Categories
5 Questions

Five Questions with Glen Place

Learn about Building Designer Glen Place

My name is Glen Place.

My business Glen Place T/A Place Designs has been in business as Place Designs since 01/07/1980.

I have a Building Design & Builder: Open Licence (QBCC Lic 12080) and our office is in Badila Court, Mount Pleasant, Mackay.

This is my website http://www.placedesigns.com.au and these are my 5 questions:

1. What sort of projects do you prefer?

I prefer new Residential and Commercial projects as they are more challenging and rewarding.

However all project are treated equally as they have real meaning for our clients.

While our business is focused towards the residential market, we also provide comprehensive services to commercial and industrial development and business renovations including villa units, commercial projects, retirement villages and hospital staff accommodation.

2. How do you add value to projects?

I provide the client with sustainable options moving towards a more energy efficient and healthy building. This helps to increase the longevity of the building.

I believe I have the ability to identify, assess and recommend design features of buildings which promote sustainable and energy efficiency.

I’m also proud of my ability to analyse complex technical issues associated with building design and materials and communication effectively in a succinct, accurate and coherent fashion.

The design philosophy at Place Designs is a combination of your needs and desires and the contribution of our dynamic design team.

Clean, simple, elegant building lines dominate our design thoughts for exteriors and efficient and functional flow is our focus for internal layouts.

We aim to employ modern building techniques and innovative building products to present a design that is functional.

 3. What is a future trend you would like to see develop?

I would like to see buildings become more accessible to all people. I would like the see the use of more healthy and durable building materials being used in buildings.

I would like building to be designed suit the climate and be more aesthetic within their surroundings.

4. Describe a recent project where you had a positive influence.

This current market this is a difficult one, but a recent project where we met the brief and designed a great house was Mackay Harbour. It’s presently under construction by Mackay builder Barry Green.

5. How does Cornell Engineers add value to your product?

Cornell Engineers are attentive to our needs and are quick to understand our vision and assists us achieve our goals.

The staff at Cornell Engineers work with us as a collaborative team and don’t carry out their designs in isolation.

Cornell Engineers will work with us to provide the best outcome for our client.

Categories
Tips & Tricks

Wind Speed

Buildings in Australia are designed to resist wind forces by complying with Australian Standards.

The “design gust wind speed” for a particular site is determined by considering the height of the building, the location of other buildings and topography on all sides of the building.

Houses in exposed locations or on tops of hills are designed for higher wind speeds and consequently higher forces than buildings in built-up areas.

The structural engineers at Cornell Engineers use the latest version of Australian Standard AS1170.2 to determine the wind speed for your structure.

Wind Classification to AS4055

Where the building complies with AS4055, we can classify the wind speed using that standard too.

Call us for a wind assessment for your building today!

Categories
Tips & Tricks

Merry Christmas from the crew at Cornell Engineers

On behalf of Jess and Kim, I’d like to wish our clients, friends and associates a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Our office is closed now until 13 January. Have a safe holiday season and we look forward to helping you again in 2014.
Matt Cornell

Categories
Concrete Tips & Tricks

Concrete Driveways and Paths

If you are after some definitive advice on the thickness of residential concrete driveways or what driveway slab reinforcement to use and how far apart crack control joints should be then you have come to the right place.

Check out this Residential Concrete Driveways and Paths manual produced by Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia.

At Cornell Engineers, we have been referring to this document since its release in 2006 and it’s still the best way to ensure satisfactory performance of your driveway slab.

The residential concrete driveway manual also has concrete driveway construction details including isolation joints and expansion joints.

Remember that in the absence of better information, this is the manual that will be referred to in the event of a dispute about uncontrolled cracks and movement in your driveway.

Don’t forget local authorities (councils) have their own requirements for driveways, cross-overs and paths. For example, here is the link to the Driveway Technical Standards for Brisbane City Council:

We would love to design your driveway concrete for you. Please contact Cornell Engineers on 07 3102 2835.

If you have a cracked driveway slab, maybe we can help you. Call Matt Cornell for advice or to arrange an inspection.

Concrete Thickness for Commercial Driveways

Ask Cornell Engineers to design your commercial driveway. We’ll specify the concrete thickness, the strength of the concrete for your driveway.

Commercial concrete driveways are designed specifically for the weight of the vehicles using the driveway, the number of times a day a vehicle uses the driveway and the ground conditions under the driveway.

Contact Cornell Engineers for more information.

Concrete Driveway Repairs

Oh no. Your concrete driveway has cracks in it. Cracks in a concrete driveway aren’t necessarily a bad thing but if your concrete driveway is brand new and you have concerns, Cornell Engineers can check to ensure your concrete driveway was constructed correctly.

There are quite a few tools available to us for investigating cracks in concrete driveways. Some of these tools are:

  • Schmidt Hammer testing to determine the strength of the concrete surface. This is useful to determine if the concreter added too much water on site and weakened the concrete mix.
  • Slab coring. This is useful to determine if the concreter used a plastic membrane under the slab, the thickness of the slab and whether the steel reinforcement was chaired at the correct height in the concrete.
  • Crack plans. These plans record the location and width of surface cracking to allow an assessment of why the slab cracked.
  • Ground Penetrating Radar. GPR is useful to determine the location and type of concrete reinforcement that was used and also variations in the slab thickness.

Call us for a chat or Contact Us.

Categories
Tips & Tricks

Driveway Slab Reinforcement and membranes

Steel reinforcing mesh is used in driveway slabs to control the width and length of cracks in concrete. If the mesh is “walked in” or placed at the bottom of the concrete slab, it is ineffective and won’t control cracks. Ensure your mesh is correctly positioned when pouring by chairing it on bar chairs at 1000 x 1000 centres.

Does a Concrete Driveway need Black Plastic

I was also asked recently if driveway slabs need the black plastic membrane (200 micron polyethylene membrane) under them before pouring.

If you have the plastic on site, then I recommend using it. The purpose it serves is to prevent the dry ground sucking moisture out of the wet concrete. That moisture is needed by the cement powder in the chemical reaction called hydration. Don’t worry if your driveway slab has already been poured without the plastic membrane. Not having it won’t decrease your slab’s strength too much – especially if your concreter wet the ground before pouring.

Got a structural engineering question? Ask us on the contact page or comment here!

Matt Cornell
Cornell Engineers