Thanks JAE; if you were local I'd have invited you round - alas I think you're USA, and this project is UK :) but your insight has been massively helpful!
@jae - see that's probably the entire problem - i'm not sure what a 100mm pier does for a wall that is already 450mm thick. Local building codes say that to be effective against racking forces on a freestanding wall, the pier should effectively triple the wall thickness; this wall isn't...
Thanks JAE..
An additional question, then: the structure going inside this building is a pair of timber frame houses, but the design of them is such that quite a bit of steelwork is being employed, together with an additional set of reinforced foundations set into the existing slab. Is it...
I'm converting a commercial building into residential. Part of the plan involves creating an opening 4000mm wide in a side wall, directly underneath a high up semi circular window that is also 4000mm at its widest point.
Here's a panoramic shot of the entire building - please note that this...
