SSDA 2019 M E R I T
FACT FILE
Architect:
Rogers Stirk Harbour +
Partners
Structural engineer:
Arup
Steelwork contractor:
S H Structures Ltd
Main contractor:
Robertson Construction
Client:
The Macallan
NSC
32 October 19
The Macallan Distillery
Steel ring beams and columns support the green
roof of a contemporary distillery building that blends
into the surrounding Highland countryside.
The Macallan Distillery and
Visitor Experience was designed
to deliver a unique structure
that would reveal its production
processes as well as welcome visitors, while
remaining sensitive to the rural setting.
Structural steelwork is an integral part
of the building, as ring beams and columns
support the timber green roof, while
curved steel process tables hold up the
copper sills that are used in the distilling
process.
A series of steel trusses bridge over
the delivery road to provide fire egress
and an incoming route for the delivery of
materials.
The biggest challenge for the team
was the building’s roof as S H Structures
Sales Director Tim Burton explains:
“The interface with the timber gridshell
roof demanded achieving very onerous
dimensional tolerances with brackets being
positioned in space to +/- 1mm.”
The roof design is based around a
repetitive use of a dome form. The primary
geometry is formed from a timber grillage
of downstand beams at 3m centres. There
are five timber domes running the length
of the building, with the most southerly
portion of the roof running flat over the
main exhibition space.
The undulating grillage is supported
by steel portal frames. Each timber dome,
spanning a clear distance of 27m, lands
onto a steel ring beam, which in turn is
supported on inclined V-columns, that
spring from concrete buttresses.
The circular hollow section ring beam
resists the broadly uniform thrust from
the domes in tension, thereby maximising
the suitability of steel for this element.
By portalising these frames, the overall
stability to the roof, in all directions, is
said to be guaranteed. Each ring beam has
connecting plates, welded along it surface
at 3m centres, to receive the timber beams
of the roof.
The key nodes where the ring beam
meets the columns required reinforcing
to cope with the full effects of pattern
loading. Internal stiffeners were inserted
into the node to ensure the required
strength was fully developed.
The initial design for the roof would
have seen the erection team bolting the
relevant sections together on site. However,
at the suggestion of S H Structures, this
was changed to site welding the nodes.
Despite the challenging environment
in which this had to be done, it was
considered to be the best way of meeting
the tight overall tolerance requirements.
Working closely with the timber
contractor and the design team, S H
Structures says it was able to ensure that
the roof steelwork met the demanding
erection requirements without significant
problems and maintained the overall
construction programme.
Summing up, the judges say a
portalised arrangement of steel ring
beams and V-shaped columns supports
the undulating roof, while the open mesh
steel mezzanine floor wraps around the
production plant, and is supported on
a series of steel portals arranged on a
circular grid.
This demanded very close integration
between steel erection and plant
installation, yet was executed to a very
high standard.
/Fabrication#Bending
/Trusses
/Accuracy_of_steel_fabrication#Fabrication_tolerances
/Portal_frames
/Steel_construction_products#Structural_hollow_sections
/Concept_design#Structural_options_for_stability
/Welding
/Concept_design
/Construction#Steel_erection
/Construction#Site_welding
/Design
/Construction
/Single_storey_industrial_buildings#Mezzanines