Large Steel Buildings, Things to Consider

21 Jul.,2025

 

Large Steel Buildings, Things to Consider

Building large steel buildings?

It’s so important to take all factors into consideration when constructing a large metal building. Steel buildings offer lots of important advantages over non-steel constructions, as well as being cheaper to buy, easier to install and offer design and use flexibility that traditional building methods find difficult to match. Steel buildings can be built very large, very easily. Indeed, some of the largest single-story buildings you’ll see anywhere in the world will be steel buildings. They have so much going for them.

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Keep an eye out for the growing demand for multistory warehouses due to the increasing demand for industrial land intensification.

One enormous advantage with pre-engineered steel buildings is that the steel itself is so strong that it allows large buildings whose roofs can be supported without internal support columns, clearspan. If your intended use is as an aircraft hangar, distribution center, warehouse,  retail outlet – or any other use where maximizing floor space without the intrusion of support columns is a benefit – then you’re probably already a fan of steel buildings.

Allied has built many very large steel buildings. So we know from experience that larger buildings do have their own set of specific considerations – and they’re worth knowing about early on in your planning stage.

If you’re considering a large-sized steel building then the following three pointers are worth considering:

  • Does Your Intended Use Require A Clear Span Design?
  • Is A Longer Steel Building Better Than A Wider One?
  • Are You Considering A Multistory Steel Building?

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Does your intended use require a clear span design?

That is, must the entire floor space be open and free of support columns, clear span? Steel’s strength does an excellent job of providing self-supporting structures – it’s one of the huge advantages of building with steel.  But there still comes a point where the added size of the building places increasingly heavy loads on the structural columns and rafters. These have to become progressively larger to bear the increasing roof loads.

Once you’re looking at a roof span greater than {250 feet?} this becomes an increasingly important consideration.

If you can find a way of accommodating interior load-bearing columns within your design then a modular frame will provide significant support for your building’s roof. And that means you do not have to pay for increasingly heavy steel rafters and columns along the length of your building.  

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Are longer steel buildings better than wider ones?

At first, a person might wonder what difference this would make. But unlike, say, a brick construction steel buildings are made wider or longer in entirely different ways. And those different ways have a dramatic effect on the cost of your building.

How does steel building width and length affect cost?

When you add to the length of your design all the cost is located only in that additional length. Add {20 feet} to the length of your building and you’re simply adding an extra frame line to one end of your structure.

But if you add {20 feet} to the width of the building then the building widens along its entire length. Which means that every one of the supporting rafters has to be {20 feet} longer. In addition, every one of the support columns needs to be made bigger in order to support the increased roof load.

Of course, the layout of your plot and various other positioning and zoning considerations might mean you have little choice in whether your building is longer or wider. But if you can choose one or the other then it’s usually more cost-effective to go for longer.

For more information, please visit Steel Structure Engineering.

Are you considering a Multistory steel building?



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We have a passion for unconventional solutions that bring your vision to life.

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Interior mezzanines can provide valuable additional storage or working space and can be a useful addition to buildings that already have high roofs. But if you’re building from scratch keep in mind that a steel I-framed building will need eaves at least 22 feet high if it’s to usefully accommodate this additional level. The increased loading characteristics for a building this high can add considerable expense to the build. If you can possibly keep the building to a single level and, instead, gain your greater square footage at ground level then the overall cost of your steel building would reduce.

*Read more about the factors that affect your steel building pricing here.

About Allied Steel Buildings

At Allied Steel Buildings, no project is too big or small. Whether you are building a garage, barn, or skyscraper, we excel in creating pre-engineered steel building kit solutions for clients large and small. Discover the Allied Steel Buildings difference and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with a premier building company. Call us today at 1.877.997. to learn more or fill in our contact form here and our friendly and knowledgeable building experts would be happy to price your building.

Take the next step

We have a passion for unconventional solutions that bring your vision to life.

Price Your Building Today

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Structural Steel 101: Shapes, Properties, and Applications

For reliable longevity and to bear extreme weight, structural steel must be of the right composition. Iron and carbon are two of the most vital components used by steel mills when making structural steel. The carbon lends strength to the iron ore, which is the source for the iron in steel and is quite soft on its own. To achieve load-bearing capacity, structural steel must have a higher carbon content by weight, and manufacturers can increase the amount of carbon according to the level of strength and ductility its application requires. Most construction purposes only have the need for low-carbon, or mild, structural steel, which contains between 0.04 and 0.30% carbon by weight. Medium- and high-carbon structural steel requires from 0.31 to 1.50% carbon by weight, making this steel suitable for mechanical engineering applications.

Structural steel can also contain levels of manganese, phosphorus, sulfur, and silicone, among other materials. While manufacturers can add additional metals such as chromium, titanium, and molybdenum to their steel compositions to achieve greater strength, this is typically best for non-structural steel as it can result in a brittle end-product.

Whatever the composition, manufacturers must test their structural steel for acceptable yield and tensile strengths. Part of what makes structural steel strong is its ability to yield under weight pressure without permanently changing shape. The point at which structural steel does irrevocably change shape is called its yield strength. Additional weight pressure will eventually bring the steel to its tensile strength limit, the point at which the steel actually breaks. Yield and tensile strength are measured in pounds per square inch (psi) and kilopounds per square inch (ksi).

For evaluating impact or energy absorption within structural steel, the Charpy impact test has standardized the process. Operators utilize a weighty hammer pendulum and a structural steel material sample to calculate how much energy that particular steel can absorb when the pendulum strikes it before the material reaches yield and tensile strength limits. The Charpy test can also incorporate temperature testing to mimic environmental temperature fluctuations.

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