Leisure
NSC 19
September 18
the vertical loading as evenly as possible
to the piles in order to maximise the
occupancy space within the building.
This was achieved by using deep transfer
beams under column locations to spread
load from central columns to four piles and
edge columns to two piles.
“We chose weathering steel for the
deck because of its corrosion protection
properties, and the fact that we are building
the project in a marine environment,” adds
Mr McDermott.
“Initially, we looked at using corrosion
protection paint, however restricted access
between the ground floor and the water
for inspections and maintenance made
us re-consider. Also, concrete beams and
pre-cast slabs were considered but again,
due to weight restrictions, we decided to go
with steel.”
Sat on the weathering steel deck, the
Heron Quays Pavilion is a five-storey
braced structure. Stability is provided by
steel bracing in the corners of the building
as this ensures maximum useable space and
flexibility for the client.
The geometry of the bracing has been set
out to avoid balconies and windows. This
arrangement has meant that the bracing
members need to take both tension and
compression and have long lengths for
buckling. As a result, the members are stiff
and attract vertical loading.
In order to reduce the amount of vertical
loading that the bracing members attract
a temporary bracing strategy was put in
place. This strategy involved temporary
bracing placed in the central portion of
the building during construction, which
meant that the self-weight of the concrete
slabs was pushed into central columns
and locked in place by the time that the
permanent bracing structure was in place.
This reduced the loads on both the
20
The structure sits over
a dock and reuses
existing piles
Steelwork’s lightness
was a key reason for its
selection
Model showing the
new building and the
reused piles
/Corrosion_protection
/Concept_design#Structural_options_for_stability
/Braced_frames#Vertical_bracing
/Residential_and_mixed-use_buildings#Balcony_systems