A Historical Perspective Of Steel Buildings

By Author: Armstrong Steel
Total Articles: 90
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Housing has been a fundamental requirement of man since pre-historic times. The basic functionalities haven't changed over the millennia. Even today, the home is considered as the safest and most secure place that a person can be in, just like in pre-historic times where a shelter provided protection from wild animals. In addition, a shelter needs to protect man against the fury of nature, which is something even modern day housing is supposed to do.

There are however a number of different auxiliary functions that today's buildings do apart from simply providing for protection and comfort. The evolution of buildings is an interesting one, and steel buildings has provided a hinge on which modern buildings rely upon. Prior to using metals, buildings were simply made from the materials that were readily available in the place, like wood. However, metals provide a number of desirable properties that have revolutionized building construction over the years. Today, steel is an integral part of most buildings.

The journey of steel started off in the late 1700s when the British began using steel structures. The need ...
... was driven mainly out of the fireproof property of steel structures. Certain buildings like the mills were especially prone to fire and steel mills began to provide the right solution for this problem. With time, by the late 1800s, steel began to be increasingly used for a number of metal building construction purposes. This was also the time when mobile housing became a necessity, being facilitated by the movement of labor from the countryside to the cities where the factories were being set up. Added to this new industrial revolution was the gold rush made people travel places and in need of temporary housing and accommodation. Steel residential buildings provided the ideal low-cost and flexible housing option to these workers.

However, steel was never to be restricted for this purpose. The early 1900s especially saw the erection of a number of skyscrapers in cities like Chicago that used steel as their basic supporting structure. Thus steel entered a new era in which the real properties of steel like strength, stability and durability could be exploited to make metal building thought to be a figment of imagination just a few years ago.

After the world war, residential steel buildings were instrumental in providing basic necessities to millions of families affected by the war. This was a time when no other material could match the ease of manufacture of houses as steel could. Unfortunately, the economics at that time dictated that all steel housing structures be similar to each other. This has made steel stigmatized as an option as people still tend to think of steel houses as boxes exactly similar to one another. However, this is far from the truth. Today, with advances in manufacturing, steel is entering another phase where it is able to provide the highest quality of buildings, the best levels of customization and the most affordable prices. This seems like the magic material that buildings have been looking for ages.

Author Profile
Shane Watson is an employee at Armstrong Steel. Armstrong Steel is one of the largest pre-engineered building suppliers in North America. Whether you want a pre-fab building kit to erect a building or a turnkey solution for your 100,000 square-foot facility, Armstrong Steel is committed to providing customers with the finest building at the lowest cost. Their buildings are durable, attractive and will meet or exceed your specific local building codes. They offer nationwide and international service and delivery of steel buildings. For more information visit http://www.armstrongsteelbuildings.com/.