Per my committee members comments I am going to start studying and building 3 structural models to help figure out what system would be best suited for my building. Below I listed the 3 main "natural disaster" features that I will have to base my designs on since these are relevant to the OKC area.
1. Wind Loads
2. Tornado
3. Earthquake
I will also have to keep in mind span distances of such structural systems since I am wanting to keep the track as open as possible and free of columns interfering with sight lines.
The images below are of the first structural system that fits my above criteria. The Arched or Domed roof will allow me to span greater distance with fewer materials as long as I buttress the exterior walls and allow the weight the be distributed into the earth. The dome also fulfills a second idea I had in mind as to allowing the building to apart of the outdoor cycling design. With Oklahoma being so flat (especially on my site) trying to integrate a mountain bike facility is quite challenging. Being able to have a green roof we are able to create our own hills and valleys on top of our buildings would be ideal and would keep up from having to import dirt and such from around the area. It will also help with energy needs in the summer since the earth is such a good insulator.
I will start pulling parts from the images below and start modeling the structural system for my building.
1. Wind Loads
2. Tornado
3. Earthquake
I will also have to keep in mind span distances of such structural systems since I am wanting to keep the track as open as possible and free of columns interfering with sight lines.
The images below are of the first structural system that fits my above criteria. The Arched or Domed roof will allow me to span greater distance with fewer materials as long as I buttress the exterior walls and allow the weight the be distributed into the earth. The dome also fulfills a second idea I had in mind as to allowing the building to apart of the outdoor cycling design. With Oklahoma being so flat (especially on my site) trying to integrate a mountain bike facility is quite challenging. Being able to have a green roof we are able to create our own hills and valleys on top of our buildings would be ideal and would keep up from having to import dirt and such from around the area. It will also help with energy needs in the summer since the earth is such a good insulator.
I will start pulling parts from the images below and start modeling the structural system for my building.