Considering the case that there exist two bearing strata in soil and low settlement of foundation is required
based on the controlling settlement principle
the design philosophy of long-short piles foundation is presented. The long piles are to control the settlement and short piles to provide bearing capacity. Finite element model of long-short piles foundation is established to analyze a practical engineering. The results show that long-short piles foundation demands fewer long piles and can control the average settlement and differential settlement effectively.