The cinema block takes
shape
NSC 15
Feb 20
built above a basement level, which will
accommodate back-of-house facilities and
storerooms. The steelwork for the basement
generally follows the grid pattern of the
retail zone, which is directly above.
Although the structures that sit above
the basement are connected via this lower
level, they are structurally-independent
and either separated by movement joints or
physical gaps.
Of the three structures, block ZD is
entirely retail. Measuring 97m × 30m
and consisting of two levels of shops, it
abuts the market hall on one side and the
boulevard on two elevations. Steelwork is
based around an 8m × 9.25m grid pattern,
although parts of the structure have an
increased grid with beams spanning up to
12m.
Facing one elevation of the ZD retail
block, structure ZC incorporates two levels
of shops at ground and first floor, with a sixlevel
multi-storey car park above.
The main part of this structure measures
73m × 37m, while the lower two-storey
retail zone continues eastwards along the
boulevard to create an extra 52m × 19m
area.
In order to maximise the efficiency of
this structure, two different grid patterns
have been used for each of the functions.
The lower retail levels are based around a
column spacing of 7.5m × 9m, while the
upper car park levels have a larger grid of
7.5m × 18m as one intermediate column is
omitted. Because the car parking levels will
be partially exposed to the elements, all of
this steelwork is galvanized.
Vehicular access to the car park will
be via a circular 28m-diameter rotunda
structure, attached to one of the rear
elevations.
The third of the structures that front
the boulevard is the cinema block, which is
said to have the most complicated steelwork
design of all the buildings.
According to Billington’s design team,
it has a highly complex layout and design.
On plan, it has two angled intersecting
rectangles, 37m × 85m and 54m × 39m and
consists of a ground floor retail level with
multiple levels above, including cinema
access, projection levels and escape routes.
Roof level has a concrete-decked plant area
running along the middle.
Because of the array of uses the upper
cinema levels must accommodate, there is
a transfer structure separating the regular
retail grid pattern from the first floor’s
bespoke column layout.
Adding to the complicated nature of
the column layout, most of the cinema
screens are a different size. The largest is
an IMAX screen with a maximum span of
24m. However, there is no beam spanning
that distance, as two intermediate spine
members have been added to ensure no
beam is longer than 9m.
There are also extensive cantilever and
transfer areas, particularly within the
cinema access level, as well as around the
upper projection rooms. A combination of
trusses and beams have been used to act as
transfer members in these areas.
A further challenging issue for the
design of the cinema block is a culvert
which crosses the site under the building’s
footprint. This has been bridged using five
Phase one
one-storey-high transfer trusses, which had
to be brought to site in three sections.
According to Henry Boot Construction
Contracts Manager Mathew Clarke, all
the steelwork has to be brought to site in
erectable loads so as not to exceed the 25t
capacity of the site’s tower cranes.
Delivering the steel to site in manageable
loads will also play a key role in the final
stages of the cinema block’s construction
programme. In order to help the follow-on
trades get an early start on their work, some
of the screen’s internal steelwork such as
terracing, which is formed by steel rakers,
will be installed after the main steel frame
is complete.
The rakers will be installed by
manoeuvring them into the building via
the ground floor and then positioning them
with blocks and tackles.
Separated from the main boulevard
section of the development by a new
landscaped public space, the bowling alley
building is a standalone structure (known
as block ZA) measuring 59m × 35m.
Similar in design to the other structures,
whereby the steel frame’s stability is derived
from bracing and a steel core, the building
accommodates a bowling alley on its
upper level, with the ground floor housing
restaurants.
The Glass Works phase two is due to be
complete by the end of 2020.
Mixed-use
How the Barnsley town
centre will look at the
end of the year
The initial phase of the Glass Works consisted of
the construction of a new public library and the
refurbishment of Barnsley’s indoor market building.
For the latter building Billington Structures
fabricated, supplied and erected 450t of steelwork to
strengthen the existing concrete frame to allow the hall to
be reconfigured. New steelwork was also erected to form
a new façade. The recently opened two-storey building
accommodates a food market on the ground floor with cafes
and eateries on the upper level.
/Concept_design#Floor_grids
/Car_parks
/Design
/Leisure_buildings#Theatres_and_auditoria
/Trusses
/Construction#Tower_cranes
/Construction
/Concept_design#Structural_options_for_stability
/Braced_frames#Vertical_bracing
/Concept_design#Concrete_or_steel_cores
/Construction
/Fabrication
/Facades_and_interfaces