The Armory, Huff Hall, and Irwin Indoor Sports Facility

2/17/15

                This past Tuesday, we visited three of the buildings on campus that are affiliated with athletics: Huff Hall, the Armory, and Irwin Indoor Sporting Facility. All three of these buildings were meant to be very open and spacious, perfect for sporting events or practices. These spaces all had huge volumes, uninhibited by columns or support in the main space. From the floor of the buildings, it seems impossible for the high ceilings the stay suspended in the heavens without any main columns holding up the center. However, when you exam the ceilings, you see the intricate network of support that redistributes weight to the edges of the building. It is through these that the building is able to hold up the massive ceilings without central columns.

                The function of buildings like Huff, the Armory, or Irwin is to create large spaces where students and athletes have room to engage in sporting activities. This involves such activities as running, jumping, and even throwing things. This means that there needs to be adequate space in the building for such activities to be done without being impeded by columns. Large networks of trusses are used to redistribute the force of the ceiling. These networks take the vertical force that gravity puts on the ceiling and, through a system of interconnected beams, turns the force into a horizontal one. These horizontal forces are then sent outwards, to the edges of the building. There, vertical columns transfer the weight of the ceiling to the ground.

                A truss generally consists of two beam, a top chord and a bottom chord. They utilize tensile and compressive forces to act as braces. The top chord is generally in compression, which means there is an inward, pushing force on the beam. The bottom chord is in tension, which means there is an outward, pulling force on the beam. They are designed to transfer force and to stabilize each other. This allows them to hold up huge ceilings.

                The ability to redistribute force is very important in the modern structure. As buildings get bigger, the necessity for more complex infrastructures arise, and trusses and other such elements become all important. It combines the increased functionality of large spaces with impressive design of complex trusses