The British Constructional Steelwork Association Quality ... · months, using a web viewer tool, which helped ascertain the true positions of members as they met at the nodes. All

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STRUCTURAL STEEL DESIGN AWARDS 2011 In association withThe British Constructional Steelwork Association and Tata Steel

From a crouching man in the Dutch landscape to an office schemeat a busy London rail station, the SSDA’s top steel designs are impressive in their diversityText by Pamela Buxton

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Judge Oliver Tyler (left) of Wilkinson Eyre with AntonyGormley at his studio during the SSDA judging process.

ClientMunicipality of Lelystad ArtistAntony Gormley StudioStructural engineer Haskoning Nederland BVSteelwork/main contractorHad-Fab Ltd

Five thousand steel members and17,000 nuts and bolts were used tocreate Exposure, Antony Gormley’s25.6m-high sculpture of a crouch-ing man. Located on the headlandof a polder in Lelystad, the Nether-lands, the sculpture was built byHad-Fab, a steelwork contractormore used to constructing trans-mission towers.

Gormley won the sixth Land ArtProject in Flevoland competition tocreate a piece of public art on the site

with a design based on his ownbody. He contacted East Lothian-based Had-Fab in 2005 to fabricatethe structure, which involved cut-ting steel members so that theyintersected snugly at the junctions.This avoided the use of bulky balljoints that would detract from theform of the structure. The memberswere then bolted and weldedtogether into position in junctionsthat involved up to 29 pieces com-ing together.

“The interesting thing aboutexposure is that from the outsetGormley had this notion of usingsteel angles. It works very well andis quite dynamic in the landscape,”says Wilkinson Eyre director OliverTyler, one of the judges who visitedthe sculpture.

“The whole process was devel-oped with the steelwork contractor,who was used to producing themost functional structures but hadto develop ways of using steel in adifferent way,” he says.

“It was a labour of love —absolutely extraordinary. The fab-rication was quite exceptionallychallenging and it has been done

Quality shines through in a range of winning steel projects

� ChairmanDavid Lazenby, CBErepresenting the Institution of Civil Engineers� Gerry Hayter representingthe Highways Agency� Joe Locke representing the SteelworkContracting Industry

� Martin Manning,Arup Fellow representing the Institution of Structural Engineers� Bill Taylor, architect representing the RIBA� Oliver Tylerdirector of Wilkinson Eyre, representing the RIBA

Client HinesArchitect/structuralengineer Foggo AssociatesSteelwork contractorWatson Steel Structures Ltd(Severfield-Rowen PLC)Main contractor Laing O’Rourke

Judges were impressed with the“heroic” way that the Cannon Placeteam tackled the highly constrainedsite. The building, a 37,000sq mair-rights office developmentabove Cannon Street station in theCity of London, had to contendwith its proximity to the busy rail-way terminal plus an undergroundstation, extensive archaeology andclosely surrounding buildings.

The rectangular site measured67.5m x 87m. Because of protectedviews of St Paul’s Cathedral and theneed to allow 5.1m above the tracksof the mainline station, designershad a height of just 32m to incor-porate the eight floors of officespace needed to make the scheme

commercially viable. At the sametime, site constraints meant therewere very limited points for anyvertical supporting structure.

“The constraints below the sitedrove the solution above it,” saidFoggo Associates director DavidWarrender. “We couldn’t put anycolumns on the north elevationbecause of the underground tun-nels and there were similar con-straints on the south because of therailway tracks.”

The solution used a facade-deeptransfer structure to balance a can-tilevered 21m-deep strip of officesto the north with the equivalentaccommodation in the south. Thisremoved the need for columns andprovided a structure that doesn’teat into the development zone.This steel structure is fullyexpressed by placing the curtainwalling inside the structural frame.

“With such a big structural idea,it was inevitable, if we could, to usethe structural language of the solu-tion to become the architecturallanguage of the scheme,” says War-render.

This impressed the judges. “Thestructural concept and the chal-lenge of erecting the building getsit the award,” says chairman DavidLazenby. “The structural solutionis heroic. There were only fourpoints where the engineers couldget major support down. The chal-

lenge for the steel people to build itwas remarkable as they had a func-tioning railway terminus under thesite and the constraints of thou-sands of people walking around itthe whole time.”

Each floorplate is divided intofive strips of accommodation —three 21m deep separated by two of12m. A fire escape and service coreis at the end of each 12m strip andin the centre of these is an atriumwith lifts. Only columns in the 12mstrips continue to the foundations.

The steel structure, fabricated byWatson Steel Structures, consistsof 67.5m-long deep trusses on thenorth and south facade withhorizontal and vertical circularhollow sections and diagonal tiesthat pick up the 21m secondarybeams. These trusses are sup-ported by cantilever, box section“X” frames along the east and westfacades. These are in turn sup-ported by four 12m x 14m x 1.3msteel and concrete structures thatdistribute the load to the founda-tions. Working over a railway sta-tion made temporary supporttowers for the X frames impossible.Instead, Watson devised a systemof cables and jacks tied back diag-onally to the central tower.

“It’s an enormous engineeringachievement that they’ve sought toexpress in the frame of the build-ing,” says judge Oliver Tyler.

very well,” adds jury chairmanDavid Lazenby. “It looks incredi-bly dramatic and really intriguingfrom a distance, and gets more andmore interesting as you get nearer.”

Gormley’s design was digitalisedand then developed in collabora-tion with Cambridge Universityand Dutch engineer Royal Haskon-ing. Had-Fab then detailed thedesign in a process taking 12months, using a web viewer tool,which helped ascertain the truepositions of members as they met

at the nodes. All the steel anglemembers were sheared to differentlengths as required from steel sec-tions ranging from 60mm x 60mmto 200mm x 200mm.

The sculpture has 547 nodes.The largest is the 2.5m diameterheart node, which weighs 280kgand the brain node, weighing 56kg,which required some of the mostcomplex shaping. Fabrication wascarried out directly from the com-puter model as conventional 2Ddrawings were insufficient for thecomplexity of the task. In all,32,000 holes were punched ordrilled in the angle profiles to cre-ate the 60-tonne structure.

The sculpture was first trial builtin Had-Fab’s fabrication yardbefore being assembled in its finalposition in Lelystad. Exposure hasno plinth — if sea levels rise and thedyke has to be raised, Gormleyanticipates that the sculpture willbecome partially submerged.

Had-Fab, which ended up subsidising the Exposure steel, isnow working with Gormley on aproject for an even larger steelsculpture.

Development of one of the 547 nodes, which bring togetherup to 29 steel members.

HOW TO ENTER NEXT YEAR’S AWARDS

2011 JUDGING PANEL

Gormley’s 60-tonneExposure sculpturein Lelystad isconstructed from5,000 steel members.

The steel structure is fully expressed, with curtain walling inside the structural frame.

The sculpture was firsttrial built at Had-Fab.

Cannon Place elevation showing the use of box section “X” frames, a structural solution thatbecame the architectural language.

EXPOSURESCULPTURELelystad,the Netherlands

AWARD

CANNON PLACEOFFICE BUILDINGCannon Street, City of London

AWARD

Entry is open for next year’sStructural Steel DesignAwards. Projects must besteel-based structures andcan be situated either in theUK or overseas provided theyhave been built by UK orRepublic of Ireland steelworkcontractors using steelpredominantly sourced fromTata Steel.

They must have been

completed and be ready foroccupation or use during thecalendar years 2010-2011.Previous entries are noteligible.

Projects can be submittedby anyone in the project team.The deadline for entries is 2 December 2011.

FOR DETAILS AND ENTRY FORM go to www.steelconstruction.org

Agiant Antony Gormleysculpture of a crouch-ing man and a hugewarehouse for M&Sare among the diverse

winners of this year’s StructuralSteel Design Awards, given forexcellence in structural and archi-tectural use of steel.

Eleven successful projects,announced earlier this month at apresentation in London’s KingsPlace, were chosen from 18 short-listed entries. Four won topawards: Gormley’s Exposuresculpture in Lelystad, the Nether-lands; Foggo Associates’ CannonPlace office development in theCity of London; the AmericanExpress Community Stadium inBrighton designed by KSS Group;and the M&S warehouse on ProL-ogis Park in Bradford, designed byStephen George & Partners.

Five more won commenda-tions: the St Botolph Building andExCel Phase 2 in London, theRiver Suir Bridge in Waterford,Ireland, the Rose Bowl cricketground in Southampton and the

Hauser Forum in Cambridge. Two were awarded merits:

Gerry Judah’s Goodwood Festivalof Speed sculpture and the NewCross Gate flyover for the EastLondon Line.

“These are extremely good proj-ects. The quality that has beenachieved is remarkable and par-ticularly praiseworthy in such atough year for the whole industry,”says David Lazenby, chairman ofthe jury. “The can-do attitude hasbeen superb on these projects.People have gone out of their waybeyond the call of duty to get thework done well.”

Exposure is the first skeletalsculpture to win a top SSDA prize.“It makes something very beauti-ful and thought-provoking out ofsomething very simple and light-weight,” says judge Bill Taylor,who with Oliver Tyler representedthe RIBA on the judging panel.

The awards scheme, launchedin 1969, is administered by The British Constructional Steel-work Association (BCSA) andTata Steel.

ClientBrighton & Hove Albion Football ClubArchitectKSS GroupSteelwork contractor Watson Steel Structures Ltd(Severfield-Rowen PLC)Main contractorBuckingham GroupContracting LtdStructural engineerSKM (Europe) Ltd

Building a 22,500-seater stadiumin an Area of Outstanding NaturalBeauty is always going to be chal-lenging. In the case of Brighton &Hove Albion Football Club’s newAmerican Express CommunityStadium, the planning and devel-opment process took 13 years, withthe Falmer site chosen out of 15options around Brighton.

The result, despite the 4,200tonnes of structural steel and dis-tinctive arched roof, impressedjudges with the way it nestles har-

moniously in the South Downslandscape.

“It has been done carefully andsits in the landscape very well. It isvery neat and done with an eye tohow it looks as well as how it func-tions,” says judge David Lazenby.

The form of the stadium was adirect response to the topographyof the site, with the curve and tiltof the roof effectively replacing theground that was excavated to formthe pitch and stands. Visual andacoustic impact is reduced by thepartial sinking of the stadium intothe landscape.

The roof is the main event. Thefour grandstands are conventionalbeam-and-column steel framestructures with metal decking andcomposite slabs. The architectchallenged engineer SKM andsteelwork contractor Watson toachieve an exceptionally low profile, flat-arched roof to achievethe appropriate effect on the sen-sitive site.

Both the 43m-wide east roofand the 55m-wide west roof aresupported by 170m-long archedand leaning roof trusses eachweighing around 350 tonnes. Thesmaller north and south roofs havemore conventional cantileverroofs. To allow the roofs to con-tinually “flex”, all four sides of theroof are interconnected, incorpo-

rating more than 1,000 slidingbolted connections.

Lateral movement of the raftersis restrained by a catenary mem-ber in the plane of the roof thattransfers the tension back to brac-ing and foundations. Double-pinned tubular struts prevent thelateral loads being transferred intothe terrace. Bearings transfer thethrust at the end of each roof trussto the permanent concrete thrustwalls. The total weight of the roofis 101kg/sq m, which is exception-ally low for such a structure,according to the design team.

The project is also noteworthyfor its construction method, whichwas to pre-assemble as much aspossible on the ground and min-imise temporary works. The rooftrusses were first assembled intothree 15m-deep x 60m-long sub-sections which were lifted on to20m-high temporary trestles.Only when the entire roof struc-ture was completed could thesetrestles be removed, allowing thethrust blocks to take up the load.

The £92 million stadium will beoperational in time for the start ofthe 2011/12 football season nextmonth.

“This is an enormous structurebut they’ve cut it into the hillside.It has a very elegant, curved steelroof,” says judge Oliver Tyler.

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STRUCTURAL STEEL DESIGN AWARDS 2011 In association withThe British Constructional Steelwork Association and Tata Steel

ClientProLogis Developments LtdArchitectStephen George & PartnersStructural engineer BWB ConsultingMain contractorWinvic ConstructionSteelwork contractorBarrett Steel Buildings Ltd

Distribution centres aren’t usuallyeulogised but this 100,000sq mstructure at ProLogis Park inBradford wowed judges with itsslender, highly economical use ofsteel. Measuring 512m x 176m,the 3,000tonne building is occu-pied by M&S and is one of thelargest distribution centres everbuilt in the UK.

“People will look at it and say,‘why did it win an award?’” saysjudge Bill Taylor. “When you’reoutside, that might be a validquestion. It’s not a refined archi-tectural piece. But what’s verygood and interesting is inside.

“The steelwork contractoringeniously designed an elegant,efficient, lightweight structure.They refined and refined it to getthe leanest and meanest theycould get. Inside it’s marvellous.Your spirits are lifted. It looks sodelicate for an industrial ware-house.”

The roof installation took just 12 weeks, using seven monopitchportal rafters, 178m-long roofsheets, and 50 different purlincleat designs. To avoid confusion,steelwork contractor Barrett usedscribe technology to identify eachpurlin cleat and purlin location,enabling more than 7,000 purlincleats and over 56km of roofpurlins to be provided without a

single instance of rectification.As the client wanted to max-

imise internal space, no internalcross bracing was allowed.Instead, Barrett designed a com-plex system of roof bracings thatallowed the wind loads to be dis-tributed to a series of side brac-ings, strategically positioned tomiss doors, offices and windows.A thermal movement joint hasalso been positioned halfwayalong the length of the building.

Judges were impressed with theefficiency and flexibility of thestructure, and the role that thesteelwork contractor played inrealising the project. By using acurved roof without any valleygutters, for example, the steel-work contractor was able to stan-dardise more components. Itshonest, no-frills approach wasalso applauded.

“It hasn’t been architected. It iswhat it is,” says Taylor. “It mightnot win any architectural awardsbut structurally, it’s magnificent.”

Client Turnstone Estates LtdConcept architect Wilkinson EyreProduction architect ArchialStructural engineerMott MacDonald Main contractor Willmott Dixon Steelwork contractorMidland Steel Structures

A steel structure helped WilkinsonEyre achieve its architectural aspirations and a tight construc-tion programme for the £16 mil-lion Hauser Forum, a mixed-usedevelopment at the University ofCambridge.

Located at the university’s WestCambridge site, the Forum con-sists of the Broers Building4,000sq m lettable office develop-ment, and the Cambridge Enter-prise Building (CEB) for thecommercialisation of the Univer-sity’s research. This also includesthe campus café, which can-tilevers 11m from the southernfacade of the building. TheForum is part of the University’sscience and technology campus.

Both buildings demonstrate a

large amount of exposed archi-tectural steelwork in canopiesand edge detailing. They are con-nected visually by a high-levelsteel canopy that covers a newlandscaped forum and providessolar shading to the buildings.The main structural challengewas the CEB’s cantilever, whichprojects over a pool. This couldonly be practically achieved insteel, and uses large trusses in theelevation to form the cantileverwith Macalloy tension rods. Thebuilding frame was modelledusing non-linear dynamic analy-sis to determine the dynamic performance of the cantilever andthe effect of movements of peoplein the café.

The cantilever was erected on

temporary props with a pre-cam-ber of 35mm to counter overalldead-load movements and give an aesthetically pleasing slightupward camber. Once the floorslab had been poured, the Macal-loy rods in each elevation werestressed to lift the structure off its

temporary seating and the propsremoved.

Both buildings have achieved aBreeam Very Good rating andincorporate ground-source heatpumps installed integrally withthe structural piles. These pro-vide approximately 7% of the

buildings’ energy demand. Addi-tional energy savings on heatingand cooling were achieved by theinclusion of thermal “labyrinths”in the basement of each building.These lower the air temperatureduring summer by up to 5°C, andprovide a more stable tempera-ture throughout the day, reducingthe amount of energy expendedon air-conditioning.

Steelwork totalled 720 tonnes in the Forum at a value of £1.36million.

“It’s a good, workmanlike steelbuilding and they’ve used steelappropriately as part of a hybridsystem — a steel frame withexposed concrete floorplates forthermal mass, and a steel-framedloggia,” says judge Bill Taylor.

Client The Rose Bowl PLCArchitects The MillerPartnership/EPR ArchitectsStructural engineerIan Black Consulting LtdMain contractor Andrew Scott LtdSteelwork contractorRowecord Engineering Ltd

Judges admired the creation of twonew stands at the Rose Bowlcricket ground near Southampton

and were particularly impressed athow suitably the structures fittedin with the well-known Hopkinspavilion. The stands, designed bythe Miller Partnership and EPR,provide an additional 5,000 per-manent seats, making the 25,000-seat cricket ground one of thelargest in the country.

The new stands follow the curve

of existing terracing to maintain abowl concept. A “sickle” roof struc-ture was devised that visually sep-arates the roof to the permanentseating from the back-of-housestructure.

Each main frame comprises thecentral accommodation structure,which consists of 2 floors plus roof.This is 12.2m wide and formed of

From Gibberd to Hadid, theStructural Steel Design Awards have been celebratingexcellence in the use of steelfor more than 40 years. Winners also reflect thechanging architecturallandscape over the decadesfrom hi-tech to icon.

1969-1979� The inaugural awards had eight winnersincluding Gibberd’sTerminal One at Heathrowand Winterton House onWatney Market Estate,designed by the GLC’s in-house architects at a timewhen local authorityarchitects were a force tobe reckoned with.

� Other award-winning business facilities included the 1981 BirminghamInternational Arena (pictured right) by Edward Mills, and GreaterManchester Exhibition and Event Centre (1987) designed by EGS.

1980-1989� In the eighties, the commercialoffice came into its own. Foster &Partners won in 1986 for the HongKong Shanghai Bank (picturedright), and Arup Associates won inboth 1985 and 1988 for its work at1 Finsbury Square and BroadgatePhases 1-4 as well as for theLiverpool International GardenFestival (1984) and the ImperialWar Museum Extension (1989).

A high-levelsteel canopyshadesWilkinsonEyre’s Hauser Forumat CambridgeUniversity.

� By 1979, themega shoppingcentre had arrived in the form of DerekWalker, StuartMosscrop andChristopherWoodward’s MiesianCentral MiltonKeynes building(right), which wasrecently listed.

� Supersheds wererewarded throughout thedecade. In 1976 SOM andYRM’s factory, the HartcliffeProject for WD & HO Wills inBristol, won an award, and Edward D Mills’ NECwas also commended.Farrell GrimshawPartnership’s Herman Miller Factory in Bath wasgiven an award in 1977.

No internal cross bracing was allowed in order to maximise space inside the new M&S warehouse.

The east and west roofs are supported by 170m-long arched and leaning roof trusses.

The rear elevation has a timber louvred facade.

The warehouse at ProLogis Park in Bradford.

SectionThe sickle columns are discretely connected at each floor leveland at the roof to the accommodation block to give the requiredarchitectural illusion of independence.

The stadium nestlesharmoniously into the South Downs landscape.

a regular grid of steel beams actingcompositely with a 130mm in-situslab on a profiled metal deck.

The sickle rafter forms the mainstructural member of the canopyroof. The main challenge was toprovide sufficient stability to thestructure, while meeting the archi-tectural requirements. Stabilitywas achieved with a simple bracedstructure with the floor slabs act-ing as diaphragms. The main(canopy) roof is braced for the fulllength to ensure effective transferof lateral loads.

“The new stands aren’t trying tocompete with the Hopkins pavil-ion,” says Oliver Tyler.

“For what it was seek-ing to do, it has been done well.”

The steelwork frame has been designed to accept an additionalthree levels of mezzanine to allow future expansion by M&S.

�

40 YEARS OFSTEEL DESIGN

MARKS & SPENCERDISTRIBUTIONCENTREProLogis Park,Bradford

AWARD

AMERICAN EXPRESSCOMMUNITYSTADIUMBrighton & Hove

AWARD

THE HAUSER FORUMUniversity ofCambridge

COMMENDATION

THE ROSE BOWLEastleigh, South Hampshire

COMMENDATION

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In association withThe British Constructional Steelwork Association and Tata Steel

Client Minerva PLCArchitect Grimshaw ArchitectsStructural engineer Ove Arup & PartnersMain contractor Skanska Construction UK LtdSteelwork contractorSeverfield-Reeve StructuresLtd; CMF Ltd

Judges praised the high quality ofbuilding at the St Botolph officedevelopment in the City of Lon-don. In particular, the excep-tional degree of detailing in theatrium won the project a com-mendation.

“Here was a developer whowanted to achieve a really finejob. They really did take trouble. The care and attention to detail

Client CRG Waterford LtdArchitect Yee AssociatesLead engineer Ove Arup & Partners LtdStructural engineer Carlos Fernández CasadoMain contractor Bam-Dragados JVSteelwork contractor Mabey Bridge Ltd

For more than 40 years, Water-ford City Council deliberated onwhether and where to build asecond bridge over the riverSuir.

The final result, a 465m cable-stayed bridge designed withLondon-based Yee Associates, isthe longest span bridge in Ire-land and opened 10 months

Client ExCel LondonArchitectGrimshaw ArchitectsStructural engineerMcAlpine Design GroupMain contractorSir Robert McAlpine LtdSteelwork contractorSeverfield-Reeve Structures Ltd

Grimshaw’s extension of ExCel inLondon’s Docklands was com-mended for raising design standardsat the exhibition centre and greatlyimproving the visitor experience.

“The architect has tried to domuch more and better in the secondphase, achieving 50% more heightin some areas, says judge DavidLazenby. “There is no doubt thatthe ambience is much better — thearchitectural handling of the spaceand public areas definitely raisesthe game a lot. The central aisle ismuch improved, with large rooflights covered in delicate mem-branes.”

Phase 2 creates a total capacity of 93,000sq m of flexible spaceincluding a 15m-high hall, plus anew bespoke conference facility.

Grimshaw also created a strongsense of external identity, a sense ofarrival and an intuitive sense ofmovement through the building.

Conference areas are situated ina raised conference box that isaccessed directly from the main

Client Gerry Judah for Alfa RomeoSculptor Gerry JudahStructural engineer Capita SymondsSteelwork/main contractorLittlehampton Welding Ltd

Gerry Judah’s sculpture was cre-ated for Alfa Romeo to mark thecompany’s centenary and was onshow for just three days at theGoodwood Festival of Speed. It was then dismantled and relo-cated in an adapted form at thenearby Goodwood Sculpture Park,where it is a permanent installation— without its cars.

Created with steelwork contrac-tor Littlehampton Welding, the

original structure referred to thered livery of Alfa Romeo’s racingcars and incorporated two cars —the P2 and a 2003 8C Compe-tizione — on special cradles.

The sculpture, which wasinspired by the Alfa RomeoQuadrifoglio, is made from 12tonnes of steel and stands 18.5mhigh and 25m across. Designed tolook like a continuous tube, it actu-ally consists of 32 connecting sec-tions of 323.9mm-diameter steel.

These were put together usingan adjustable bracket devised bythe steelwork contractor that pro-vided alignment, structuralintegrity, and allowed three-axisadjustment before the sectionswere welded.

In addition, there were eightconcealed connections where thetwo loops touch. From final designapproval, the structure took lessthan three months to complete.

“It is a very expressive monu-ment to speed, very elegantlydone,” says judge Oliver Tyler.

Client Transport for LondonStructural engineer Scott WilsonMain contractorBalfour Beatty-Carillion JVSteelwork contractor Mabey Bridge Ltd

The £1.7 million New Cross Gateflyover forms part of the new EastLondon Overground Line.

Designed by Scott Wilson with690 tonnes of steelwork, the fly-over allows trains to run throughto West Croydon by crossing overthe Network Rail London toBrighton Line. The structure car-ries a single rail line and is 75mlong and 8m deep. It is made fromeight longitudinal main girder sec-tions, each 20m long and weighingbetween 20 and 25 tonnes and 37crossbeams, 10m long and each

weighing three tonnes. “It expresses the structure and

hasn’t been beautified but is stillquite elegant,” says judge Bill Tay-lor. “The issues with these sorts ofstructures is how do you get themin place, and this one had an inter-esting story — they erected it to oneside of the track and then swung itround and into place.”

The steelwork was first erectedat Mabey Bridge’s fabricationworks and the deck crossbeamswere machined to length ensuringthe correct fit. The steelwork wasdelivered to the site and assemblytook place adjacent to the tracksbefore being rolled across the cov-ered tracks and lowered into posi-tion over the bridge abutments.

2000-2010 � Winners in the firstdecade of the newmillennium includedexamples of the “iconic”architecture thatpeppered this time.Grimshaw’s EdenProject (pictured right)in Cornwall was amongthe winners in 2001.

1990-1999� Transport buildings featured highly amongthe 1990s award winners. Two Foster &Partners’ airports gained the top SSDAawards: Stansted (1992) and Hong Kongairport (1999).

� Other winners recognised in 1994 included Renzo Piano’s passenger terminal at Kansai International Airport, Japan, andGrimshaw’s now-obsolete Eurostar terminusWaterloo International.

Gerry Judah’s sculpture at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The New Cross Gate flyover.

is outstanding,” says judge DavidLazenby.

Designed by Grimshaw Archi-tects, the St Botolph building is a 14-storey commercial buildingclose to Liverpool Street. It pro-vides 51,000sq m of rental spaceincluding 11 floors of hi-specoffices above two dealing floorsand retail and multi-functionalspace on the lowe- ground floors.

The building has four perime-ter cores and a stepped centralatrium, which includes aThyssenKrupp TWIN lift systemwhere two independent lift carsrun in the same shaft at the sametime. The floor layout allowsfloors to be divided into two, threeor four sub-tenancies, each withdirect access to the lifts and coresvia steel bridges across the 18m-wide atrium.

Steelwork is articulated toclearly show its structural func-tion. Externally, the perimeterservice cores are expressed. Theseinclude perimeter stairs designedas prefabricated steel assemblies,capable of spanning betweenframing members and bracing theperimeter core structures. Thesteelwork contractor, Severfield-Reeve, was able to reduce thenumber of site processes requiredso that site drilling of steelworkwas almost entirely omitted.

But it was the “stylish” detail inthe atrium, the atrium bridgesand the glass lift structure thatattracted the judges’ attention.These form the sculptural centre-piece of the building, with theengineering of the structureclearly displayed.

“The elegance of St Botolphwas in the atrium and lift andglazed bridging,” says judgeOliver Tyler. “It is very confidentlyexpressed and detailed.”

STRUCTURAL STEEL DESIGN AWARDS 2011

ahead of schedule in October2009.

Judges praised the persever-ance and pursuit of practicality inthe detail design and construc-tion. This resulted in a “beautifulbridge which satisfies client anduser”.

The contract was awarded in2006. The design team opted fora cable-stayed rather than a girderbridge so that there would be noneed for piers. This allowed slim-mer decks that gave an extra 2mof clearance for river traffic com-pared with a girder option. Thedesign uses an inverted Y-shapedtower on the west bank of theriver to support the asymmetricaltwin fan of cables that in turn sup-ports the main deck.

The structure, fabricated byMabey Bridge, was erected in twomain stages. First the back spanwas erected from ground levelwith mobile cranes on trestles upto the central pylon.

The deck was then completedwith a precast concrete slab up tothe pylon which enabled the frontspan to be erected in cantilever

from the pylon. This was done in modules,

each comprising two maingirder sections and cross gird-ers. Over a seven-day cycle, eachmodule was erected and thecables installed, pre-stressedand the precast concrete deckpositioned.

In conjunction with the mod-ular build, a supported sectionof the front span would beerected. The largest compo-nents were the box sections atthe north abutment, which werelifted into position using a largefloating crane.

To protect the 2,800 tonnes ofsteel required for the decks,Mabey Bridge recommendedusing a durable glass flake epoxytreatment that required specialpermission from the NationalRoad Authority (NRA).

The completed project hasalleviated congestion in andaround the busy port of Rosslareby 30% and it is hoped will con-tribute to a rejuvenation ofWaterford and commercialdevelopment in its quays.

circulation area. Spaces are flexi-ble, up to a maximum 1,300sq m.

The Phase 1 building suffersfrom disconnection with its envi-ronment because it is constructed5.5m above grade. Phase 2 dropsthe exhibition halls and centralboulevard at its eastern end to thedockside level. Likewise, a betterlink with the DLR station isachieved by extending the boule-vard to the north under the confer-ence box to give an at-grade frontdoor to the Prince Regent station.

Steel was the only viable solu-tion to achieve the column-freehalls, which have a clear span of87m. The structural solution wasadapted from the Phase 1 build-ing and improved with steelworkcontractor Severfield-Reeve.

Phase 2 was fully constructedin 22 months.

Conference areas are situated in a raised box accessed directly from the main circulation area.

The 14-storey St Botolphbuilding near Liverpool Street.

The 465m Suir bridgewas designed by Yee Associates.

Grimshaw has created a strong sense of external identity for ExCel.

Grimshaw’s InternationalTerminus at Waterloo Station.Renzo Piano’s Kansai Airport terminal.

� A number of leisure buildings werealso rewarded including BlackpoolPleasure Beach’s Pepsi-Max Big Oneroller coaster (1995) and BDP’s No1 Roof at Wimbledon (1998).

� Sculptor Antony Gormley,one of this year’swinners, also won anaward back in 1998 forthe Angel of the North (pictured right).

� In 2004, FutureSystems won anaward for itsSelfridges storein Birmingham(pictured right),which helped toreinvent theBullring shoppingcentre.

� 2008’s winners includedHOK’s O2 arena, a successfulintervention within the oncederided Millennium Dome.

� Zaha Hadid’s AquaticsCentre, one of the manylandmark buildings on the2012 Olympics site, wasamong recipients of the topaward last year.

HOK’s O2 arena.

The “elegance”of the interiorwas praised bythe judges.

�

2010 FESTIVAL OFSPEED SCULPTUREGoodwood

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

NEW CROSS GATEFLYOVEREast London Line

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

RIVER SUIR BRIDGEWaterford, Ireland

COMMENDATION

EXCEL PHASE 2Royal Victoria Dock, London

COMMENDATION

ST BOTOLPHBUILDINGCity of London

COMMENDATION

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