Design and construction material libraries

Material, sample, product or detail libraries have, in both historical and contemporary terms, often been a key component of any design practice. Architects such as Alvar Aalto, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, etc., were well known for celebrating and experimenting with what were, at the time, new materials or new ways of using traditional materials.

Materials, which many might consider to be the essence of architecture and the construction of buildings, are the designer's palette. As such, beyond colours, hues and tones, many architects have relied on samples of materials, collections of bricks, timber cuts and so on, retained in an easily accessible place. In some cases sample boards may be required by planners to show exactly the type of brick to be used or timber species, whilst clients may also request mock-ups or 1:1 scale tests to see how elements weather over time.

Beyond the materials or products themselves, increasingly it is the information associated with the product that is vital to its use. Whilst historically this may have simply been the price of the material, where it is manufactured and the lead times, more recently, customers and authorities have sought greater assurance that materials will last, are safe for use and so on.

The first official UK construction product testing framework was introduced in 1903 with tramway rails; it was the first British Standard, represented by the Kitemark. The BSI was, by 1942, recognised officially by the UK government as the only standards issuer. Since then there have been many, many standards published concerning construction products - see the article A Brief History of Construction Product Certification Schemes and other related articles for more information.

Jumping ahead swiftly to today, the plethora of materials, systems, products and combinations of products is vast, and the associated information has expanded by the same margin to sometimes include wide-ranging related information such as embodied carbon or environmental impacts (see the articles on EPDs, PEFs, and PCFs). Today, as a result of need and the possibilities available through the information age, there are a wide variety of online product, material and detail libraries, which we have tried to list below for information. The list is not exhaustive, and we have a wide variety of articles on Designing Buildings itself that relate to products, their characteristics, specifications and use.

Last of all, and by no means least, there needs to be a mention of the Grenfell tragedy and the significant role that products, manufacturers, specifiers and authorities had in the terrible events that unfolded on the 14th of June, 2017. Whilst the Grenfell Inquiry web of blame highlighted many of the interactions between parties involved in the project, it also gave reference to a relatively simple academic construction library, which should also be mentioned in closing. The University of Queensland's Cladding Materials Library is essentially a record that lists some 81 product make-ups that constitute potential cladding solutions for buildings, along with the percentage contents of those build-ups and the fire analysis and tests that relate to them. The library can be accessed by registration here. The following paragraph is taken from the Part 14 recommendations of the Grenfell Inquiry report section A; construction library113.39:

“Those who design buildings, particularly higher-risk and complex buildings, would benefit from having access to a body of information, such as data from tests on products and materials, reports on serious fires and academic papers. In Chapter 112 we have referred to the Cladding Materials Library set up by the University of Queensland, which could form the basis of a valuable source of information for designers of buildings in general. We recommend that the construction the development of a similar library, perhaps as part of a joint project with the University of Queensland, to provide a continuing resource for designers.”

Here is a list of online construction material, product and detail libraries we know of, in no particular order. We are a wiki set up to share knowledge freely, so if something is missing, feel free to add to the list:

• https://source.thenbs.com/categories
• https://www.firstplanit.com/
• https://2050-materials.com/
• http://www.material-index.co.uk/index.html
• https://www.archdaily.com/catalog/us
• https://architizer.com/product-search/
• https://www.designboom.com/product-library/
• https://www.designerpages.com/
• https://www.matweb.com/
• https://openmaterialsdb.se/
• https://research.kingston.ac.uk/rematerialise/html_and_flash/searchwelcome.htm
• https://sweets.construction.com/
• https://transmaterial.net/
• https://ma-tt-er.org/news/
• https://materialdistrict.com/material/
• https://materio.com/en
• https://www.materialconnexion.com/search#/page:1
• https://www.matrec.com/en/
• https://specificationonline.co.uk/library
• https://www.cpicode.org.uk/assessment-search/
• https://detail-library.co.uk/
• https://claddingmaterialslibrary.com
• https://www.arcat.com
• https://www.bimobject.com
• https://www.caddetails.com
• https://www.wbdg.org

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• An in-depth look at Environmental Product Declarations EPDs.
• Buildability in construction.
• Computer-generated imagery (CGI).
• Construction progress meeting.
• Construction site inspection.
• Contingency plan.
• Design review.
• Grenfell Inquiry.
• Layer.
• Model-based design.
• Modular building.
• Offsite manufacturing.
• Pre-construction information.
• Prefabrication.
• Quality control.
• Samples and mock-ups for construction.
• Submittals.
• Tolerances.
• Types of materials.
• Construction Products Reform Green Paper and Consultation.
• Materials Passports