05-20-2015, 01:28 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-20-2015, 01:39 PM by isUsername.)
(05-20-2015, 01:09 PM)taylortbb Wrote:(05-20-2015, 12:24 PM)TMKM94 Wrote: I feel like I'm being treated like an idiot for thinking this building was beautiful (obviously not the main floor facade) and had huge potential and could have at least been partially saved so I will just keep my opinion to myself from now on, sorry for sharing my opinion.
I feel I should point out that that ugly main floor facade was in fact load bearing, so there was little that could be done about it. Original plans had called for replacing the brick with windows, but not possible if they're load bearing.
That's not necessarily true. You can't replace the brick entirely with windows, but you could do a combination of windows and new structural beams that are strong enough to support the existing (or even additional) loads. Cinderblock is definitely not the strongest building material, and it's entirely possible they could have been replaced with a metal / reinforced concrete framework with openings for windows.
A quick Google search tells me that the compression strength for reinforced concrete is, at minimum, twice as strong as cinderblocks, and the upper limit of reinforced concrete's compression strength is much, much higher. Steel beams have a bending resistance over ten times greater than the compression strength of cinderblocks. So, it's certainly plausible that reinforced concrete pillars topped with steel beams could provide significantly more structural strength than the original walls.