Building Design & Science: Lawn Road Flats Construction Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Lawn Road Flats, a significant low-rise building in London, constructed before 1992. It delves into the building's history, construction systems (focusing on the low-rise system), and key structural and non-structural elements. The report identifies the materials used, including concrete brick, limestone blocks and plywood, and examines the technologies implemented during construction and refurbishment, such as project automation and anti-carbonation coating. It further investigates signs of material degradation, current building defects, and failures in building performance, such as dampness and corrosion. The analysis highlights the building's architectural significance and innovative construction techniques, offering insights into its design and long-term maintenance.

Building Design and
Building Science

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
History of the building............................................................................................................1
Investigate the construction systems................................................................................................2
Determine and Explain the structural as well as non-structural elements..............................4
Determine the technologies implemented in building constructions.....................................5
Define and determine the main structure material utilised in building construction.............7
Determine the signs of degradation of material and ageing of building................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Construction can be understood as the art of the making structure, building and bridges for
the developing the country as well as betterment of society and community. It is the process of
building construction like buying area and land, making budget, contract with various suppliers
and builders, site preparation or levelling work, plinth slab and beam, foundation column, brick
masonry work, roof structure and floor slab addition to electrical or plumbing work (Allan,
2022). For this project building house and building science the selected building which is made
before 1992 is Lawn Road Flats that is situated in London at UK. It is the first Morden low rise
building which has 5 floor and 34 flats for the residency of the people.
This project highlights the aspects related to the construction system of low rise housing
building, the key structural features, elements and technologies used in construction. further it
covers structural material, structural systems along with signs of degradation of material. at the
end it also covers the current building defect as well as failures of building performance such as
dampness, corrosion, mould etc.
MAIN BODY
History of the building
Address of the building- Lawn Road Flats, 3 Lawn Rd, London NW3 2XD, UK
Date of the construction of the Lawn Road Flats is 1934
1

Figure 1lawn Road Flats Building, Uk, 2022
Building Post code-: NW3 2XD
Investigate the construction systems
For the construction building the chosen case is Lawn Road Flats that is famously known as
Isokon Building in UK. It is located at the Lawn road near Blesize Park in London. The idea of
this building id generated by the Wells Coates for Molly as well as Jack Pritchard in 1929 which
is implemented in 1933. It is the residential building which consists 34 flats that all constructed
in innovative and modern ways. It has been identified that I was the first architect construction
building that was conceived as social experiment which creates with the purpose of proving best
2

unban housing system to the people of London in order to increase their living standard. while
constructing this building there are multiple system applied like bearing wall, post and lintel,
frame, membrane along with suspension which make it more effective (Atkinson, 2020).
These system is classified into three parts such as long span, low rise and high rise. All
these is the most common system which is generally used in making building to resident
purpose. To build the Lawn Road Path resident buildings the constructor chose low rise
construction system. This is the type of system which is mainly used in constructing low height
building that is not more than 5 floor tall. The architecture of the Lawn Road Path building is
used low rise construction system by producing limited stories building of 34 flats. It is very cost
effective which attract the clients to invest in it. The main concern on this type of building are
vertical gravity loads addition to multiple number of framing or layering system are applied to
make connection between flow of load.
This Low rise construction system is that in which the builders constructed smallest
building in huge number of quantities in main area of city like separate single framing home. In
UK, this innovative idea is created by the Estonian Company marketing manager that is
Pritchard by contracting with designers to complete this work. They also making deal with
popular Plywood furniture owners among the whole world (Barlow, 2020) (Collard, 2018). The
building is constructed for residential purpose along with the Modernism architectural style is
used in it. It is the system of making apartments near the main market where people get the
necessary items easily which h means easier access to local areas of interest, locality, daily items
shop and many more which makes the life of people who have busy work schedule easier. It is
determined that this types of housing building has less crowd that means more privacy to the
people who purchase flats in it. It has been seen that there are very few people living in the Lawn
Road Flats building so there is less disturbance and interference which in recent times most of
the people prefer to have.
There are multiple factors which encourage constructor of Lawn Road Flats to select low
rising construction system in order to manufacture it in unique manner-
Well-equipped which enabled to handle in uncertainty-In low rising construction
system, most the builders use well and high quality equipment which safeguard the life of people
during the time of fire emergency and other uncertain events (Donovan, 2019) . As compare to
the high rise building which has more than 10 floor, it has been seen that there are huge number
3

of people which create more sound, hustle that leads to increase in panic condition which make
more difficult for others to handle them and save them all in crucial situation. there is huge need
to safety equipment which leads to increase in maintenance charges. people who live in low rise
building has more safety and peaceful life.
Cost effective- The low rise building apartments are less costly due to low construction
cost or material used in it. Along there is less possibilities of big issues and loss which required
less maintenance cost in order to repair the various equipment available in building. The cost of
building is less due less manufacturing resources and time is needed so the builder sells the flats
in less cost which attract all income level of people to invest in these types of buildings and
apartments.
More convenient and accessible for people- Mainly these types of building constructed in the
main area as well as in local street which access public to have the basic items easily along with
meet their daily needs like transportation, grocery shop, market, park, school, hospital and many
more. It is also easier to them to lift up their heavy item in their flats as well as if they decided to
lease their house so they found people who take it on rent easily (Gruber and Lang, 2018). The
Lawn Road Flats are situated on main locality which allow people to get all the necessary items
easily.
Determine and Explain the structural as well as non-structural elements
To make building and apartments there are two type of elements is needed such as
structural and non structural . The structural elements involve doors, plinth, walls, foundation,
window, roof and so on that are almost same in all types of building. Moreover, the non
structural elements consists tiles, paints, furnishings fixtures, pipework, ducting, lights, cable
tray, interior items, various machines and many more which are differ from house to house and
building to building. The Lawn Road Flats is the most common British Modern movement which
is also known as first global construction building. In this building there are 34 minimal flats
having specious living room, study room, kitchen, bed room with bathroom and balcony. There
are servant room with kitchen in the basement for every flats along with laundry, small
restaurant, play area as well as separate parking area for each flat. The architect and constructor
of the building use both structural and non structural elements to provide better quality and
attractive flats to clients.
4

Structural material for making the Lawn Road Flats are outer wall which is 10 cm thick along
with inside protecting wall of 2.5 cm. They also use cork plates in making wall as well as
limestone blocks which is connected with the two department of middle wall in order to make
the base of house is stronger. All the wall has distance of 5 inch addition to covered by glued
lines to fill the wall gap. all the outer wall of house was plastered with mixture of high quality
cements and soil (Hasted, 2019).
The builder of the house used mixture of soil and cement to resemble the tile of floor and
bathroom by making it with special dyes. The birch plywood is used in each apartment for the
slide panels in order to parted the huge department into two parts. For making the exterior wall
they used two layers revoking waterproofed cement to implement the framework effectively.
It has been seen that they used two important materials in constructing the Lawn Road flats such
as concrete brick and block which is commonly used in low rise construction system. brick and
blocks are easily available in market at low cost which also helped them to reduce the cost of
construction (Isokon Building, 2022).
In order to make unique and similar kind of Lawn Road Flats the frame system is used to
support and transmit the heavy loads to ground floor so the people do not get disturbed. they also
use façade light pink colour with façade stucco material which is the new example of
modernisation in that time across the globe (Hoare, 2020). The furniture is made with high
quality plywood which has long life to increase the experience and living standard of people.
The non-structural elements used in this building are unique design tiles, attractive
colours of wall, modern furniture with classy fittings, attractive shapes lights and interior which
enhance the look of house. It makes the whole building attractive which force the people to
invest in it at very reasonable price.
Determine the technologies implemented in building constructions
The construction of the Lawn Road Flats building was firs conducted in 1930 By Avanti
Architects with refurbishment in order to reconstruct the building to its actual glory. There are
various technologies used in its refurbishment which is ended in 2002 in order to create beautiful
and strong building by considering all construction and safety measures. all the safety standards
are must in order to build it as per the modern style in appropriate manner. The various
technology that are used for developing this building along with for its improvement are
mentioned below-
5

Project automation- It is most popular and famous technology in the construction
industry, while refurbishment of the lawn Road Flats the builders used this technology as it
enable them to have technological support for their employees in order to meet the goals of the
project with in given time limit and resources. It is the technology which is introduced before
world wide web and internet. In Early times automation was used in the construction building in
order to use automate construction processes like building arrangement plans as well as assisting
workers in building floor (Lavington, 2018). In reference to Lawn Road Flats for refurbishment
the project automation techniques was utilised and implemented in order to track the progress of
the construction so it is completed on time in effective manner.
Anti- carbonation coating-. It has been determined that Isokon building was damaged in
1990 after lack of upkeep and neglect. it is very imperative to give focus or invest in
reconstruction of buildings in order to protect it from environmental harm along with use remain
usable space after many years (MacCarthy, 2019). In relevance of anti carbonation coating this is
used to repair the damage on the external wall of the building along with local restoration and
concrete repair was done by using elastomeric anti carbonating coating and fairing coats to actual
light pink colour of the building. It is the most effective technology which is generally used in
construction in order to protect building from the dangerous effects deteriorating, carbonating
and other elements. In context to low rise Lawn Road Flats building the use of this technology
while its construction will prove as advantage for the building which ensure that the external
wall of it is protected from the carbonation.
Digital technology- It has been determined that in early 2000 the internet and digital
technology is not proper introduced in the market. In that time the construction industry is the
one in many other industry which is used digital technology in their construction work in order
to exploit their talent to complete the project with full efficiency. the make designs and set the
proper model structure of the building by using technology in their computer system in order to
get proper insight about the actual work to be done. In relevance to the Isokon Building , the
management and workers used digital technology to communicate with staff members, designers
so the project is completed in systematic manner (Oliver, 2020). it enable them to make changes
by providing necessary information through email and calls which increase the effectiveness of
the building.
6

Define and determine the main structure material utilised in building construction
The Lawn Road Flats which was constructed in 1929 and finishing in 1934. while
construction of the Isokon an experimental piece and modern architecture is used to utilised re
enforced construction concrete. previously the technology is used is not so effective which is
communal heating system that was removed by the Avanti Architects during the time of
Refurbishment of its building (Plunkett, 2020). Recently they use mounted pipework in its
external surface to implement controlled boilers that is powered by gas.
The current technological change was necessary because it is helpful to eliminate risk of
electrical issues which is caused by out dated communal heating system which increase the risk
of safety and chances of fire. The modern boiler system is safer than it which have positive
impact on reducing the effect of electric hot water storage tank on the Lawn Road Flats that was
generated by the communal heating system on interior part of flats. The modern boilers enhance
the efficiency of the building in which the on site electricity system was eliminated without
harming the foundation of building. The architect use balanced fuel terminal custom design
system implemented for the vent grille opening of flats. This modern system is used to enhance
the safety standard without changing the innovative features that made the Lawn Road Flats a
unique building of London Architectural legacy.
For the refurbishment of this building the structural material was used is Asphalt roofing is
most cost effective and better roofing solution for residential building. it is very light and less
costly solution for the roofing of building which is long lasting and durable also. it enables to
safe the people and building from the leakage of water on top as well as provide better uplifting
and fire resistance. Further they use insulated concrete slab in the Isokon building which provide
protection from the fire and other uncertain events (Powers, 2019). It supported the building
from the outer area that make it more strong without reducing any features of its uniqueness.
Determine the signs of degradation of material and ageing of building
In 1969 the Isokon building is sold to the owner of the political building by the name of
new statement. After that the building was degraded due to lack of maintenance and up keeping.
Because of the less care and maintenance, the building is degrading rapidly. It has been seen that
during the time of Refurbishment of the building there are huge n umber of rats and two resident
living ) (Vladislavic, 2019). In the flats the fitting of the kitchen and bathroom are very old and
poor in condition since 1930. Due to the dynamic weather condition, the cork insulation in the
7

inner wall is dried out along with the glasses of the window is broken down. there are huge
cracks on the exterior wall of the building which leads to increase in safety issues. the paint on
the exterior wall is almost lost due to poor maintenance and time to time repairing. It has been
seen that there is huge need of refurbishing and restoring of the building due to the loss of wall
and bad condition of the building. as the result of deterioration and environmental harm there is
huge loss of material like paint, cement from the internal and external surface.
The windows, walls, doors, floor of the Lawn Road flats are not good in condition as it has
been seen that they are fully broken which create threat among people to loss of their life and
safety (Zaratiegui, 2021). it has been seen that there are huge needs to repair the building and
change the old harm full heating system, celling, lights to make the building effective and
original.
Figure 2Isokon Building, 2020
8

CONCLUSION
It is concluded that from the above presented information, the building construction is most
complicated task so the architect and builders must have considered the construction system,
technology and material while making it structure. in order to construct the housing building the
low rise construction system is used mainly in which they make building not more than 5 floor
tall in order to provide all safety measures to the people. The modern concrete slab system and
boiler is efficient for the this type of building which increase heat resistance. The various
structural and non structural materials are used in constructing a building in effective manner. the
Project automation, digital technology as well as anti carbonating coating technologies is used
for the completion of the construction project on time.
9

REFERENCES
Books and journal
Allan, J., 2022. Revaluing Modern Architecture: Changing conservation culture. Routledge.
Atkinson, H., 2020. Isokon and the Bauhaus in Britain Moholy-Nagy in Britain, 1935–1937.
Barlow, S., 2020. Evelyn Waugh and modernism. Spirit of Progress, 21(2), pp.10-13.
Collard, P., 2018. The modern art of filmmaking: Architecture on-screen at MoMA. Film,
Fashion & Consumption, 7(1), pp.7-17.
Donovan, K., 2019. The high life: Ardoyne house 1962–1967. In Irish Housing Design 1950–
1980 (pp. 63-89). Routledge.
Gruber, E. and Lang, R., 2018. Collaborative housing models in Vienna through the lens of
social innovation: Austria. In Affordable Housing Governance and Finance (pp. 41-58).
Routledge.
Hasted, K., 2019. Modernist Architecture: International Concepts Come to Britain. The
Crowood Press.
Hoare, L., 2020. Roger Noel armfelt (1897-1955): Watching over the development and
implementation of educational legislation for secondary education in mid-twentieth century
England. British Journal of Educational Studies, 68(5), pp.611-628.
Lavington, R., 2018. Flats. In The Housing Design Handbook (pp. 50-65). Routledge.
MacCarthy, F., 2019. Gropius. In Gropius. Harvard University Press.
Oliver, S., 2020. In every dream home: The clash between art and life for the north London
modernists. TLS. Times Literary Supplement, (6124), pp.12-13.
Plunkett, D., 2020. Taste: A cultural history of the home interior. Routledge.
Powers, A., 2019. Magnus Englund and Layla Daybelge: ISOKON AND THE BAuHAuS IN
BRITAIN. TLS. Times Literary Supplement, (6058), pp.31-32.
Vladislavic, I., 2019. Planning the Modern Lawn. Civilising Grass: The art of the lawn on the
South African Highveld, p.91.
Zaratiegui, J.M., 2021. MacCarthy, Fiona, Walter Gropius. Escritura e Imagen, 17, pp.309-313.
Online
Isokon Building, 2022. [Online]. Available through:< https://www.themodernhouse.com/past-
sales/isokon-building/>
10