Structural Systems I

Structure Lab

Structure Lab is an interactive learning platform developed within Structural Systems I at Lawrence Technological University. It connects structural concepts, building models, technical references, and language to develop the judgment architects need to organize structural systems and communicate with engineers. Students trace loads, identify support relationships, test configurations, and explain the consequences of their decisions.

The course reduces the emphasis on manual calculation while requiring students to define problems accurately and interpret results. Changing a column grid changes spans; changing member spacing changes tributary loads; increasing structural depth affects usable space. Linking these decisions makes structural knowledge available during architectural design.

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Model, read, explain

Fundamental concepts establish the vocabulary for working with the models: bays, hierarchy, equilibrium, stability, force types, material behavior, and deformation. Interactive diagrams connect terms to visible objects and actions. Amplified deformation helps students see how a member stretches, shortens, or bends; the displayed movement is an aid to interpretation, not a prediction of visible building movement.

The Model and Explain activities connect action to reasoning. In Model, students configure members, change conditions, and observe structural behavior. In Explain, they identify the evidence behind a choice and describe its consequences for the building. Wood and introductory Steel activities carry this relationship from individual members to coordinated systems.

Span/load-table reading follows four explicit steps:

1. Identify the model condition: the member, span, support arrangement, and loading being checked.
2. Locate the applicable table, row, and column in the original technical reference.
3. Interpret the value, including its units, meaning, and applicable limits.
4. Apply the result to the model and explain the resulting choice or revision.

For a roof deck, this means matching the span and support arrangement to the source table, distinguishing load limits from self-weight or dimensions, and using the result to select a deck or revise support spacing. Recording this reasoning allows a teacher to locate a misunderstanding in the model, the table selection, or the interpretation of the result.

Structure Coach

Structure Coach helps students describe a structural situation with enough precision for another person or a calculation tool to evaluate it. It prompts them to specify the member, span, supports, loads, material, and performance question, and helps identify missing or conflicting conditions. Writing a prompt becomes an exercise in structural reasoning and professional communication.

The Coach composes and refines the question; it does not perform the calculation. Students can take the prompt to their own Gemini session, then check the response against their model and technical references. They remain responsible for identifying assumptions, interpreting the output, and explaining how it informs the design.

Course sequence

Structural Systems I moves from fundamental theory through Wood, Steel, and Concrete Building projects. Each project revisits load collection and transfer, element hierarchy, preliminary sizing, and the coordination of roof, floor, lateral, and foundation systems under different material constraints. Diagrams, mathematical methods, physical models, span/load tables, digital analysis, and verbal explanations provide complementary forms of evidence.

Structural theory

The opening weeks establish a common language for the rest of the semester: structure in relation to architectural form and space; structural bays and bay patterns; equilibrium, stability, and continuity; dead, live, and environmental loads; tributary areas and load paths; force types; and the relationship between material properties, stress, strain, elasticity, and deformation.

Project 1 · Wood Building

The Wood Building project develops a mass-timber building through four coordinated systems. The roof uses trusses, beams, and mass-plywood panels; the floor uses girders, beams, and mass-plywood panels; timber bracing provides the lateral system; and concrete foundations complete the load path to the ground.

Students establish tributary relationships and preliminary member sizes, then coordinate the systems as a complete building. The Lab supports roof, truss, floor, and building studies that connect local decisions to the overall load path.

Project 2 · Steel Building

The Steel Building project introduces joist girders, joists, and corrugated roof deck; wide-flange floor girders and beams with composite deck; steel bracing; and piles, pile caps, and grade beams. Current Lab activities introduce steel behavior and terminology, then connect deck, joist, and joist-girder table reading to the model through Model and Explain activities.

Project 3 · Concrete Building — upcoming

The planned Concrete Building module extends the sequence to precast columns and walls, beams, tees or hollow-core elements, shear walls, and foundations. PCI span/load information will support comparison with the wood and steel systems.

The semester also connects the building projects to selected structural content from the Architect Registration Exam, relating structural reasoning to architectural planning, documentation, and professional judgment.

Learning goals and evaluation

The intended outcome is an ability to connect a structural choice to its conditions, evidence, and architectural consequences. Students should be able to explain a member’s role in the load path, justify a table selection, formulate a complete structural question, and identify what must be checked when the design changes.

Models, table-reading records, and written explanations provide evidence for reviewing that understanding. A key assessment question is whether a student can explain why a change in span, load, or support requires reconsidering an earlier choice, then revise the model accordingly. These are learning goals for an ongoing teaching prototype; measured improvements in student learning have not yet been established.