Single-family, semi-detached · 2025
Semi-detached house with a basement garage below groundwater
A two-unit house with a basement garage below the groundwater table. House-scale structure with engineering-project problems: uplift, watertightness, driveway levels and a movement joint between the units.
- 1
- watertight basement under two units
- 2
- units separated by a movement joint
- 3
- uplift design situations
Challenge
Groundwater above the garage slab, hence uplift during construction before the building load, a movement joint running through the basement, and driveway levels dictated by the road rather than by the architecture.
Solution
Slab and walls as a watertight basement with cracking limited to self-healing width. Uplift checked in three situations: excavation, slab without building, final state. Joint resolved with waterstop and a slab hinge; axes transferred from the DXF base without redrawing.
Scope
- Structural design for permit and construction
- Formwork and reinforcement drawings
- Uplift and watertightness analysis
- Movement joint details in the basement
Sample work
All sample work
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