PRESIDENT’S COLUMN Manufacturing
8 NSC
May 18
New tower rises up at Canary Wharf
Requiring 9,500t of structural steelwork, the 27-storey
One Bank Street is the latest steel-framed tower in
London’s Canary Wharf.
The tower will offer 60,000m2 of high-quality office
space including three levels of state-of-the-art trading
floors, a retail unit at ground level, a free-standing
retail kiosk on South Dock Promenade, public realm,
planting and landscaping, and basement car and cycle
parking.
Designed by world renowned architects Kohn
Pedersen Fox, One Bank Street will contribute to
strengthening the role of Canary Wharf as a prime
London office and employment location, providing
capacity for an additional 5,837 full-time jobs.
Designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘Outstanding’
rating, the steel-framed structure sits atop a triple
16m-deep basement and gains its stability from a
large centrally-positioned reinforced concrete core.
From the top of level three to level 12, a series
of raking columns, facetted on each floor, creates a
feature slope, which then continues upwards, less
steeply to level 23, via cantilevering floors, where the
elevation becomes vertical.
Working on behalf of Canary Wharf Contractors,
William Hare is the project’s steelwork contractor.
News
I’ve learnt over the years that my view of the world isn’t
shared by everyone else. And when we think about
design, that is certainly the case.
From an architect’s perspective, design can be
seen as a bridge – one between a client’s vision
and the actual form of the structure. When I have
met with architects or heard them speak, they have
often referred to design as both an art and a science.
Then when the design is passed onto the engineer,
mathematics, science and modelling dominate, and
practical design issues such as buildability, cost and
safety come to the fore.
Like engineers, steelwork contractors use modelling
to ensure the safety, buildability and cost-effectiveness
of the steel structure. But for us, design provides much
more than this.
First and foremost, a good design process means
a technically correct and complete model is handed
over to the steelwork contractor. But all too often,
information is missing, unclear and sometimes just
plain wrong. So with the clock already ticking on the
programme, the steelwork contractor spends time
chasing up information or querying design issues, and
is often put under pressure to start processing the
steelwork before the design is finalised. Naturally, this
can lead to costly rework and delays later on.
Why does this happen?
One reason is the 2008 recession, which hollowed
out many mid-career engineers; those who would
have provided support today for their younger, less
experienced colleagues. This gap is now being filled
with IStructE and others developing a range of training
programmes for their members over the last few years.
The second reason is procurement. A good design
process is reliant on an effective procurement process,
and this remains a major issue in the construction
sector. The design cannot be completed when key
follow-on trades such as M&E and cladding contractors
have not yet been contracted, so the consultant and
steelwork contractor are forced to make assumptions
that often need to be changed later on.
Willingness to pay for a proper design sometimes
comes into it as well – who can blame consultants for
only doing what they’re contracted to do?
BIM was touted as the answer to the problem of
good and complete design. As we all know, steelwork
contractors have enthusiastically adopted Level 2 BIM.
However, to be fully effective, BIM as a process requires
engagement of the various parts of the supply chain at
the right time in the procurement process.
If the government is to improve efficiency and
productivity, as it says it wants, it could start by
looking at early engagement with the supply chain
and finalisation of the design to drive a more effective
design process.
Tim Outteridge
BCSA President & Sales Director Cleveland Bridge
trainees join
British Steel
More than 150 manufacturing trainees have joined
British Steel in the last year and the company is now
looking for a further 60.
Trained to perform roles including crane driving,
fork lift truck driving and machine operations, the
trainees are all based at Scunthorpe.
British Steel Deputy CEO Paul Martin said: “We’ve
a great history of recruiting trainees to our business
and we’re maintaining this tradition with our
manufacturing trainees.
“I’m pleased to say they’ve made excellent starts
to their careers with British Steel and are already
making significant contributions to the business.
As their skill, knowledge and experience grows, I’m
confident they’ll make an even bigger impact as we
look to build a sustainable future.”
British Steel Senior Resourcing Advisor Lucy Lings
said: “In the coming months we’re looking to recruit
dozens more manufacturing trainees in Scunthorpe,
all of whom will be given first-class training from our
highly-skilled employees and North Lindsey College.
“Throughout the process the standard of
applications has been incredibly high and we look
forward to hearing from people who want to build a
career with us.”
Applicants must have achieved GCSE (or equivalent)
Maths and English to C grade or above or functional
skills level 2 in English and Maths. They will need to
be an intermediate IT user, capable of using Microsoft
packages such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
Work to start on £120M Farringdon
Crossrail Station office scheme
Main contractor Mace is due to start work imminently
on the PLP Architecture-designed steel-framed office
scheme to be built on top of Farringdon Crossrail
Station’s East Ticket Hall.
The six-storey scheme will offer 15,572m2 of office
space, with retail units on the ground floor.
The site is bounded by the Smithfield Conservation
Area to the west and the Charterhouse Square
Conservation Area to the east and to the north.
The building’s exterior has been carefully
designed to reflect the style proportions and colour
palette of architecture in the area and complement
neighbouring buildings, including the adjacent Grade
II listed Smithfield market
Construction completion is expected by October
2019.
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/Design
/Modelling_and_analysis#Modelling
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/Construction
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/Steel_manufacture
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/Farringdon_Crossrail_Station,_London