newsteelconstruction.com

NSC Archives

SSDA Awards

COMMENDATION – 4 Angel Square, NOMA, Manchester

Exemplifying a commitment to creating sustainable workplaces, an operational net zero office building is the latest addition to one of Manchester’s thriving business districts.

FACT FILE
Architects: SimpsonHaugh
Structural engineer: Buro Happold
Steelwork contractor: Billington Structures Ltd
Main contractor: Bowmer + Kirkland
Client: MEPC

Located in the NOMA district in Manchester city centre, 4 Angel Square is an 11-storey 18,580m² contemporary office building.

Its design philosophy is said to have been focussed on external aesthetics and internal simplicity, with large open-plan floorplates offering maximum flexibility.

In response to local demand for Grade A office space, the client requested a speculative development with column-free internal spaces. Additionally, the BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ rated structure also features a hotel-style lobby reception, an external terrace at level 10 and two retail spaces at ground floor. A double-height pedestrianised colonnade connects the building to the existing NOMA estate.

Designed by SimpsonHaugh architects, the steel framed structure is set around a centrally-positioned concrete core that helps maximise the extent of clear span floor space, while also allowing greater penetration of sunlight.

The steelwork is based around a regular 8m perimeter column spacing, with internal spans of up 18m-long. Most of the beams are fabricated plate girders with bespoke web openings for the building’s services. The beams support metal decking and a concrete topping to form a composite flooring solution.

Adding some architectural drama and creating a stand-out landmark building, 4 Angel Square is not a regular straightforward structure. Instead, it is split into two blocks, with the upper four floorplates shifting around a central pivot point.

The upper block is said to respond to city views towards Victoria Station and structure’s ‘twist’ forms a couple of 3.5m-wide corner cantilevers at seventh floor. Correspondingly, the opposite corners of the building have two corner recesses on the same floor, creating two more small terraces.

The first bay of steel on the elevations adjacent to the corner cantilevers form a full-height Vierendeel girders that control deflection of the cantilevered zone and allow installation of cladding system. However, due to the desired construction sequence, the cantilevering overhang steelwork was not erected at the same time as the rest of the seventh-floor steel.

The design required all of the concrete cladding panels to be fixed to the columns up to level seven, before this steelwork was installed. This required steelwork contractor Billington Structures to commence these high-level areas at the end of its programme.

Meanwhile, to form the recesses a series of transfer beams at level seven have been installed to support the columns above, which do not match the grid of the lower floors.

Further down the building, the steel frame begins at basement level, which extends beyond the footprint of the structure to form a subterranean car park.

Summing up, the judges say this operational net zero office building utilises long-span cellular beams to create a column free interior environment. In a nod to the sightlines of the main road, the four upper floors are offset, a challenge that was structurally achieved using fabricated transfer beams and cantilevers. A well-run project that successfully met the client’s brief.

Share this post

Related Posts

THIS MONTH'S MAGAZINE

Click on the cover to view this month's issue as a digimag.

Archives