SECTION TWENTY-THREE

BUILDINGS
WORD BANK

dwelling – mieszkalny; mieszkanie

a stud farm – stadnina
to let – wynajmować
to sway – kołysać się, chwiać, przechylać
an intent – intencja, zamiar, zamysł
serviceability – zdatność do użytku
a partition wall – ścianka działowa
fixtures and fittings – instalacje i wyposażenie
adjacent – przyległy, sąsiadujący
a surveyor – geodeta
an angular deviation – odchylenie kątowe
a slope distance – odległość skośna
cladding – okładanie; pokrycie
a blend – mieszanka, połączenie
procurement – zaopatrzenie, nabywanie
fire suppression – gaszenie ognia
a layout – układ, plan, rozmieszczenie
durability – trwałość, wytrzymałość
to draw upon – polegać na, korzystać z
a crane – dźwig
paramount – najważniejszy, nadrzędny

LEAD-IN

I. Discuss the following questions.

1. What is the difference between buildings and non-building structures?

2. What kinds of residential buildings can you mention?

II. Look at the following and complete the missing letters.

1. __ k __ s __ ra __ e __ – a very tall, multi-storey building containing offices or flats,

clearly dominating/standing out above its surrounding, conventionally higher than 150m
2. __ o __ __ a __ e – a small simple house, typically in a rural, or semi-rural location
3. te __ ra __ e __ house – (also called a row house) a style of housing where a row
of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls
4. m __ n __ i o __ – a dwelling house of considerable size, usually containing many
comforts like a swimming pool and very often not limited to a single house but having,
for instance, a stud farm on the same plot

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5. s __ mi-__ e __ ach __ d house – (also called a duplex) a house joined to another one by
one wall and the basement that they share
6. __ u __ ga __ ow – a small house that is often all on one level
7. __ l __ c __ of fl __ t __ – (also called a tower block or an apartment block) a multi-unit
high-rise apartment building
8. d __ __ a __ hed house – a house not joined to another one on either side
9. t __ n __ m __ nt house – a building in a city divided into separate residences meant to let

TEXT-BASED TASKS

III. Put the following words and expressions into the text. Listen and check.

elements of a building building sway building services design of buildings

surrounding buildings non-building buildable modern building

Structural engineering is a speciality discipline within civil engineering that deals

with the design of structural systems. A structural engineer is most commonly involved
in the design of buildings and 1) ……….…..………..……….. structures. Non-building
structures, also referred to simply as structures, are those not designed for continuous human
occupancy. The term is used by architects and structural engineers to distinctly identify
structures that are not buildings. Structural engineers ensure that their designs satisfy a given
design intent, based on safety (e.g. structures do not collapse), or serviceability (e.g. floor
vibration and 2) …………….…...………….. do not result in discomfort for the occupants).
They are also responsible for making creative and efficient use of funds and materials
to achieve these goals.
Structural building engineering includes all
structural engineering which is connected with the
3) ……………...…….…..……….. . It is the branch
of structural engineering that is close to architecture.
The structural design for a building must ensure that
the building is able to stand up safely, able to function
without excessive deflections or movements which
may cause fatigue of structural elements, cracking
or failure of fixtures and fittings or of partition
walls. It must take into consideration movements and forces due to temperature, creep,
cracking and imposed loads. It must also ensure that the design is practically
4) ………..……………....….. within acceptable manufacturing tolerances of the materials.
It must allow the 5) ……....………..………….. to fit within the building and air
conditioning, ventilation, electrics and lighting to function properly. The structural design
of a 6) ……….......………..….. can be extremely complex, and requires a large team.
7) ……………..………..…….. or structure must be correctly sized and positioned
in relation to each other and to the building site boundaries as well as to adjacent structures.
The surveying work should be done during times of low wind. Surveyors check the walls
and columns using external control. This determines how straight the structure is and whether
there is a twist. Modern surveying equipment, such as electronic distance measurement
(EDM), total stations, GPS surveying and laser scanning, allow for accurate measurement
of angular deviation, horizontal, vertical and slope distances. Sometimes prisms are
permanently attached to 8) …………..….……..……….. . This information is crucial
to convert the data into a graphical representation which is then used in the course of building.

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IV. Unscramble the words to learn their Polish meanings. They all appear in the text on
page 108. Next shut the book and in pairs tell each other what structural engineering
involves.

1. gutiafe – …………………………. – zmęczenie (materiału)

2. ceper – …………………………. – odkształcenie
3. cginkarc – …………………………. – pękanie
4. reulifa – …………………………. – uszkodzenie, awaria
5. wistt – …………………………. – przekręcanie, spaczenie, wykrzywienie
6. coinfeldet – …………………………. – odchylenie, wygięcie, ugięcie

V. Read and fill in the gaps. In each paragraph (A–D) use only one of the words below.
Next translate one of the paragraphs into Polish. Give it to your partner and ask him
to translate it back into English without looking at the original text.

roof/s façade/s wind/s fire

A. …………………… Engineering
………….…… make a major contribution to the overall aesthetic and technical
performance of a building. ……….……… engineers work in consultation with architects,
building owners, cladding manufacturers and construction managers. Projects can include
new buildings and re-cladding of existing ones. …….………… engineers work together
with other members of the design team including fire, acoustic and lighting engineers. Their
goal is to balance the overall objectives of appearance, quality, performance, cost, durability
and schedule. ……….……… engineering requires a blend of skills ranging from structural
engineering to architecture, manufacturing, materials science, dynamics, programming,
procurement, project management and construction techniques.

B. …………………… Engineering
………….…… protection engineering (also known as ………….…… engineering
or ……….……… safety engineering) is the application of science and engineering principles
to protect people and their environments from the destructive effects of …….………… and
smoke. The discipline of …….….……… protection engineering includes: active
…………….… protection – ………….…… suppression systems and ……….……… alarms,
passive …….….……… protection – ………..……… and smoke barriers and space
separation. …….….……… protection engineering also deals with smoke control, building
design, layout, space planning, ……….……… prevention programs and risk analysis.

C. …………………… Engineering
A ……….………, the covering on the uppermost part of a building, protects
the building and its contents from the effects of weather. Buildings and non-building
structures that require …….………… range from a letter box to a cathedral or stadium,
dwellings being the most numerous. In most countries a ……….……… protects primarily
against rain, however, depending on the nature of the building, the …….………… may also
protect against heat, sunlight, cold and wind. The characteristics of a …….………… are
dependent upon the purpose of the building, available materials, local traditions
of construction and also wider concepts of architectural design and practice. They may be
governed by local or national legislation. The elements in the design of a ……….……… are:
materials, construction and durability.

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D. …………………… Engineering
…….…….…… engineering is a field of structural engineering devoted to the analysis
of ……….…….… effects on the natural and built environment. It includes strong …….…….
……, which may cause discomfort, as well as extreme …….….……… such
as tornadoes, hurricanes and storms which may cause widespread
destruction. ……….……… engineering draws upon meteorology,
aerodynamics, Geographic Information System, ……….….……
energy, air pollution and a number of specialist engineering
disciplines. ………..……… movement is a significant problem
in monitoring the construction of the massive building. Crane hours
are paramount on these sites, and everything is scheduled around
the crane which cannot work in extreme weather conditions.

FOLLOW-UP

VI. Match the following words and expressions with their English equivalents.

1. działka (teren) – …………….……….

2. działka/parcela budowlana – …………….……….
3. działka zabudowana – ………………….….
4. działka niezabudowana – ……………….…….
5. teren/plac budowy – ………………….….
6. teren zabudowany – ……………………..
7. teren niezabudowany – ………………….….
8. w budowie – ……………………..
9. biuro geodezyjne – ………………….….
10. biuro budowy – ………………….….
11. pozwolenie na budowę – ………….………….
12. grunt – ………………….….
13. grunt budowlany – ………….………….
14. grunt rolny – ……………….…….
15. teren uzbrojony – …………….……….
16. teren nieuzbrojony – ………….………….
17. uzbrojenie techniczne – ……….…………….
18. służebność – ………………….….
19. nieruchomość – ……………….…….
20. kierownik budowy – ………….………….
21. wykonawca robót – …………….……….
22. podwykonawca – …………….……….
a. a building office k. a site, a plot, an allotment
b. an unbuilt area l. an unbuilt site/plot
c. a developed area/site m. ground, land, area
d. utilities, services n. a building/construction site
e. building ground o. an easement
f. an undeveloped area/site p. under construction
g. a built-up site/plot r. a construction manager
h. a built-up area s. a construction permit
i. farmland, agricultural land t. a building contractor
j. a building site/plot u. property, real estate

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w. a geodetic office x. subcontractor
VII. Look at the list of some spectacular buildings and non-building structures. Choose
one of them and prepare a short presentation about e.g. its design, surveying,
construction, etc. There are expressions in the LANGUAGE CORNER to help you.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel (under construction) The Sears Tower

Q1 (Queensland Number One) The CN Tower
The Golden Gate Bridge HSB Turning Torso
The Burj Khalifa Taipei 101
The Warsaw Radio Mast (collapsed) The Seikan Tunnel
The Petronas Twin Towers The KVLY-TV Mast
The World Trade Center (destroyed) The Nurek (Norak) Dam
The Empire State Building The Boeing Everett Factory

LANGUAGE CORNER

VIII. Look at the following expressions that might be useful in making presentations
and put them next to the right category.

I have divided my presentation into … parts. / Turning to … / I’d like to start by ... / I’d like
to conclude by saying … / A good example of this is ... / Next, … / I would like to start by
welcoming you all here today. / Right, let’s sum up, shall we? / The purpose of this
presentation is to … / Finally, let me move on to … / That brings me to the end of my
presentation today, ladies and gentlemen … / Now we’ll move on to … / Thank you very
much for your attention/listening. / Now if there are any questions, I’d be happy to try to
answer them. / First of all, I’ll ... / Starting with ... / Let me turn now to ... / To give you an
example, ... / I’d like to deal with this question later, if I may ... / To illustrate this point ... / If
I can just sum up the main points ... / As an illustration, ... / I’ll come back to this question
later in my talk ... / Now, I’d like to discuss ... / In conclusion, ... / I’d like to welcome you all
at my presentation … / Let’s begin by ... / So much for ...

1. Welcoming the audience: ..………………….…………….…………………………………

………………………………………………………………...…………………………………
2. Introducing the subject: …………………..…………….……………………………………
……………………………………..……………………….……………………………………
3. Finishing one subject and starting another: …….…………………….…….…..……………
……………………………………………………..….…………………………………………
4. Giving an example: ………………………………………………………….………………
...…………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. Dealing with questions: …………………………...…………………………………………
………...…………………………………………………………………………………………
6. Summarising and concluding: .………………………………………………………………

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.………………..…………………………………………………………………………………

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