Journal of Research in Infrastructure Designing  
                                                                                          Volume 2 Issue 2 
                                                                                                           
                
                                    Architectural Elements of a Building 
                                                               
                                                    Ar. Farah Wahaj* 
                                   Freelance Interior Designer - Urban Geometry, India. 
                                                 *Corresponding Author 
                                               E-Mail Id:-fwahaj@msn.com 
                                                               
                                                       ABSTRACT 
               All built forms termed as buildings will have the same basic principles/elements irrespective 
               of their differences. Buildings can vary in shape, size, function, number of floors, type of ma-
               terials used, type of construction, style of building, budget etc. All the elements of a building 
               whether it is big or small, appear in the start of construction process or at the end of it are 
               equally integral. Every elements put together aptly makes an effective building whole. 
                
               Keywords: Elements, building, construction, services 
                
               INTRODUCTION                                      ELEMENTS OF A BUILDING 
               A  building  design  and  construction  is        The building is a conglomerated whole of 
               guided with the use and multiple elements.        the  following  elements  that  work  behind 
               The way these elements are synced togeth-         the main principles -  
               er vary in every design. The architectural        1.      Structural Loading 
               elements  of  a  building  use  differently       2.      Substructure 
               skilled labor to be able to execute them as       3.      Superstructure 
               per design. Material variation can also be        4.      Primary Elements 
               possible for different elements.                  5.      Secondary Elements 
                                                                 6.      Finishing elements 
                                                                 7.      Services
                
                                        Fig.1: Architectural Elements of a Building         
               HBRP Publication Page 1-3 2019. All Rights Reserved                                                               Page 1  
                                                                     Journal of Research in Infrastructure Designing  
                                                                                                  Volume 2 Issue 2 
                                                                                                                     
                  
                 The above mentioned elements have fur-                Superstructure - The part of the building 
                 ther  types  within  them.  The  type  can  be        that comes above the substructure or over 
                 used  according  to  the  design  or  kind  of        the  ground  is  superstructure.  The  super-
                 building.  But  every  functioning  building          structure itself has a lot of layers to it like 
                 will have a mix of all of the above men-              the following -  
                 tioned elements.                                       
                                                                       Primary elements - This constitute essen-
                 Structural  Loading  -  The  load  bearing            tial elements like walls (external and inter-
                 components of a building are under con-               nal),  floors  (ground  and  upper  floors)  , 
                 stant stress to transfer the loads. Loads are         roofs and stairs connecting the floors. The-
                 of two types - dead loads, imposed loads.             se  are  the  interconnected  structural  ele-
                 Dead load is the building weight itself that          ments. 
                 is  fixed.  Imposed  loads  are  of  added             
                 weights like furniture, natural forces, hu-           Secondary elements - These are the ele-
                 mans  etc.  Transferring  these  loads  can           ments that reflect and complete the spaces. 
                 cause  the  following  stress  compression,           Elements like - partition walls, doors, win-
                 tension  or  shear  stress.  Compression  is          dows, glazing, skins, ceiling, aesthetic el-
                 load from the top and bottom push towards             ements, interior elements, chimneys are all 
                 the  centre,  compressing  the  component.            secondary elements of a building. 
                 Tension is top and bottom pull away from               
                 the centre, widening the component. Shear             Finishing elements - The completing fin-
                 is stress on opposite sides causing a slicing         ishes like plastering, paints, cladding etc. 
                 effect. The kinds of load bearing structure           is  the  top-most  layer  of  the  all  structural 
                 are                                                   elements. These elements are mostly aes-
                 Horizontal - floor and flooring                       thetically  the  most  appealing  as  this  is 
                 Vertical - walls, columns                             what the human sees first.  
                 Bracing  members  -  diagonal  or  cross               
                 members fitting it roofs and scaffolding.             Services - Building services include water 
                                                                       supply  and  sanitation,  electrical,  HVAC, 
                 Substructure-  The  base  of  a  building  -          phone, internet, surveillance, fire-fighting, 
                 foundation  is  its  root.  An  underground           TV cabling etc. These services serve as a 
                 structure that grips the entire building to-          backbone  for  the  functioning  within  a 
                 gether  and  transfers  its  load  onto  the          building. They are mostly built in within 
                 ground, few types of foundation are - pile,           the  primary  and  secondary  elements. 
                 raft, pad, wide strip, narrow strip etc.  
                  
                                             Fig.2: Floor-wise elements of a building                                
                 HBRP Publication Page 1-3 2019. All Rights Reserved                                                               Page 2  
                                                               Journal of Research in Infrastructure Designing  
                                                                                          Volume 2 Issue 2 
                                                                                                           
                
               CONCLUSION                                         3.  https://civilblog.org/2015/04/07/what-
               Any  building  function  effectively  only             are-the-basic-components-of-a-
               with  the  correct  design  and  function  of          building-structure/ 
               each and every of its element / principle.         4.  https://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolle
               As discrete each element seems to be they              ges.co.uk/FEAndVocational/WorkBas
               are intermingled in a twine that sews the              edLearn-
               fabric of a building together. The building            ing/BuildingServices/Level2Carpentry
               elements  also  need  specialized  skill  de-          andJoin-
               signer and workers to be able to design and            ery/Samples/CarpentryJoinerySample
               construct every element correctly and effi-            Materi-
               ciently.  An  architect,  engineer,  services          al/CandidateHandbook2ndEdition-
               consultant,  interior  consultant  and  an  ex-        Chapter4.pdf 
               ecutor all work as a team to build a build-        5.  https://www.embuilding.com.au/gloss
               ing.                                                   aries/13-secondary-elements 
                                                                  6.  https://www.petefowler.com/blog/cate
               REFERENCES                                             gory/Building 
                1.  http://www.carpenters-                        7.  http://www.orazio.it/index.php/12-
                    works.com/en/basic-elements-                      basic-components-of-a-building-
                    buildings.html                                    structure/ 
                2.  https://www.embuilding.com.au/gloss           
                    aries/6-primary-elements 
                
               HBRP Publication Page 1-3 2019. All Rights Reserved                                                               Page 3