Why Steel Buildings Are Perfect For Garages

Our prefab steel buildings are versatile enough to be used for a variety of structures, but one of their best uses is creating the work or storage garage you’ve always wanted. As an economical choice, it’s the perfect alternative for constructing a garage or shed. It’s imperative that you carefully plan the location of your garage to make sure that it makes sense for you. You may have extra room on your own property to add it close to your existing home or other properties, which is ideal for most. Steel buildings are flexible enough to be placed anywhere as long as there’s a solid foundation. Take into consideration how you plan on using the garage, as this will help you determine what size you need to accommodate these needs. Olympia’s metal garage kits are capable of widths up to 200 feet and unlimited lengths, giving you more than enough room to store your cars, trucks, boats, RVs and trailers.  They’re also engineered to not need any load-bearing middle columns, meaning there are not interior obstructions that will compromise the way you use your space inside. Materials like wood require middle support in order to remain durable as well as accommodate larger sizes, but with steel buildings this isn’t the case.

Unlike concrete, steel work does not shrink or otherwise distort during the time the building is up. Other more conventional methods like brick, stone and wood are not only more expensive but more time consuming, with steel prefab taking nearly 30% less time to erect a building when comparing it to conventional concrete structures. This is largely due to the ease of construction. Steel buildings also produce much less waste after being completed, with little to no left over materials since each part of the structure is specifically designed and engineered to fit your requested requirements.  Not only does this waste ass to construction costs, they put extra strain on the environment. Steel materials are 100% recyclable so even in the event that the structure is no longer required, the steel is able to be reused in another way without compromising the properties of the material. Steel never loses its strength and durability not matter how many times it is reused for other purposes. Steel is fire and pest resistant in addition to being well protected from extreme weather conditions, meaning whatever you have stored inside will largely be protected from a range of elements.

No matter what you use your garage for, using an Olympia prefab steel building is the best choice you can make.

Top 5 Tallest Steel Buildings In The World

It’s no secret that you can find steel buildings all over the globe, being used in everything everything from workshops, sheds and garages, to communication towers to residences. Some of the most dynamic structures in the world are built from this strong, high quality metal. Steel’s strength lends itself well to building not only extremely spacious buildings, but towers that seem to defy the laws of gravity, standing out from the crowd of structures around it. The materials durability will ensure not only that it stands out among the rest, but also stands the test of time with little maintenance. Here, we look at some of the tallest steel structures in the world.

Burj Khalifa (Dubai)

Completed in 2010, the Burj Khalifa was the structure that knocked Toronto’s CN Tower out of the top spot for the world’s tallest freestanding structure. Standing at a record-breaking 2717 ft. tall, the tower is used for office space, residential apartments as well as a hotel. Much like the rest of Dubai, staying at or living in the Burj Khalifa is very pricey, costing around $4000 /sq. foot.

Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel

Located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the luxurious building is part of a larger building complex that includes residences, conference centres and a hotel. At 1972 ft. tall, it boasts the world’s largest clock face and houses a lunar observation center used to track the moon’s movements, particularly during months of religious significance. Completed in 2012, it’s become a staple of the region.

Willis Tower

Formerly known as the Sears tower, this structure in central Chicago is a 103-story, 1451 ft. skyscraper that’s been overlooking the windy city since its completion in 1973. Used mainly as a commercial building that originally housed the massive Sears workforce,it also boasts a glass observation deck constructed into the steel portions of the building, that provides breathtaking views of the Chicago’s city skyline, the Chicago river and beyond. The elevator leading to the top level’s observation deck (called the Skydeck) makes the trip in about 60 seconds.

Empire State Building

One of the most famous steel buildings in the world is located in New York, and it almost instantly recognizable to most people. The building’s Art Deco style makes perfect sense since it was completed in 1931 standing at 1250 ft tall, making the tallest building in New York City at the time until the completion of the World Trade Centre in 1970. Like most tall steel buildings and towers, the Empire State Building has a large observation deck that provides visitors with unobstructed views of the city, the Hudson river and even a few states over.

Aon Center

This Chicago skyscraper stands at 1136 ft and serves as the main office headquarters of professional services company, Aon. The building is the 3rd tallest building in Chicago and its inner layout is almost identical to that of First Canadian Place in Toronto, ON. Completed in 1973, the building’s lighting is often changed to reflect a particular season or holiday.

 

 

How Schools Can Benefit From Steel Buildings

It’s no secret that in towns and cities with booming populations, schools meant to accommodate a few hundred students can begin teetering into 1000 or more studentts quite quickly depending on where you live.

While many schools opt for complete overhauls and renovations to make space for a larger community and thus a larger amount of students, others choose prefabricated structures to help with the extra amount of students.

Prefab steel buildings have long been used to offset an influx of students during a new school year. Typically placed within the school’s outdoor grounds near the main building, these buildings can alleviate crowded classrooms and allow the school to better distribute the student population into more manageable sizes.

Because of the ease and speed of construction, it’s possible to construct these commercial sizes structures over the course of a few months in preparation for a new school year. These can be used as a helpful solution to the problem on a temporary basis until a school or district is able to complete a full renovation. However, due to the high quality nature of steel structures, it’s also possible to create unique additional learning spaces that remain a part of the school for years to come.

Their design flexibility makes it possible to put them anywhere you may have space on your school property or campus, particularly closer to entrances and exits of the main building or to create a flow between the main building and steel structure. Depending on what model you choose, it’s also possible to build more complex structures outside the main building, able to house multiple classrooms together. You can also use these structures to house administrative offices, day care centres, labs, libraries as well as additional storage – all things the main school building may not be able to handle. You may even need a much larger indoor space for recreation and physical activity than your current gym can accommodate; in which case prefab steel building additions to the property are a great option.

Construction from full-scale renovations can bring plenty of noise into an environment, in addition to creating inconveniences like barring access to certain parts of a building that are being worked on. Things like this can create distractions for both students and teachers in a space where focus is imperative. Prefab construction is much simpler and quicker than other traditional forms of construction, meaning there will be much less invasive distractions to your school property of campus and current teachers and students can remain focused.

Our recreational and commercial building models are the perfect options for creating this extra space, which is why it’s important for more school to consider steel structures as a way of solving any space issues they may have.

Lighting is one of the most important choices you’ll need to make when it comes to any structure, and steel buildings are no different. There are quite a few things you’ll have to take into consideration that will determine the type of lighting that works best, like the intended use of the building, the size of the building and height of the ceiling, and if there are any types of openings for natural light already that may cut down on how much lighting you actually need.

Hanging LED Bulbs

Hanging lighting is a popular option for steel buildings, as they tend to be the most cost effective of all the types, easily replaceable and use bulbs that are widely available. Like all LED bulbs, they’re largely environmentally friendly and consume less energy than other types of lighting. It has a life span much longer than traditional incandescent bulbs even with frequent switching, and still operate well in extreme hot or cold temperature – which will be important seeing as your structure will be outside and probably insulated a little differently than your home.

T8 LED Lighting

These types of lights are perfect for work spaces and garages where properly lit areas are integral to getting your work done. Not only that, but this type of lighting lasts long and doesn’t suffer burnout in the way traditional fluorescent or incandescent lights do. They’re much more energy efficient, often can be dimmed when linked to the right controls, have a longer lifespan than many other types of lighting and have a casing that is largely shatterproof – made from hard plastics as opposed to glass. This type of lighting will also help you maintain a mostly “green” structure, as they require less energy to function for long periods of time.

LED Panel Lighting

Panel lighting is great for steel structures used for commercial spaces like stores, offices, school portables and more. Providing a wider range of lighting, it’s meant to disperse throughout the room and be multi-directional as opposed to much more focused lighting. Like most types of LED lighting, panel lighting uses less energy (calculated in per lumens) than other forms of lighting, which translate into savings in the long run. This type of lighting can also mimic daylightdue to its spread, creating a well-lit and comfortable work environment that is conducive to productivity.

Mobile Lights & LED Lamps

In steel structures used to do work that requires great lighting, some of the other options may not be quite enough. While they can be used in combination with other types of lighting, having mobile lights or bright LED on stands may be needed as supplemental lighting, especially for work that needs a great deal of focus or detail.

Skylights

Though it’s technically not a lighting option in the traditional sense, skylights are a great way to let a lot of light into your steel building. If your structure is something you will mainly be using in the day, skylights are the perfect way to take advantage of the daytime. Don’t be afraid to use alternate forms of lighting in addition if you anticipate extended use or to access it when it’s much darker outside. Lamps and hanging bulbs are good types of lighting to use in conjunction with skylights

Take some time to consider these types of finishing touches to your steel building by having an understanding of exactly what you need it for so you can plan, purchase and install accordingly.

With the construction of any type of building, it’s always important to ensure that it meets specific standards and codes in order to be deemed fit for use. This is especially true when looking to build a structure that fall under certain codes of environmental and energy consciousness.

In the same way that appliances can be Energy Star certified to ensure it meets all the specifications of an energy efficient model (and homes actually have to meet this standard as well), steel buildings almost always fall under LEED certification to denote those same properties. But what exactly does that mean? LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a popular design certification that’s used all over the world and aims to help home builders and homeowners be more environmentally conscious and use their resources in a more efficient way. In Canada, The Canada Green Building Council makes the final decisions and sets specific standards about how the process is completed.

It involves a point and rating system that takes multiple factors about a building, location, materials and more to determine whether or not they get the certification, with differences in checkpoints for different types of building depending on their use, be it residential, recreational or commercial spaces. These different rating systems are Homes, neighbourhood development, building operations and maintenance, interior design and construction and building design and construction, and each system has their own specific set of guidelines and consideration that cater to the type of building or development is being assessed. The buildings would then fall under a specific level based on points received during the assessment process. 40–49 points would receive “Certified”, 50-59 points would be rated “Silver” 60-79 points would receive a “Gold” rating, and 80 points & above would be rated “Platinum”.

Steel buildings and other pre-fab structures by nature are more environmentally friendly and energy efficient than traditional building, and tend to qualify for LEED certification. One thing that greatly helps prefab buildings in this regard is that LEED certification not only focuses on the final product, but the whole lifespan of the home, such as the building process and its effects on the environment. One of the many factors for consideration include the conservation of building materials and waste, meaning having less wasted material from any part of the process will make it more likely that a structure will receive the certification. Due to the very purpose of prefab, there’s little to no waste because all parts of the structure are made to order and fit perfectly with each other; with no need for cutting, leftovers or unused parts.

Location is one of the things that plays an important part of the decision process, as buildings closer to other homes, groups of buildings or within close proximity to sewer lines and water as the structure is able to benefit from that existing infrastructure instead of creating brand new connections that would further disturb the surrounding environment.

It’s important to note that Olympia Steel Buildings can qualify under LEED Green Building guidelines, so you can rest assured that you will meet this important standard. Contact us at 1-888-449-7756 for more information