FACT FILE
Dundonald Church,
Wimbledon, London
Main client:
Adoni Developments
Architect:
Brimelow McSweeney
Architects
Main contractor:
Curo Construction
Structural engineer:
Meinhardt
Steelwork contractor:
TSI Structures
Steel tonnage: 320t
12 NSC
May 20
A community-led Anglican church
in south London is constructing
a new congregational facility that
not only includes a main hall,
meeting rooms and a youth club games
area, but also consists of three upper floors
containing 18 apartments, which will fund
the development.
The new Dundonald Church will replace
an older facility which was deemed to be
out-dated and too small for the church’s
requirements, and was demolished during
the initial phase of the construction works.
The project is being developed in
partnership with Adoni Developments, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Green Pastures
CBS, a UK-wide homelessness social
enterprise. The apartments will all be for
private sale, but the proceeds will then
be used by Green Pastures in its ‘help the
homeless’ projects.
Main contractor Curo Construction
started on-site late last year and after the
demolition programme, its preliminary
works included installing pad foundations
to allow the main steel frame of the building
to begin.
“It’s a brilliant scheme for a fantastic
client, but also challenging as the site is
very tight, which means it is ideally suited
to steel construction for its programme
benefits,” says Curo Construction Senior
Project Manager Jonathan O’Neill. “As
we have limited space, materials storage
and distribution is key. Upon delivery,
steel sections are lifted into position via
our temporary pit lane, this accelerates
production and reduces double handling.”
The main steel frame design for the
project was carried out by structural
engineers Meinhardt, with all connection
design carried out in-house by steelwork
contractor TSI Structures. The five-storey
building is predominantly a steel frame with
a steel core positioned along one elevation.
The exception is the uppermost floor, which
is constructed with a light steel framing
solution.
The design is a traditional braced frame
with pre-cast concrete flooring providing
diaphragm action back to braced bays.
There are a large number of big service
holes, both circular and rectangular,
through the webs of the beams to provide
service routes within the depth of the
steelwork. Shear studs were shop applied by
TSI to provide composite action with the
precast flooring.
“We looked at a number of framing
solutions for this project and finally went
with steel as we wanted a lightweight frame
and a quick construction programme,”
explains Meinhardt Associate Structural
Engineer Paul Edwards.
The main hall, which is a double-height
space on the ground floor was always
going to be a steel frame, because of the
required 20m-long spans. However, the
original plans envisaged a masonry design
for the residential elements of the scheme,
but this was changed as constructing the
entire project with steelwork was more
economical.
“The building layout is very complicated
in order to provide the clear internal areas
at the lower levels, which were a main client
requirement,” adds Mr O’Neill.
Dundonald Church occupies the ground
and first floor of the building, with the
main foyer, a café and multi-use spaces
arranged around the lowest level, alongside
the double-height main hall. The first floor
accommodates a balcony that wraps around
three sides of the hall, further meeting
rooms, offices and a games hall.
Only the front portion of the building,
containing the offices and foyer, extend
upwards into the three upper residential
floors. The area towards the back of the
structure, encompassing the games hall and
the majority of the main hall is only two
storeys high. There is a plant deck above
the games hall and steel A-frame skylights
above the main hall that allow natural light
into the main congregational space.
Religion
New church
accommodated with steel
Steel construction has provided all the answers for a new church
and residential scheme in south London.
One of the main trusses
that create the openplan
congregational
space is lifted into place.
Roof trusses span the
main hall, while a large
plate girder supports the
residential floors above.
/Residential_and_mixed-use_buildings#Residential_buildings_in_urban_areas
/Construction
/Fabrication#Handling_and_transportation
/Design
/Concept_design#Concrete_or_steel_cores
/Braced_frames
/Composite_construction
/The_case_for_steel#Take_a_load_off_your_foundations
/The_case_for_steel#Speed_of_construction