Steel frame
accommodates
innovation
Forming one of the initial elements
of the University of Central
Lancashire’s (UCLan) ambitious
£230M campus master plan, the
Engineering Innovation Centre (EIC) will
bring a unique facility into the heart of
Preston.
The idea behind the £30M EIC is
to create an environment that inspires
teaching, research and knowledge exchange,
establishing the University as a leader in
engineering innovation.
The EIC will capitalise on the location
of the University at the centre of one
of the most intensive engineering and
manufacturing areas in the UK to create an
internationally competitive facility that will
bring together the region’s expertise from
within academia and industry.
The EIC will be equipped to the highest
standard with technology demonstration
areas and specialist work areas to create an
integrated space for teaching, research and
knowledge exchange.
Staff, students and local companies will
have access to state-of-the-art equipment,
including flight simulators, Formula Student
cars and specialist electronics laboratories,
which will also allow users to work on a
variety of projects.
UCLan says its vision over the next 10
years is to create a unified, sustainable and
welcoming campus which will enhance
the experience for all those visiting the
University. The new campus will integrate
seamlessly with the rest of the city,
benefitting current and future generations
of students, staff, visitors and the wider
community.
Work on the site, which had previously
been used as a car park, started last summer.
Prior to the structure’s steel frame being
erected, main contractor BAM Construction
had to install piled foundations along with a
retaining wall along three of the elevations.
Recycled stone was brought in to form a
solid base for the piling rig to work from,
and a total of 230 bored piles were installed
to a depth of 25m.
Preliminary work then included erecting
the building’s two precast concrete cores,
which are positioned at either end of the
structure. Once these were up, the steelwork
programme was able to commence, as the
cores provide the frame’s overall stability.
The two cores are made up of 12 precast
elements each, with some sections weighing
up to 30t. A 250t-capacity crawler crane
was needed to lift these heavy precast
elements into place, and once this work was
completed it remained on-site to erect the
steel frame.
“Having made solid and dry ground for
the site helped both the steel and precast
erections,” explains BAM Construction
Project Manager Simon Atkinson. “It meant
the steelwork had a dry and solid area to be
temporarily stored on, while the cranes and
MEWPs had good ground to work from.”
The six-storey steel frame is
approximately 70m-long x 20m-wide and
30m-high. It has been designed around a
regular grid which incorporates two spans,
one of 13.5m and another at 6.5m. The
longer span accommodates the building’s
workshops and teaching spaces, while the
shorter span houses circulation routes, a
main staircase and some smaller ancillary
classrooms.
Within the frame a series of steel box
sections supports 450mm-deep precast
flooring planks within their depth via a
welded plate on the bottom flange. These
sections work in conjunction with T-section
members spanning in the opposite direction,
which also sit within the plank depth to
create the flat soffit.
“This framing solution was chosen as it
creates a flat soffit from which the services
will be suspended,” explains BDP Project
Engineer Chris Goodwin.
“The client has an aspiration for a clean
soffit as it helps – along with the building’s
exposed steelwork – to create an industrialfeel
to the structure.”
According to project architect Simpson
Haugh, a key concept from early inception
was the expression of the building structure
‘as the engineering of the building becomes
the architecture.’
By having an exposed structural frame
behind glazed cladding, the building is
promoting itself as engineering educational
tool.
Education
A flat soffit and exposed steelwork will all work towards creating
a suitable industrial-looking environment for a university’s
engineering and research building.
FACT FILE
University of Central
Lancashire UCLan
Engineering
Innovation Centre,
Preston
Main client: UCLan
Architect: Reiach and
Hall Architects,
Simpson Haugh
Main contractor:
BAM Construction
Structural engineer:
BDP
Steelwork contractor:
Elland Steel Structures
Steel tonnage: 700t
The site prepares for the
steel erection to start by
installing the cores
24 NSC
March 18
/Education_buildings
/Education_buildings#Braced_frames
/Concept_design#Concrete_or_steel_cores
/Concept_design#Structural_options_for_stability
/Construction#Mobile_cranes
/Concept_design#Floor_grids
/Floor_systems#Precast_units
/Floor_systems#Precast_units
/Service_integration
/Steel-supported_glazed_facades_and_roofs