Terracotta Flat Arch Floor

Each features intricate terra cotta cladding systems.

Terracotta flat arch floor.

The guastavino timbrel vault was an interesting variant on the standard terra cotta tile arch floor using catalan hard burned tiles and thin shell construction to meet the american testing standards. This is due largely to the saving in weight accomplished by the use of other materials. This brittle quality makes them unsuitable for buildings in areas where there is the potential for a seismic event. Burnt clay products include brick porous tile and hard or dense tile the latter two are commonly called terra cotta.

Both generic and proprietary flat terra cotta tile arches were tested in new york because neither met the geometric requirements for exemption these sys tems consisted of precast terra cotta blocks with thin webs arranged as flat arch voissoirs there were two major types. The test consisted of the construction of three types of floor systems. These blocks are fragile as compared to other masonry building units. The side method arch where the blocks are laid with the webs parallel to the beams fig.

Architectural terra cotta is an ancient form of masonry that is still used extensively today. Also called building tile structural terra cotta hollow tile and clay block the material is an extruded clay shape with substantial depth that allows it to be laid in the same manner. Side construction with terra cotta voids. 214 is the original form of terra cotta floor arch while the end method where the blocks are laid end to end at right angles to the beams is a later improvement designed to present the full end section of the material to resist the great thrust of the.

Structural clay tile describes a category of burned clay building materials used to construct roofing walls and flooring for structural and non structural purposes especially in fireproofing applications. Terra cotta flat arch floor systems were commonly used during the early twentieth century when the skeletal steel frame emerged as the dominant structural form for building construction. 3 it was not popular for ordinary floors although the. The use of brick for arches between beams has in building construction at least become almost entirely obsolete.

Floor arches between steel beams could also be constructed using skew back terra cotta blocks. End construction flat tile arch birkmire 1898. Terra cotta literally means fired earth a nod to the process of turning clay into a durable product used in pottery floor tiles and roofing. Terra cotta floor and roof arches.