A A smart, local builder decided this small, unused Victorian hospital was an opportunity not to be missed! He set about changing it into two large, separate houses. If you are looking for something out of the ordinary, then you need to check these two exceptional developments. Each house has three bedrooms, a luxury open-plan kitchen and huge living room. Buy one of these houses and you're ready to move in immediately, without any delays, as they are already fitted with everything you will ever need, from a Jacuzzi to a dishwasher!
This is a three- storey stone-built house enclosed within a walled garden, where a new buyer could grow his own vegetables. In 1980 the building was turned into a guesthouse with a lounge, and a large dining room with wooden walls. The kitchen is spacious and fully fitted with the latest equipment, having a small extra room leading from it which could be used as storage space. There are also five double bedrooms, each with its own bathroom.
The outside of this particular house remains the same as when it was originally built. It is a large but simple building, typical of the period, with a twin staircase on either side of the main entrance. Its many windows give the building a really light, airy quality. It is a building of impressive architecture that adds a certain character to the area as a whole. On the ground floor, there is a long, open- plan kitchen-dining room which is fully equipped, as well as a luxurious sitting room. Meanwhile, the upstairs consists of four, en-suite bedrooms which make life easier and more comfortable for any buyer. Each ensuite bathroom is in different colour, according to the design and colour scheme of each bedroom.
D There is no other house like it in town! Here is the kind of unique building that the more eccentric buyer would be looking for. It is an unusual, round tower, which appears tiny from the outside, but on taking a closer look, one will notice three spacious bedrooms, flooded in light from the Gothic windows, two large bathrooms in which the traditional style has been kept. Meanwhile, downstairs, the kitchen, with its large workspaces and locally made-to- order cupboards, would please anyone with a keen interest in cookery. The high-ceilinged living room looks out over the local park area and so allows the owner his own little area of greenery while still living in the heart of the city.
E The outside of the house, which is covered in York stone, is approached from the road
through electronic gates, allowing the buyer to have a high level of privacy. The downstairs includes a long kitchen with old wooden floors and matching shelves made by local craftsmen, which add to the general warmth of this home. The lounge has an extremely large, open fire
ceiling to floor for those winter nights! Upstairs, meanwhile, there are three rather small bedrooms with single wardrobes and wall lights as well as a gleaming white bathroom with porthole windows giving the impression of being on board a ship!
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Unit 4
Foundations
I. Memorize the following words:
a footing -
a pier -
to distort -
to extend - ,
to heave -
to swell - ,
to shrink - ,
to penetrate -
to transmit -
to thaw -
uneven -
II. Read the text
Foundations
The loads that a structure imposes, on the ground normally reach the ground through walls,
piers, or columns. Ideally, if the ground surface is a firm stratum of natural rock, able to take the loads directly without noticeable settlement, the walls, piers, or columns can simply be ended when they reach it. They can also be built up directly from it after some preliminary leveling. Unfortunately, such strata have rarely been found in the places where men have wanted to build. Therefore, some means have to be provided to spread the loads more widely to carry them down to rock or firmer ground at a lower level.
A foundation is Structure that transmits loads from a building or road to the underlying ground. A footing is a slab element that acts as the foundation, transferring loads from the superstructure to the ground.
Most foundations extend underground, and the foundations of large buildings often penetrate to the bedrock. One common type of foundations consists of walls that extend below the frost line and transfer the weight to wider footings. Other kinds of foundations include Slab-on grade foundations, pier and beam foundations and piles.
The primary dangers to a foundation are movement and uneven support. Change in ground water table is a common cause of foundation failure. Also flowing water can remove supporting soil from underneath a bridge foundation and freezing water can heave the supporting soil in one direction and then in the other direction when it thaws.
Changes in soil moisture can cause 'reactive' clay soil to swell and shrink. This swelling can vary across the footing due to seasonal changes or the effects of vegetation removing moisture. The variation in swell can cause a footing sitting on the reactive foundation soil to distort, cracking the structure over it. This is a particular problem for house footings semi-arid climates such as South Australia, Southwestern USA, Israel, and South Africa where wet winters are followed by hot dry summers. Raft slabs with inherent stiffness have been developed in Australia with capabilities to resist this movement.
When heavy structures are built in arctic areas where the ground is permanently frozen, special refrigeration units must be used to keep the pressure of the structure from melting the supporting soil.
III. Answer the following questions:
1. What is the function of foundations?
2. What types of foundations do you know?
3. What are the main changers to foundations?
4. What factors can cause the failure of the foundations?
5. How do climatic conditions influence the choice of the foundation design?
6. How do the structural loads reach the stratum?
IV. Make cause/effect statements according to the text
| cause | effect | |
| 1. The soil moisture changes | The construction | collapses |
| 2. The level of ground water changes | The cracks occur |
V. Are these statements true or false? Correct the wrong statements.
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1. The loads of the structure normally reach the ground through walls, piers, or columns.
2. Only one type of foundations is used in structural design.
3. Uneven support and movement are not dangerous for foundations.
4. Changes in soil moisture can cause cracks in the construction.
5. House footings don't suffer from soil swelling in semi-arid climates.
6. When heavy structures are built in Arctic areas special refrigeration units are used.
