Skeleton frame
A skeleton frame is a framed structure often used for the construction of multi-storey buildings. It incorporates a network, or system, of columns and connecting beams which support the building’s interior floors and exterior walls and carries all loads to the foundations.
Skeleton frames can be constructed from timber, concrete or structural steel components, with the building envelope formed by glazing, brick, cladding and so on hung on the outside.
The skeleton frame was introduced in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and allowed for the rapid erection of buildings, such as the early skyscrapers. It enabled interior floor layouts to be free of immovable walls, making them more flexible spaces, and meant that different materials could be used for the facades. This had the effect of reducing the importance of masonry from something that was a structural element to having a more decorative role.
![]() |
Framework of Flatiron Building. Circa 1901. |
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Braced frame structure.
- Concept structural design of buildings.
- Concrete frame.
- Gusset.
- Multi-storey building.
- Portal frame.
- Shell and core.
- Skyscraper.
- Steel frame.
- Structural principles.
- Structural steelwork.
- Structural steelwork: a quality perspective.
- Timber frame.
- Tube structural system.
- Types of frame.
Featured articles and news
Download your free guide.
Four new types of prior approval for solar developments
Online Planning Portal application types from 5 September.
Election fails to spark construction industry revival
Contract awards and planning; post election.
Making diversity and inclusion easy for SMEs
The CIOB tool for companies with limited resources.
Sustainable Futures: Redefining Retrofit for Net Zero Living
BSRIA Briefing 2024, initial speakers announced.
Looking back at the UK's first Passivhaus leisure centre
Reflections on St Sidwell’s Point with CIAT.
A-Level results and electrical apprenticeships
Electrical Skills Index highlights areas with skills shortages.
One of the world's more unusual drive-throughs.
A quick introduction.
Hadrian's Wall Path and the national trails
The trails are heritage assets in their own right.
Articles on timely advice and hydraulic lime.
Building Designers Association of Australia
CIAT and BDAA sign Memorandum of Understanding.
Built Environment Inclusive partners issue statement committed to inclusion.
Building regulation requirements can have unintended consequences.
CIOB announces 2024/25 vice president
Sustainability champion Professor Saul Humphrey.
Accelerating towards a net-zero built environment.