Single storey buildings

This chapter presents the main structural elements of single storey buildings, whether industrial, commercial, serving for sports activities or other use. Several structural solutions are proposed, with their advantages and disadvantages, with emphasis on the most usual ones. Reference is made to both the main and the secondary structural elements. Hot rolled, welded or cold-formed elements are described as well as cladding panels. Several types of bracing systems are also presented, such as vertical bracings, providing lateral stability to the building, wind bracings on roofs or using the panels of the skin as stability elements. Special attention is given to buildings in seismic areas, where enhanced requirements are to be met in respect to strength and ductility.Single storey buildings are often equipped with cranes, supported by the main structure through appropriate beams. Crane supporting beams are also presented here, including the applied to them crane actions, their resistance and serviceability requirements as well as the related constructional details.This chapter may assist designers to select, during the initial phase of the preliminary design, the main design options such as the general arrangement of the structure, structural systems, their geometry or types of cross-sections.