GB2387184A

GB2387184A - Foundation with service recesses for lightweight buildings

Info

Publication number: GB2387184A
Application number: GB0207772A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roger Alfred Bullivant
Original assignee: Roxbury Ltd
Current assignee: Roxbury Ltd
Priority date: 2002-04-04
Filing date: 2002-04-04
Publication date: 2003-10-08
Also published as: GB0207772D0

Abstract

A building foundation arrangement 10 comprises a plurality of foot members 12 laid on the ground, some of which have ducts 22 through which services 18 (e.g pipes, cables) related to the building are provided. The foot members 12 may abut each other so as to ensure continuity of the ducts 22, which may lie generally horizontally 30 or vertically 36. The ducts may have removable covers 26 with a lock. Wall panels 24 may be received in a central recess 20 of the foot member 22. The foot members 22 may be elongate, reinforced with mesh 16 and made of concrete, brick, stone or polymeric material.

Description

23871 84

Foundations The present invention relates to foundations, particularly for buildings.

A modern style of building which is light-weight in construction and fast to erect, is often used e.g. for sports halls, retail warehouses etc. The present invention addresses the foundation arrangements used, in particular, but not exclusively, for such buildings.

The invention provides a building foundation arrangement which includes a plurality of foot members laid on the ground to support a building on their upper surfaces, wherein at least some of the foot members provide ducts through which services related to the building may be provided.

Preferably at least some of the ducts extend, at least in part, in a generally horizontal direction.

The foot members are preferably laid on the ground to be abutting to form a substantially continuous support. Preferably, the service ducts of adjacent foot members are generally in alignment when laid, to form substantially continuous ducts. Some or all of the ducts may be provided with removable covers. There may be at least one duct provided with an upwardly directed inlet aperture to receive waste water, the corresponding duct being arranged to convey the waste water away from the building.

The upper surface of each member may incorporate an upwardly directed recess for receiving a wall panel of the building. Ducts may be provided inside and outside the location of the wall panel and are preferably accessible with the wall panel in position.

The, or at least some of the foot members may be elongate and may be made of concrete, brick, lightweight concrete, reconstituted stone, a polymeric material or another material with sufficient load bearing capability, which may

be reinforced.

The invention also provides a foot member for use in forming a building foundation arrangement as defined above.

Examples of the present invention will now be described in more detail, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a building foundation arrangement in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view, partly in section, of a foot member for use in the arrangement of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a section at a vertical plane at the line 3-3 in Fig. 1 and showing a wall panel installed.

The foundation arrangement 10 (Fig. 1) includes a plurality of foot members 12. These are laid on the ground 14 to support a building on their upper surfaces, as will be described. At least some of the feet 12 provide ducts (not visible in Fig. 1) through which various services related to the building may be provided.

Each foot 12 is made of concrete in this example, which may be cast or extruded, and preferably incorporates reinforcing members 16, which may be a reinforcing mesh. The feet 12 have a generally planar lower surface 18 which, in use, rests on the ground 14. The feet 12 may be extruded with a constant section along their length, which may be up to 3 metres, for example.

The upper surface of the foot 12 has three recesses, namely a central recess 20, and two service recesses 22. The central recess 20 receives a wall panel 24 when a building is constructed on the arrangement 10. The panel 24

is supported by the foot 12. The recess 20 serves to locate the panel 24. The panel 24 may be secured to the foot 12.

The service recesses 22 are located to either side of the central recess 20, so that they are, respectively, inside and outside the building provided by the panel 24.

Each service recess 22 has an associated cover 26, which completes the upper surface of the foot 12. The covers 26 are removeable but preferably a lock arrangement (not shown) is provided for securing the covers 26 in place, to prevent unauthorized removal.

The recesses 22 and associated covers 26 therefore form two closed ducts through the body of the foot 12. These ducts 22 extend generally parallel with the plane of the panel 24. The ducts 22 provide ducts through which services related to the building may be provided. For example, pipes, cables or other services, indicated at 28 in Fig. 2, may be laid in the ducts 22. Services 28 may be removed from the duct 22 or added at a later time, by removing the cover 26 to gain access to the duct 22. The covers 26 are preferably securable, as has been described, but additional security may be provided by running sensitive services in the duct which is within the building. For example, computer wiring may be run in the interior duct 22.

Additional protection is provided for the services in the ducts 22 by laying the feet 12 to abut. This provides a continuous foundation for the panel 24, and also allows the ducts 22 to be aligned to form continuous ducts along the length of the wall.

The ducts 22 are shown extending horizontally along the wall, but other ducts could be provided. For example, Fig. 3 illustrates a rain water drainage duct 30 which extends through the foot 12, transverse to the plane of the panel 24. The duct 30 extends across the whole width of the foot 12 and is open at both ends, as illustrated at 32 in Fig. 1. An inlet 34 is provided centrally in the

foot 12, communicating between the duct 30 and the recess 20. Consequently, the panel 24 may be provided with a down pipe 36, for example to convey rain water from a roof, "uttering or the like, down through the panel 24, into the inlet 34 and thus to the duct 30. The duct 30 preferably slopes down from the inlet 34 to the ends 3 2, so that the rain water will flow away. In the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 3, rain water may flow in both directions but preferably, one end 32 will be plugged to force rain water to flow to the outside of the building. Alternatively, the duct 30 could be formed to extend in only one direction from the inlet 34, so that the foot 12 would require correct alignment in order to direct rain water externally of the building.

When the foundation arrangement is to be constructed, the ground 14 will first be treated, if required, for example to stabilise the ground by compaction, until the degree of compaction achieved is sufficient to support the weight of the building to be constructed. Feet 12 are then laid to form a foundation arrangement, one corner of which is illustrated in Fig. 1. It can be seen that in addition to straight feet 12 for forming side walls, the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 10 incorporates one corner unit. Many other shapes of foot 12 could be used, to provide internal and external corners, curved wall sections etc. Once the feet 12 have been placed in position, the panels 24 can be placed in the recess 20 to complete the construction of the wall. At this stage, it is not necessary to have installed services in the ducts 22, because the covers 26 remain accessible after the wall is constructed, so that the services may be installed subsequently, when required.

It will be apparent to the skilled reader that many variations and modifications can be made to the arrangements described above, without departing from the scope of the present invention. In particular, many other sections of foot could be devised. Dimensions and relative dimensions could be varied according to the nature of the building being constructed. Concrete or lightweight concrete may be chosen as the material for the feet 12.

Alternatively another material with sufficient load bearing capability may be chosen, such as brick, reconstituted stone or a polymeric material.

Reinforcement may be incorporated. Material choices may also be affected by the nature of the building Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to

those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.

Claims

1. A building foundation arrangement which includes a plurality of foot members 5 laid on the ground to support a building on their upper surfaces, wherein at least some of the foot members provide ducts through which services related to the building are provided.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, in which at least some of the ducts l O extend, at least in part, in a generally horizontal direction.

3. An arrangement according to claims 1 or 2, in which the foot members are laid on the ground to be abutting to form a substantially continuous support.

15 4. An arrangement according to claim 3 when dependent on claim 2, in which the service ducts of adjacent foot members are generally in alignment when laid, to form substantially continuous ducts.

5. An arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, in which some or 20 all of the ducts are provided with removable covers.

6. An arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, in which there is at least one duct provided with an upwardly directed inlet aperture to receive waste water, the corresponding duct being arranged to convey the waste water away from 25 the building.

7. An arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, in which the upper surface of each member incorporates an upwardly directed recess for receiving a wall panel of the building.

8. An arrangement according to claim 7, in which ducts are provided inside and

outside the location of the wall panel.

9. An arrangement according to claim 7 or 8, in which the ducts are accessible with the wall panel in position.

10. An arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, in which the, or at least some of the foot members are elongate.

11. An arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, in which the foot lo members are made of concrete, brick, lightweight concrete, reconstituted stone, a polymeric material or another material with sufficient load bearing capability.

12. An arrangement according to claim 11, in which the material is reinforced.

15 13. A foot member for use in forming a building foundation arrangement according to any of the preceding claims.

14. A building foundation arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

15. A foot member for use in forming a building foundation arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described and with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.