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Feb 20
just for the new costume department, but
also for the HQ. Another important aspect of
the project is to ensure the new premises are
visitor friendly, with plenty of corridor space
to allow tour groups to be shown around
without disturbing the workers.
Working on behalf of the RSC, main
contractor Stepnell started on site in
February 2019. As well as demolishing large
parts of the old costume workshop, the
company also excavated a new lower ground
floor. Originally the site’s footprint was
sloped, and the new lowest level matches the
front elevation and its new entrance.
The excavation programme meant Stepnell
had to underpin the two retained structures
and the surrounding cottages, to make sure
they remained structurally stable throughout
the works.
The new lower level necessitated the
installation of a sheet pile retaining wall
around two sides of the site’s footprint.
This sheet pile wall, in conjunction with
traditional concrete pads, forms the
foundations of the new steel superstructure.
The steel frame has been designed with
braced bays and moment frames to provide
lateral stability in two orthogonal directions.
The new building has suspended slabs at
first and second floor levels, which are
constructed with concrete cast onto a total of
750m2 of profiled metal decking.
Topping the new build, the roof profile
is blended into its traditional surroundings,
taking the form of a succession of steeply
pitched slate tiled roofs. The steel design has
utilised A-shaped trusses, to span the full
width of each of the five building portions to
give open-plan, column-free spaces at first
and second floor levels. The roof trusses are
tied at eaves level and use Macalloy tension
rod bracing across their double height roof
spaces.
Using a steel solution for the project
offered the team a number of advantages,
including a relatively easy way of forming the
10m-long open spans, according to Stepnell
Project Manager Will Smith.
“A steel frame solution is also well suited
to the size and confined nature of the site,
while being ideal for the repeating pitched
roof configuration.
“The challenging project delivery
programme also dictated the use of a
structural steel frame.”
As the site is surrounded by historic and
sensitive buildings, a significant project
challenge was accessing and feeding the site,
and working within the limited erection
working space.
There is only one confined access route
onto site, and this meant lay-down areas
and craneage space became progressively
tighter as steelwork contractor Coventry
Construction erected the new structure.
All of these challenges were exacerbated
by the fact that there is no machine access
to the building perimeter so all of the steel
erection had to be carried out from within
the building footprint.
“We did think about having a tower crane
on site, but there isn’t enough room and so
the steel frame for the new structure was
erected over a four-week period using a
single 30t-capacity mobile crane,” says Mr
Smith. “In addition, the new steel structure
abuts the retained fragile historic buildings,
prompting the need for a delicate and precise
erection procedure.”
As well as the scene dock building, which
is being converted into an entrance with two
new steel-framed floors, the other retained
historic structure is a former stables block.
This structure originally formed part of
the costume workshop cluster and will be
amalgamated and connected into the new
scheme.
Structural steelwork is being further
utilised within these retained historic
buildings, to form stability bracing to the
existing delicate traditional brick and timber
roof structures.
The final steelwork element of the project
was the erection of a single storey link
building that joins the new build costume
workshops to the RSC HQ, creating the new
access route from the entrance hub.
The new costume workshops are
scheduled to be complete by July, when the
RSC’s team of specialist workers will be able
to return from their temporary premises.
The first tours of the site will then begin in
January 2021.
Culture
The site is
sandwiched between
a number of existing
and listed buildings
FACT FILE
Royal Shakespeare
Company costume
workshop,
Stratford-upon-Avon
Main client:
Royal Shakespeare
Company (RSC)
Architect:
Aedas Arts Team
Main contractor:
Stepnell
Structural engineer:
HSP Consulting
Steelwork contractor:
Coventry Construction
Steel tonnage: 130t
The old scene dock
building is being
converted into the
workshop's entrance
The RSC has the UK's
largest in-house
costume making
department
“My heart is
true as steel."
William
Shakespeare,
A Midsummer
Night's Dream
/Continuous_frames
/Concept_design#Structural_options_for_stability
/Steel_construction_products#Decking_for_floors
/Design
/Trusses
/The_case_for_steel
/Construction#Steel_erection
/Construction#Tower_cranes
/Construction#Mobile_cranes
/Braced_frames#Bracing_systems