Introduction to Materials- Exterior to interiors

List of Few building Materials that are commonly known

o Stone

o Bricks

o Lime

o Cement

o Concrete

o Mortar

o Timber

To understand materials and their purpose; one must understand the building as a built form and
the functions of building first.

A building can be broken down into the following physical systems

1. Structural System/ skeleton – foundation, columns, shear walls, beams, slab.

2. Building Envelope

o A building envelope is the structural barrier between the interior and exterior of a building.
o It includes the Roof, Walls, Doors, and Windows.
o It is responsible for maintaining climate control within the interior of a building.
o Climate control refers to cooling and heating a building.
o The building envelope also keeps the interior free from moisture, sound, and light.
o Building envelope has three primary functions:
o Structural support—To provides strength and rigidity for resistant to external and internal
loads.
o Environmental control—limits the flow of matter (dust and water) and energy into and out
of the building.
o Finish (aesthetics)—visual appearance of the building
o Common materials for building envelope should have long lasting, insulating, water
repellent, sound blocking, and light filtering characteristics.
o Common roof material includes asphalt, composite, wood, metal, clay, slate, and rubber.
o Typical wall material includes brick, blocks, stone, glass block, wood, concrete, etc
o Window frames and doors share common materials such as aluminum, composite,
fiberglass, vinyl, and wood. Specialty coatings and tints, along with gases, are commonly
applied to any glass on both windows and doors.
o Building envelope material is dependent on the climate, culture, and available resources.

3. Internal spaces - Internal spaces provide the feel of shelter, enclosure, safety. Internal
spaces are not only divided with physical partitions but a designer can divide the internal
space by creating a play of lights, colors etc.
4. Mechanical system- AC, Fan, Lights, Plumbing etc.
5. Furnishings- Furniture and furnishing

o To come up with material list we need to know all the the surfaces that are going to be
treated.

o Set of furniture that is going to be used if bought out or custom made and preferred
finishes

For any room; basic surfaces that need to be treated and other elements which need to be
considered are

1. Floor

2. Walls

3. Ceiling

4. Lighting

5. Windows/ doors

6. Window coverings

7. Furniture / Upholstery
 Floor –

o is the Horizontal Structural element of the building with primary function of load bearing.
o Carries weight of walls, own load and transfers it to the skeleton system/ beams & columns.
o Resistant to effects such as heat, water, moisture, noise etc.
o Floor coating is the upper layer of the floor.
o It has to protect the layers below and has to be appropriate with the function of the space.
o Before finalizing the floor coating material; the function of the space and user requirements
has to be determined

Types of few Floor finishes as an example

1. Screed (cement, magnesia, gypsum based),

2. terrazzo,
3. natural and artificial stone,
4. Ceramic/ Vitrified Tiles
5. glass
6. wood
7. polymers
8. metal

1. Screed

o Screed is a thin layer of cement paste and sand/ fine aggregates, laid on to a concrete floor
to act as a smooth flat levelling surface for taking on the final floor finish.
o Screed is a proportionate mix of cement, aggregates and water..& is usually applied on top
of the concrete slab
o Most commonly used to level the floor prior to final floor such as tiles, natural stone,
linoleum, wood flooring, resin coatings etc.
o It is a must to screed over the floor to make is levelled and even.
o Screeds generally follow a mix proportion of 1Cement: 3-5Sand (0-4mm washed sharp sand
for levelling screeds).
 2. Terrazzo

o Terrazzo flooring is traditionally made by exposing marble chips on the surface of

concrete and then polishing until smooth. However it can be found in tile form as
well. It's often used in public buildings because it's long-lasting- 40 to 100 years and
can be refinished repeatedly.

3. Natural stones-

o Properties of natural stones depend upon their parent rock and its formation.
o All natural stones are dense, heavy, and available in slabs as well as tiles, veneers.
o Can be used in exteriors/ interiors depending upon their properties.
o The vein pattern may vary.
o Some examples- Marble, Granite, Travertine, Sandstone etc.
o Artificial stones that are engineered to mimic the look of natural stone are also
available.

4. Ceramic tiles/ vitrified tiles-

5. Glass Floor- Glass floors are made with transparent glass when it is useful to view
something from above or below; whereas translucent glass is used when there is no need to
view through. In either case, toughened glass is usually chosen, for its durability and
resistance to breakage.

6. Wood Floor

7. Polymer/ Resin based floor- Finishes may very based on polymers however Epoxy and
Urethane floors are common ones. Patterns can be created by using different shades and
finishes can be made in high gloss, semi-gloss and satin. Resistant to a large number of
chemicals such as solvents and acids; which is why preferably used in laboratories,
Warehouses, food and beverage plants, hospitals. Also used in heavy traffic areas such as
showrooms, garages, sports room

8. Metal floor- for heavy traffic areas.

Wall –
o Function : Separate spaces from each other vertically; also may or may not carry load.
o Use: Protect the space against effects of water, moisture, heat, noise, light, fire etc.
o Three layers of a wall
Core- Structural part/ Bricks/ blocks
Exterior Coating
Interior Coating

Core -

Core is the structural part of the wall and its primary function is load-bearing.
1. At solid masonry buildings, wall core has to carry all the loads which effect building.
2. At skeleton systems; wall has to carry its own load and transfer it to the system.
3. Other functions such as; heat, water, moisture, noise, light and fire resistance are shared by
all layers.
 Exterior Coating -

Functions of the coatings can change depending on its position on the wall.
o Exterior coating takes a role in forming the architectural character of the building.
o It has to be resistant to atmospheric, mechanic and chemical effects and easy to clean.

Internal Coating/ Finishing-

o Not exposed to external weather conditions such as heat, rains etc hence thinner.
o Interior finishing has to be porous enough to emit the noise and provide the acoustic
balance.
o Interior finishing has to be nonflammable, vapor permeable and non-toxic. In addition,
interior finishing has to be compatible with the function of the space by appearance, color
and texture

Wall Finishes

o Plaster
o Paint
o Wood
o Gypsum panel
o Sandwich panel
o Ceramic
o Natural Stone
o Artificial Stone,
o Glass
o Metal sheet etc.

Plaster

o Plaster finishing is done after constructing the wall to ensure the evenness of the top
surface of the walls and to achieve an aesthetic finish by use of mortar.
o Protect surface from atmospheric effect such as heat, snow fall, rain etc.
o To create decorative effect as well as to improve the aesthetics
o To hide defective and poor workmanship ( Cracks, Leakages etc )

Type of plasters-

o Conventional – Cement, Lime, Mud Plaster

o Special type – Waterproof, Stucco, Gypsum, Keen’s cement, Martin’s cement, Parian
Cement, Acoustic plaster, Asbestos- Marble Plaster, Snow crete and color crete Cement

Paint
o
o Protects the surface from weathering effects of atmosphere.
o Prevents corrosion of metals and decay of timber.
o Provides smooth surface for easy cleaning also increases the durability of surface.
o Provides a good appearance of the surface
o Paint provides waterproofing, protection of the surface from sunlight, dampness, dust,
abrasion, and weathering.
o Interior spaces can be redefined by the use of color, light or darkness, matt or reflective
surfaces and texture.

Characteristics of a Good Paint

o Good Spreading power

o Consistency
o Drying up capacity
o Satisfactory adherence
o Impervious and weather resisting
o Neither crack nor shrink
o Should not reveal brush mark
o Attractive appearance
o Should not affect the health of the workers

o paints are considered to be used primarily for aesthetics, while coatings are used principally
to prevent surface deterioration or provides corrosion protection
o Other architectural coatings- Stains, Varnishes, Lacquers, Sealers etc,

Types of wall paints

1. Oil paint
2. Enamel paint
3. Emulsion paint
4. Cement paint
5. Timber stains
6. Bituminous paint
7. Aluminum paint
8. Anti corrosive paint
9. Plastic paint

Wall Paint finishes

o Matte – solid color without and shine and least durable due to fewer coats.
o Eggshell – Durable than Matte, Lustrous and with a low sheen and water resistant.
o Satin- satin has a velvety sheen and smooth finish. Easy to clean.
o Semi-gloss- Semi-gloss paints are shiny and reflective. They’re extremely durable and
mildew-resistant, so they’re best used in rooms that get a lot of wear and tear or moisture,
like kids’ rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms. Also used on doors, moldings etc, offers a hard
finish.
o Gloss- used on woodwork and metal and have high shine.
 Ceiling

o Ceiling is the lower part of the floor. it is usually straight and can be finished directly by
plaster and paint or can be treated in multiple ways.
o If the ceiling has an acoustic, HVAC, lighting or sprinkler system equipment on it, a
suspended ceiling has to be created in order to conceal the services
o Suspended ceilings are usually composed by a Finishing material such as gypsum, metal,
Timber board, ceramic, glass, plasterboard, upvc
o Based on the project requirement exposed ceilings can be proposed as it is cost effective
with ease for maintenance.

Window & Doors

o A window is an opening Formed in the wall or a roof of building with transparent or

translucent material fixed to the window opening supported by frames/ casements
o Windows can be fixed or openable.
o As window is the part of wall or roof envelope of the building it should exclude wind and rain
and act as a barrier to excessive heat transfer, sound transmission similar to wall and roof.
o As a component part of a wall or a roof a window should satisfy following functional
requirements.
1. Strength and Stability
2. Resistance to weather
3. Durability and freedom from maintenance
4. Fire safety
5. Resistance to the passage of heat
6. Resistance to the passage of Sound
7. Security
o Window Frames can be made from following
Materials- Wood, Vinyl/ upvc/ plastic, Fiberglass, Aluminum/ Wood clad, Composite

Door

Door is a solid barrier that is fixed in a doorway/ opening in a wall/ partition and is
supported on hinges/ pivot/ sliding tracks to provide access between rooms, compartments,
corridors, landing and stairs.

The functional requirements of door are as follows:

1. Privacy
2. Strength and stability
3. Resistance to weather
4. Durability and freedom from maintenance
5. Fire safety
6. Resistance to the passage of heat and sound
7. Security

o Types of doors

1. Wooden or Timber Door

2. Glass Door
3. Steel Door
4. PVC Door
5. Fiberglass Door
6. Aluminium Glazed Door