PRV Site Study

Parahyangan Rumah Villa (PRV)

For this group project, we had to choose a site to study on, focusing on the important elements that the house has and explaining the materials used and the process on how the element is made from beginning to the end. For our site, my group choose to do my house in a village called Parahyangan Rumah Villa (PRV) in Bandung, Indonesia, because I knew i had photos of the whole process already from the beginning of the construction till the end which would be easier for me to the describe the main elements. The main important elements. that my group focused on were: structure, foundation, stairs, suspension and opening. 

The photos below shows my house in Bandung for our chosen site. 

                 

Each individual in my group had to focus on an element but because my group only consisted of me and another person, Darren Ho, we both decided to focus on two elements each. I decided to focus more on openings and suspension. I had plenty of photos to help me describe the process and also from the different technical drawings I got such as elevation, sectional drawings and plan views. I also decided to focus on these two elements because I wanted to know myself more information about my own house and how the openings and suspension works in my house and also I knew I would have to use internet to do research also so I wanted to know more information to gain more knowledge too. 

Openings

The first element I focused on were openings of windows and doors. Firstly the windows are made by making a hole in the wall from the bricks and having a wood lintel used to support the opening. The wood lintel is used to prevent the bricks from falling and keeping the required square shape for the window. Below pictures shows the process from brick wall to putting concrete. 

 

For the window, an aluminium window frame is used and is inserted into the opening in the wall which then they inserted a single paned (normal) glass for the window. For the windows, they can use wood also but aluminium for windows are a better choice because it is more durable, low maintenance, and has a good thermal performance as it can easily achieve heat loss through the windows by 60%. Therefore, this is why the windows are aluminium instead of wood because there are more benefits. The windows uses single paned (normal glass) which has pros and cons about it. It is a good thing that the windows used this glass because it is inexpensive; however it is a very poor insulator. Another material that could replace this is double-paned glass as it a better insulator but it is a bit more expensive.

The types of windows that the house has are awning and picture windows. Awning windows are used to get fresh air in and picture window are used to give appearance and provide natural sunlight in. The pictures below shows the windows with the window frames and glass in the opening. 

 

The same process is done with the openings for the doors. After this, the bricks around the opening for the window/door are then covered in concrete. The wood lintel is used to prevent the bricks from falling and keeping the required square shape for the door, main door and doors inside the house and also the garage door. There are four different types of doors in the house: bi-folding door for the garage, 4 panels sliding door for the door to the garden, double doors for the main door to enter the house and a hinge door for the other doors in the house. 

For the door, they used a wooden frame and inserted in the opening for the doors and then a piece of camphor wood is inserted with joints for the door. There are many advantages of using wooden frame for the doors than other materials. Advantages of using wood frames for the door includes: less maintenance, some likes the natural wood texture and appearance, latches and locks are easily installed, and it is also a natural insulator of heat. However, there are disadvantages of using wood for door such as it absorbs moisture which means it will rot, and also can get infected by termites. Therefore, other materials that are able to be used instead of wood frames for doors are uPVC or aluminium. uPVC is a good alternative as it has low maintenance, good insulator and low cost. Aluminium can also be used as it has an increased strength -strongest material out of the three, and also environmentally friendly.

Photos below shows the main door, garage door and terrace door after it has been finished constructed. 

Suspension 

The next element that I focused on were suspension -the roof and also the ceilings. In the beginning, I did struggle explaining the suspension because I did not know much information about suspension as much as I do about opening but through looking at the pictures and researching, it helped me understand the suspension in my house. 

There are two types of roof and from looking at my roof, my roof is pitched with the main structural component is a roof truss and the type of truss used is planer truss (2D). The truss of the roof is constructed by joining steel together onto the top and bottom chord and having truss web to support the bottom and top chord together. After, wooden panels are then put on top of the truss and the tiles are then hammered onto the wooden panels. 

The truss of the roof is made out of steel rather than wood and there are advantages of using a steel truss such as is that it is more lightweight, can be manufactured to exact standards and also no risk of insect infestation. However there are also disadvantages of using steel truss as that it is not energy efficient, and also moves more with temperature fluctuations which is dangerous. An alternative material you can use instead of steel is wood for the truss as it is more fire resistant. However it can collapse over time as wood can warp and also can rot and get infested by bugs. Both materials are good to use for roof truss but in my opinion, I think it is good that my house has steel truss. 

The next thing I researched about was the ceiling. The suspension system for the interior of the house are plaster ceiling. It is also a concealed ceiling system and there are wall mounted furnitures such as cabinets in the bedrooms and also electrical fixtures such as lights, A/C and fan. How the ceiling is made from the ground floor of the house to make the second floor of the house is that first, it has plaster boards, then a wooden beam of the house, then wooden panels, concrete filled, steel, concrete filled again and then the marble tiles for the second floor are placed on top. For the plaster boards, reinforcing tape is used in the finishing stages of the plasterboard installation to bridge the gaps between sheets and to strengthen the joints. The reinforcing tape is also used to prevent cracks.




Advantages of using plasterboard for ceiling is that it is not expensive, and also does not harm the environment as no cement or plaster mixture is released to the environment. There are alternative materials however that can be used for the ceiling such as natural timber, concrete with no finish on top, or VJ (vertical joint) timber lining. All these materials are good to use for ceiling if you want appearance but I think plasterboard was a good option for the house as it is less cost effective.  


Reflection

Throughout this whole assignment, I have gained a lot more knowledge about suspension and also about openings of doors and windows. The research that I did myself and also looking at the photos of the house itself is what helped me gain more knowledge. I did struggle a bit here and there because I got a bit confused on some of the processes but with research, using my knowledge and looking at the photos, I figured it out. I enjoyed doing this assignment because I learnt more about the construction of a house and how it was built and also, I get to really understand how my own house was made and what other materials the constructer could have used instead!