Ants aren’t desirable in the home, but they can certainly teach us a lot about how to design a house that’s fully efficient. In fact, these creatures work in tandem to serve the needs of their entire community. One of their top tasks? Building an ant colony that is structurally sound. At the same time, ants highly value efficiency.
Ants are well-known for their strength. In fact, they can carry up to 50 times their body weight! This helps them carve out a tunnel network containing the shortest possible distances between point A and point B. At the same time, they also place an emphasis on designing a complex network that contains a central hub.
In home construction, the central hub represents the stability and usability of the interior. For example, your living room, along with the drywall, studs and everything else that keeps it solidly in place. Meanwhile, the tunnel network is the home’s foundation. Without a well-constructed foundation, no home will stand the test of time. Ants know this, and our team of structural engineers follow the same building guidelines that ants have employed for 92 million years.
Ants are also accomplished soil engineers; their presence affects soil at a biological, physical and chemical level. This helped inspire modern soil testing and engineering techniques. As always, when we look to nature, we find everything we need! Melbourne Engineering Consultants proudly offers efficient, strong, high-quality structural engineering and soil testing to help ensure the best possible home construction.