Cold-formed Steel for Mid-rise Construction—Conceptual Design

Cold-formed steel has been successfully used in low-rise construction (up to 3 storeys). To extend this form of construction to mid-rise (up to 8 storeys), several additional issues will have to be addressed to make it technically and regulatory acceptable. A conceptual design handbook is currently being developed by the National Association of Steel-framed Housing (NASH). The aim of the handbook is to assist designers to carry out a quick preliminary design and to be aware of additional factors that need to be considered for mid-rise design of cold-formed steel buildings. This paper describes the proposed content of this document, including: (i) regulatory requirements, (ii) construction methods, (iii) structural forms, and (iv) an overview of cold-formed steel design with structural, fire and acoustic considerations.