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17
Apr 20
Jun Elsewhere in the capital, steel
construction is also playing a leading role
in numerous commercial projects. One
of the latest additions to the fast-growing
King’s Cross redevelopment is Four Pancras
Square. On this scheme, steelwork has come
to the fore as an architectural highlight.
According to Eric Parry Architects,
the 11-storey office block needed a strong
identity that resonated with the site’s
industrial heritage. This was encapsulated
in the company’s design, which features
an expressive exposed weathering steel
exoskeleton frame.
The steel exoskeleton forms the exterior
of the entire building, supporting all of
the internal floor slabs along each of the
four elevations. The external steelwork and
the floors are connected at key strategic
locations that allow differential movements
between the two to occur.
The main feature of the steelwork, which
was all erected by Severfield, is a storey-high
Vierendeel truss that encircles the building
at first floor level.
“The main function of the steel truss is to
create a 27m-long column-free façade along
the building’s main entrance elevation,
that not only overlooks the public realm
but forms an important architectural
‘open letterbox’ between the building and
the outdoor area,” explains BAM Design
Associate Mike Hayes.
Overlooking the River Thames and
situated between the London Eye and
Waterloo Station, two commercial schemes,
known as One & Two Southbank Place
completed last year.
Forming part of a much larger south
bank development, the steel-framed
structures are 11-storeys and 17-storeys
respectively, and required 6,300t of
steelwork, which was erected by Severfield.
The design of both buildings has included
the use of cellular beams throughout for
efficient service integration. However,
unlike Building One, which has some
internal columns, Building Two has none,
with clear uninterrupted spans reaching an
impressive maximum length of 17m.
With such long spans, the connections
are very big, as the finished main member
is up to 30t in weight in some places.
Consequently, Severfield had to use a
number of plated sections to achieve the
desired spans.
Sector Focus
Home Counties on the up
Demand for commercial space in the towns
surrounding London is on the rise as many
companies are relocating away from the
capital.
The imminent arrival of the Crossrail scheme has
driven the market in Slough and Reading, two towns
that will benefit from the faster direct rail link to central
London.
Adjacent to Reading station, Thames Tower is a
1970s-office block that has been given a new lease of
life with enlarged floorplates and four extra steelframed
floors above level 11.
A value engineering exercise was
undertaken, whereby the concrete-framed
High-rise in
Glasgow
The commercial property sector in
Glasgow has also seen a number of
high-profile projects come to fruition
during the last few years.
One of the most prominent city centre
projects is HFD Property Group’s 122
Waterloo Street, a nine-storey commercial
development, which was pre-let to Morgan
Stanley.
The building provides 13,900m² of space
over the basement, ground and eight openplan
upper floors.
Requiring BHC to erect 1,900t of steel,
the building forms the first phase of the
Bothwell Exchange development that also
includes a second commercial structure that
is currently under construction.
According to HFD Property, the 122
Waterloo Street achieved an A rated EPC and
a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating, making it one of
the most energy efficient and sustainable
buildings delivered into the Glasgow office
market.
structure was strengthened with steelwork to allow the
new floors to be added, without any enhancements
necessary to the existing foundations.
Working on behalf of Bowmer + Kirkland, Shipley
Structures erected the project’s steelwork.
Also, located conveniently close to a railway station,
the steel-framed Porter Building in Slough has achieved
WELL Building Standard certification, making the
11,100m² development one of the UK’s healthiest office
blocks.
The project was a partnership between developers
Landid and Brockton. Working on behalf of Bowmer &
Kirkland, Leach Structural Steelwork erected more than
1,400t of steel for the five-storey building.
Steel was the only viable choice to form the
distinctive scalpel design at 52 Lime Street
Thames Tower
demonstrates there
is a demand for more
office space in the towns
surrounding the capital
122 Waterloo Street is
the first part of a larger
Glasgow scheme
16
/Construction
/Four_Pancras_Square,_London
/Four_Pancras_Square,_London
/Weathering_steel
/Visually_expressed_structural_forms
/Trusses#Vierendeel_trusses
/One_&_Two_Southbank_Place,_London
/Steel_construction_products#Cellular_beams
/Service_integration
/Steel_construction_products#Plate_girders
/122_Waterloo_Street,_Glasgow
/122_Waterloo_Street,_Glasgow
/BREEAM
/Thames_Tower_Redevelopment,_Reading
/The_Porter_Building,_Slough
/Construction#Steel_erection