When converting an old warehouse in Toronto into a music rehearsal and multimedia production facility, the lack of walls created multiple design challenges. A fully floating recording studio was created to achieve the required level of acoustical performance in the space.
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With a history spanning more than a half-century in noncombustible commercial construction, cold-formed steel (CFS) is a popular material choice for framing nonstructural interior walls, loadbearing interior and exterior walls, floor joists, and curtain walls.
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Mid-rise construction has taken hold as cities across Canada seek new ways to accommodate growth in urban populations. Recent provincial and municipal codes and pending national code changes are allowing a more affordable path for mid-rise construction. Specifically, codes are innovating fire-protected wood frames (timber) for five- and six-storey buildings.
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Flashings are critical to ensuring moisture does not have an opportunity to enter wall assemblies. However, many designers cannot agree on flashings because what constitutes the products themselves is poorly defined. A flashing is a material put in place to prevent water penetration, or to direct the water flow away from the building.
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Glazing is an integral part of modern design. From a thermal standpoint, glazing and its structure or frame is the weakest point of a wall assembly.1 A double-glazed vinyl window with argon’s U-factor (i.e. thermal transmittance) is typically around 3 W/(m2 K). This means the window will gain or lose around 3 W per m2 per degree Celsius. An efficient fibreglass window system’s U-factor can be as low as 1 W/(m2 K). An aluminum curtain wall system can range as high as 4 W/(m2 K). On the other hand, the U-factor of a 152-mm (6-in.) steel stud, with batt and exterior continuous insulation, can be around 0.4 W/(m2 K).
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By its very nature, indoor air quality (IAQ) is fragile and fickle—easily disturbed by the most minute of changes to the built environment, whether during construction or occupancy. In fact, even the seemingly innocuous introduction of new products and materials, such as wall and ceiling assemblies, can damage indoor air quality and, as a result, create an unhealthy space for both contractors and occupants.
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