Abstract

The structural attribute of the town house is a very distinct plan as some of the

structural members are continuous such as beams in frames, walls and slabs. A

continuous beam in a building may be interrupted by its supporting internal columns,

and both are usually part of a framed structure. The type of beam-to-column joint used

influences the global analysis of all the members in the vicinity.

The main goal of this research is to minimize the cross-sectional area of the main

structural members. The study is said to be unique because its structural design is not

commonly applied in actual construction specifically in rowhouse constructions. This

study attempts to introduce a proven-to-be-helpful and effective residential house

design by establishing the concept of a row house using stiffener columns and beams.

This is also done to prove that the proposed structural members are safe to be used as

main structural members, hence, the results of the study are rather expected to be

useful as to contribute to the future researchers based in Cebu and in other parts of the

Philippines.

To use thin structural members, the design should be capable of sustaining the

safety of the structure. The capability of special sections such as L and T sections as

structural members are proven to sustain the architectural demands in maximizing the

interior spaces. These designs are only limited to two-storey residential townhouses

because this kind of section has a very low stiffness because of their small cross-

sectional area. By using [STAAD PRO CONNECT v22] structural software, the

structural members being tested and researched are proven to be capable of sustaining
the safety of the structures even if the cross-sectional areas of the members are

minimized due to architectural limitations.