Structural design has changed a lot through the 20th and 21st centuries. There has been a major update with materials, technology and construction techniques. Throughout the recent years the construction process has become a lot faster and more efficient.
The 1900’s brought around the creation of reinforced concrete, and with the Royal Liver building as one of the first buildings constructed with it, using a new material for such a big project will have been difficult. Creating a medium sized structure (like the Ingalls building on the left) will have had some complications but building a ‘skyscraper’ (like the Royal Liver Building below) will hold a lot more problems. For example the amount of load that the building will have, before it is habited. Compared to concrete, reinforced concrete has the ability to hold 4x the amount of weight due to the strength of the steel reinforcements, with this reinforced concrete is a brilliant invention for architects to modernise cities around the world, making them on a grand scale.
Nowadays compared to constructing years ago the use of prefabricated materials has vastly increased; now whole structures can be made to order and then delivered to the site and simply just be placed where needed. Technology has also improved, with the use of 3D printers, concrete can easily be crafted to exact measurements. This reduces the likelihood of human errors.
Also with the advances of structural materials such as steel and timber, buildings are now able to be made a lot larger than before. Timber is able to be strengthened by the use of other elements know as retardants, being able to improve things such as their fire resistance.
Royal Liver Building, Liverpool 