Load
What pushes, pulls and shears: self weight, fit out, snow and wind, plus everything that will really stand in the house later. Only once the loads are settled is a calculation worth starting.
Structural analysis and design in Mönchengladbach
Structural engineering for Mönchengladbach, from the first sketch to the last reinforcement drawing
We design and calculate structures in Rheydt, Odenkirchen, Wickrath and across the city. You receive documents the building authority, the checking engineer and the shell contractor can work with straight away.
- Field
- Structural analysis, design, reinforcement
- Area
- Mönchengladbach, Rheydt and the Lower Rhine
- Office
- Willi Matern M.Sc. Bauunternehmung
- First step
- Call, site visit, quotation
01Axes
Three axes that everything lines up along
A structural design is not a pile of formulas but an answer to three questions. We answer them in this order, because each answer settles the next one.
Path
How the load travels down: through the slab, the beam, the wall, the column, the foundation. The load path decides which wall has to stay and where an opening is possible without much effort.
Verification
What ends up on paper: the position plan, the calculation, the formwork and reinforcement drawings. Built so it can be checked, so the authority need not ask twice and the site does not wait.
NoteThese three axes stand behind every quotation we write. Anyone who knows them can read a structural design.
02Services
What we calculate and plan for you
Planning and consulting in construction, for private clients, architects and businesses. Housing and commercial work, new builds as well as conversions and modernisation.
01
Structural analysis
Calculation of plane and spatial structures, from a single position to the complete analysis for the building application. Where a component calls for it, we analyse the stresses with the finite element method.
ResultVerifiable analysis for the application
02
Structural design
The design of the structure before anything is calculated. Which construction method suits, where loads belong, what can be built slender and still durable. Most of the later cost is settled here.
ResultStructural design with cost consequences
03
Reinforcement and formwork drawings
Working drawings that can be read on site: bar diameters, spacings, anchorage lengths, laps. The drawing the steel fixer works to, and the one the formwork is set to.
ResultFormwork and reinforcement drawings
04
Building physics
Thermal and acoustic performance in relation to the structure. Where a slab has to be heavy, where a wall belongs decoupled and what that means for the foundation.
ResultThermal and acoustic verification
05
Steel structures
Steel structures from the design through the verifiable calculation to detailing ready for erection. Beams, columns, connections and bearings, agreed with the workshop that will build them.
ResultCalculation ready for the workshop
06
Site supervision and shell work
We do not only calculate, we also build shells. That is why we check every structure for whether it can actually be built in a reasonable time.
ResultSupport until the shell is accepted
NoteNot every project needs all of it. In the first conversation we tell you which of these points arise in your case at all.
03Levels
From the ground up to the roof, level by level
A house does not carry as a whole but in layers. We work through them from the bottom up, because each layer settles the one above it.
01
Foundation
Strip footing, ground slab or pile. The ground decides that, not the wish. A soil report is therefore the first document we ask for.
02
Ground slab
Load bearing or merely load distributing, with or without a seal against pressing water. The difference costs little when it is decided early and a great deal once the concrete is down.
03
Walls and columns
Masonry or reinforced concrete, load bearing or bracing. Large windows towards the garden move the bracing to another place in the plan, and that belongs settled beforehand.
04
Slabs
In situ concrete, lattice girder or precast. Span direction, openings for ventilation and drainage, bearings over openings. What is missing here shows up on site.
05
Roof
Rafters, purlins and collar beams, or a flat roof with a parapet. Snow and wind reach here first, and the loads run all the way back down through the house into the foundation.
NoteThe order is not a formality. Whoever concretes the ground slab before the span direction of the floor is settled pays twice.
04Documents
What ends up in your folder
A structural design is not a report for the filing cabinet. It is a set of documents that the building authority, the checking engineer and the shell contractor work from. So here is what you receive, and in what form.
Structural calculation
PDF and paperThe analysis itself, built up position by position, with every assumption stated openly. It goes to the building authority with the application and, where required, to the checking engineer.
Position plan
PDF, A3The overview drawing that assigns every position a place in the building. Without it nobody reads a structural design in reasonable time.
Formwork drawings
PDF and plotDimensions, positions and levels of the concrete components. The shell contractor sets formwork to these before any steel is bent.
Reinforcement drawings with bar schedule
PDF with bar schedulePosition and diameter of every bar, together with the schedule the steel is ordered from. Having it early means you can ask for prices early.
Revision status
PDF, with indexEvery drawing carries its status. If something changes on site we replace the drawing and say explicitly which one applies.
NoteEverything digital, on request as a plot as well. What you hand on to the building authority you receive in the form required there.
05Existing
When the house is older than its file
Mönchengladbach holds a great deal from the reconstruction years and from the seventies. Anyone changing something there rarely has more than a few copies and the memory of the previous owner.
Experience in conversion counts exactly when no records of the existing building are available, or only incomplete ones.
- We measure up, open a component where necessary and look, instead of assuming
- We assess the existing structure and say what reserves it still has
- Missing figures are derived from the construction method, the year and the codes of the time
- The proposal follows what is standing and does not work against it
06Engineer
Your engineer
You do not talk to a department but to the engineer who calculates your positions himself. The office is in Heinsberg, and the drive to Mönchengladbach is part of everyday work.
Good buildings come out of the cooperation of client, architect, structural engineer and the contractors doing the work. We sit in two of those seats at once, because alongside the planning we also build shells. That changes the answer to whether a structure is worth it.
Besides houses we work on multi storey and special structures. With steel structures the work runs from the design through the verifiable calculation to detailing ready for erection, agreed with the workshop that will build it.
- One person to talk to
- The same person from the first call to the release of the reinforcement drawings.
- An answer during the build
- We respond quickly to changes while the work is under way.
- Two points of view
- Planning and calculation carry the knowledge of doing the work ourselves.
07Process
The way from enquiry to release
Five steps. At every point you know what comes next and whose turn it is.
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01
Enquiry
One phone callYou describe the project, we say which documents are needed and roughly what the scope means. It costs nothing.
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02
Site visit
By arrangementFor conversions we look at the building. For a new build the design drawings and the soil report are often enough.
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03
Quotation
In writingA written quotation with a clearly described scope, so you know what is included and what is not.
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04
Calculation and drawings
By scopeWe calculate, draw and settle open points with the architect and the authority. You receive interim results as soon as they are dependable.
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05
Release
OngoingThe analysis goes to the building authority, the working drawings go to the site. Changes after that we carry on handling.
NoteHow long it takes depends on your documents and on the checking engineer. The quotation says what to expect in your case.
08Site work
Photographs from the sites
Shell construction from our own work. They show the components a structural design is about, at the place where they are made.
NotePhotographs from the project work of the office. Click an image to see it larger.
09Area
Service area Mönchengladbach
We work in Mönchengladbach and in the districts from Rheydt to Rheindahlen, and in the surrounding area. The office is in Heinsberg, and we travel to site meetings in Mönchengladbach regularly.
Places in the service area
- Mönchengladbach
- Rheydt
- Odenkirchen
- Giesenkirchen
- Wickrath
- Rheindahlen
- Hardt
- Neuwerk
- Eicken
- Lürrip
- Windberg
- Holt
- Korschenbroich
- Jüchen
- Viersen
- Wegberg
If your project lies outside this list, ask anyway. What matters is whether we can be on site in reasonable time when a question comes up.
NoteA first opinion needs no site visit. A phone call and a few photographs are almost always enough.
10Questions
Common questions
What clients most often want to know before the first meeting.
What does a structural design for a house cost?
That depends on size, construction method and how much has already been planned. We name a price once we know the scope, and then in writing. Numbers pulled out of the air help nobody.
Which documents do you need from me?
For a quotation, design drawings with plans and sections are enough. For the calculation, add the soil report, the site plan and details of the fit out. We tell you early what is missing.
How long does it take to get a verifiable design?
Once the documents are complete the work usually takes some weeks, depending on scope and queries. The quotation names a date and we tell you if anything shifts.
Do you take on conversions with no old analysis?
Yes, that is one focus of the office. We measure up, open a component where necessary and derive missing figures from the construction method and the year before anything is calculated.
Do I need a checking engineer?
The building code decides that through the building class, not us. We tell you whether a check applies in your case and build the analysis so it can be checked without rework.
Do you work with my architect?
Yes, that is the normal case. The earlier we sit at the table, the less has to be changed in the design later. We settle things directly, without you as a messenger in between.
11Contact
Describe your project
A few sentences are enough for a first opinion. You get an assessment of whether and how we can help, and what the next step would be.
- Mobile
- +49 170 2452 777
- Office
- +49 2452 97 89 023
- Address
- Ostpromenade 89, 52525 Heinsberg
This helps us at first glance
- Where the building or the plot is
- New build, extension, conversion or opening
- Roughly how large it is
- Whether drawings already exist
- By when you need the documents