly comprising a light-weight material at least one face of which is covered by a cementitious material to form load-bearing assembly.

Preferably the surrounding support structure comprises a pre-cast concrete beam supported at intervals on piles driven into the ground.

Preferably the piles are tubular piles and each is provided with a cap on which the structure can be supported.

Preferably the piles are staggered on either side of the median line of the structure.

Preferably, the floor assembly comprises a layer of expanded foam polystyrene coated by a fibre reinforced cementitious material on its, in use, upper side.

Preferably strengthening ribs are provided projecting downwardly from said coating into the polystyrene, the ribs being formed integrally with the coating. Preferably, the ribs are substantially equi-spaced and may be substantially parallel.

The ribs may be of a depth which is greater than half the depth of the polystyrene layer.

Preferably the floor assembly rests upon the ground. Preferably the assembly is supported at its periphery on the beam. The assembly may include a plurality of polystyrene blocks spaced from each other.

An elongate substantially planar member may be provided to give support to said blocks, said elongate member being adapted to engage the ground between adjacent blocks such that the edge regions of the blocks engage the edge regions of the elongate members. The elongate members may be formed of a rigid material which may be steel, preferably galvanised steel. An elongate reinforcing member may be arranged, in the second embodiment, in the space between adjacent blocks, said reinforcing member extending substantially parallel with the blocks. Preferably, the cementitious material extends into the spaces between adjacent blocks to cover the reinforcing member.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a cross-section through one side of the floor of a conservatory according to a first embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of part of the floor of a conservatory according to a second embodiment of the invention; Fig. 3 is a side view of a reinforcing member for use in the second embodiment; Fig. 4 is a view along the lines IV-IV of Fig. 2 showing a cementitious material in place covering a floor slab; and Fig. 5 is a view along the lines V-V of Fig. 2 showing the cementitious material covering the floor slab.

Referring to the drawings, a conservatory is to be constructed against an existing building with its floor level with the floor of the existing building. Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of the invention in which the floor, only part of one of which is shown, is cast in situ. The floor comprises a layer 12 of expanded foam polystyrene on the upper face 14 of which is cast a layer 16 of a fibre reinforced cementitious material.

The polystyrene layer 12 is laid directly on the ground G on a damp-proof membrane 20. The cementitious coating has ribs 18 cast integrally therewith which extend into corresponding grooves formed in the polystyrene. The ribs 18 are of a depth which is slightly greater than half the depth of the polystyrene layer.

Conveniently the polystyrene layer is 50 mm thick and each rib 30 mm deep and between 5 and 10 mm wide.

The spacing between adjacent ribs may be anything between 150 and 225 mm. The coatings may be 25 mm thick.

The edges of the panel are supported on the peripheral support structure of the conservatory. This comprises a sectional prefabricated reinforced foundation beam 30 having an L-shaped cross-section which is laid continuously around the periphery of the conservatory on a plurality of spaced tubular piles 32 each provided with a pile cap 34 on which the beam 30 is rested. Conveniently the piles are driven at 2 metre centres and may be staggered to either side of the central axis of the beam 30 to provide a firm support for the slab.

After the piles have been driven and a relatively short foundation trench dug the slabs are laid (they are sufficiently light to be man-handled) and their level adjusted, if necessary, by introducing a layer of settable material 36 between the pile cap and the underside of the slab 30.

When the beams 30 have been finally positioned the outer wall 38, in this embodiment a brick wall, is laid around the periphery of the conservatory and the polystyrene layer 12 placed on the ground within the beam. The coating 16 is then cast thereon using the wall 38 at the outer shuttering. The coating 16 extends downwardly beyond the outer edge of the slab 12 and rests on the beam 30 on which the cast in situ floor slab is supported at its periphery. The inner brick wall 39 is laid on the upper face of the floor slab after the coating 16 has set, with an insulating layer 50 between it and the outer wall 38.

Various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention, for example, the surrounding support structure can be formed using traditional methods. The outer wall of the conservatory can be formed in any suitable way, for example, pre-fabricated panels may be employed.

The floor slab can be modified, for example, in situations where the load to be supported is not great, the floor panel could be formed from plywood sheets having polystyrene adhered to the underside thereof.

Figs. 2 to 5 show a second embodiment of the invention in which the same features as those in Fig. 1 are designated by the same reference numeral. The floor of the conservatory is constructed by the use of a plurality of expanded foam polystyrene blocks 110 which are rectangular in configuration. In this embodiment the beam 30 is rectangular in cross-section and supports a continuous spacer 40 which supports the blocks 110 adjacent the wall 38.

Arranged on the ground G between adjacent blocks 110 are elongate substantially planar members 112 (see Fig. 4). The elongate members 112 provide support at the edge regions of the blocks 110 such that the edge regions of adjacent blocks 110 engage the edge regions of one of the elongate members 112. In the embodiment shown, the elongate member 112 are formed of galvanised steel.

A reinforcing member 114 is arranged in each of the spaces between adjacent blocks 110. The reinforcing member 114 comprises upper and lower metal rails or tubes 122, 124 and an inner zig zag bar 126 extending between the upper and lower rails 122, 124 and fixed thereto at its apices.

A plurality of grooves 118 extend transverse to the lengthwise dimension of the blocks 110. A reinforcing rod 120 is arranged in each of the grooves 118. The grooves 118 are used to form ribs in the cementitious layer cast on to the upper surface of the blocks 110 as will be explained below, and these ribs are similar to the ribs 18 in the floor panel of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1.

When the blocks have been arranged in place, a coating 16 of a fibre reinforced cementitious material is applied to their upper surface. The cementitious material extends into the grooves 118 to define ribs therein, and also extends between adjacent floor panels where it is further reinforced by the reinforcing member 114. The cementitious material also extends around the edges of the floor at 128 down to the beam 30.

It will be appreciated that the structure referred to above as a conservatory could be any appropriate structure, for example a conventionally built house extension. The piles employed to support the beam need not be tubular piles. They could take any convenient form.

Claims

Claims:-

1. A building structure comprising a surrounding support structure, external walls supported on said structure, a floor assembly comprising a light-weight material at least one face of which is covered by a cementitious material to form load-bearing assembly.

2. A building structure as claimed in Claim 1, in which the surrounding support structure comprises a pre-cast concrete beam supported at intervals on piles driven into the ground.

3. A building structure as claimed in Claim 2, in which the piles are tubular piles and each is provided with a cap on which the structure can be supported.

4. A building structure as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, in which the piles are staggered on either side of the median line of the structure.

5. A building structure as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the floor assembly comprises a layer of expanded foam polystyrene coated by a fibre reinforced cementitious material on its, in use, upper side.

6. A building structure as claimed in Claim 5, in which the cementitious material is cast in situ.

7. A building structure as claimed in Claim 5 or Claim 6, in which strengthening ribs are provided projecting downwardly from said coating into the polystyrene, the ribs being formed integrally with the coating.

8. A building structure as claimed in Claim 7, in which the ribs are substantially equi-spaced and may be substantially parallel.

9. A building structure as claimed in Claim 7 or Claim 8, in which the ribs are of a depth which is greater than half the depth of the polystyrene layer.

10. A building structure as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the floor assembly rests upon the ground.

11. A building structure as claimed in any one of Claims 2 to 10, in which the assembly is supported at its periphery on the beam.

12. A building structure as claimed in any one of Claims 5 to 11, in which the floor assembly includes a plurality of expanded foam polystyrene blocks spaced from each other.

13. A building structure as claimed in Claim 12, in which an elongate substantially planar member is provided to give support to said blocks, said elongate member being adapted to engage the ground between adjacent blocks such that the edge regions of the blocks engage the edge regions of the elongate members.

14. A building structure as claimed in Claim 13, in which the elongate member is formed of a rigid material which may be steel, preferably galvanised steel.

15. A building structure as claimed in Claim 13 or Claim 14, in which the elongate member is arranged in the space between adjacent blocks, said reinforcing member extending substantially parallel with the blocks.

16. A building structure as claimed in any of Claims 12 to 15, in which the cementitious material extends into the spaces between adjacent blocks to cover the reinforcing member.

17. A building structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig. 1 or Figs. 2 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

18. Any novel subject matter or combination including novel subject matter disclosed in the foregoing specification or claims and/or shown in the drawings, whether or not within the scope of or relating to the same invention as any of the preceding claims.