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544 Barry’s Advanced Construction of Buildings
Transfer own weight and any fixtures mounted on the wall
The ability of a partition wall to accept fixtures and fittings is often overlooked. Overloading
a wall with shelves or other fittings may cause the wall itself to break or topple over, or the
load of the fittings may simply pull the fittings out of the wall fabric. The wall materials
must be capable of restraining the loads applied. Studs and other reinforcing materials may
need to be positioned so that the wall can accommodate the load. The head of the wall will
also need to be restrained if loads are anything other than minimal.
Transfer building loads (loadbearing)
While it is common to have large, flexible open spaces divided by non-loadbearing, potentially
demountable walls, it is often economical to have intermediate loadbearing supports,
such as internal walls. The walls can be loadbearing, carrying loads from floors, beams and
components above the wall down to the building’s foundations. By using intermediate
loadbearing walls, the floor beams do not need to span as far, and the section and depth
of each beam can be reduced. Smaller, shallower beams are less expensive per unit length
than long, deep section beams.
Allow the passage of light
Light may be allowed to pass with or without vision through the material (usually glass).
Windows and vision panels are easily introduced into stud and masonry walls. It is important
that the windows are carefully selected and fitted so that they comply with the other
performance criteria of the wall, e.g. fire resistance and acoustic properties.
Allow cross ventilation
Mechanical and natural ventilation ducts may be installed through the wall. If the wall is
a compartment wall, these service ducts will need to be fitted with a fire stop that is capable
of sealing the duct in the event of a fire.
Demountability of partition walls
To accommodate changes of use, large spaces are often divided using demountable partitions.
In such situations the ease with which a wall can be dismantled, reassembled and
repositioned is of considerable importance. Any non-loadbearing wall is demountable, but
it may not be possible to re-erect the structure using the same components.
Some patent partition walls have been designed so that they can be easily repositioned,
e.g. folding concertina doors, sliding doors or walls, without the need for tools. Others are
bolted, clipped or fixed into place but can be relatively easily repositioned with minimum
disruption. Continuity of floor, wall and ceiling finishes may sometimes be compromised
when partition walls are repositioned or removed.
Partition wall assembly
Partition walls are manufactured to a modular size. Systems are usually based on a lightweight
steel stud system. Alternatively timber studs may be used (Figure 10.6). Using
multiple layers of acoustic or gypsum fire-resisting plasterboard and filling the studs with
mineral wall, the fire-resisting and sound-reducing properties of the wall can be significantly
increased.
Often selected purely on economic grounds, different arrangements of brick, timber,
concrete, steel and patent systems can be selected to provide the required finish, flexibility,
acoustics and fire-resisting properties, as illustrated in Figure 10.7.