The 6 Main Types Of Building Structures

Buildings make a huge part of our everyday lives – from the homes we live in, the places we work, the spots we shop to our favourite locations that we love to visit. There is a lot more that goes into the planning and building of a structure than you may think.

The 6 Main Types Of Building Structures In The UK

While there many different types of building structures, there are 6 main varieties that most structural contractors tend to use in the UK.

• Traditional construction – in the UK, almost all of the houses, bungalows, and low-rise flats are brick or block wall construction. They can typically be characterised by a sloping roof and either solid or cavity walls, depending on the era they were built. Usually, structures from the 1800s to 1950 have solid walls, and buildings from 1935 onwards have cavity walls.
• Non-traditional construction – anything other than a block or brick wall construction can be defined as non-traditional. These include a range of buildings such as timber-framed properties, metal frames, pre-cast concrete, and in-situ concrete.
• Metal framed – there are around 140,000 metal framed buildings in the UK, the majority of which were built after the Second World Ware during the rapid re-build.
• Pre-cast concrete – around 284,000 houses in the UK have concrete panels as their main structure, and they were typically built in the 1920s.
• In-situ concrete – originally introduced during the inter-war period in the UK, in-situ walling was intended to keep costs and construction time down, but they ended up being more costly than traditional builds.
• Timber framed – houses with timber frames generally have cladding on the exterior to protect the building from the elements. From around 1920 to the late 70s, there were around 108,000 timber framed houses built, and they made a comeback in the 90s.

Of course, there are other types of building structures, particularly for commercial properties, such as RC frame, insulated concrete form, and portal frame. So next time you’re visiting one of your everyday buildings or favourite spots, you’ll be able to identify which category it falls into. It’s also key to understand these building construction types if you are looking to start designing a structure.

Work With 4SP Group

As professional construction specialists, 4SP Group can help turn your design into a reality. Whether you are looking for a full structure, basement construction, underpinning to strengthen foundations, or waterproofing solutions, we offer a full range of services to make the process as simple as possible. No matter if your project is starting from scratch or we are entering the process part way through, you can rely on our construction experts and vast wealth of knowledge to achieve the best results possible.

If you have any more questions about building construction types or our services, please do not hesitate to contact us.