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FriDay 27/07/2012 in association with The british FriDay 27/07/2012 www.bdonline.co.uk 8 STEEL FOCUS STructuraL Steel Design awards 2012 constructional Steelwork 9 www.bdonline.co.uk Association and Tata steel seat building. Although the team fixed directly onto the outside AWARD considered using a steel arch, of the bowl, and seating terraces The Velodrome has distinctive it always favoured a cable-net were fixed directly to the inside cedar cladding and a lightweight Olympic double London 2012 roof solution, which had rarely with air-handling units inte- cable-net roof. been used in the UK on such a grated into the voids within the VELODRoME large scale. skeletal bowl structure. “Shrink- The structure consists of in- wrapping” the building envelope leads 2012’s Olympic Park, situ concrete for the lower bowl, on to the steel skeleton in this and structural steel for the cedar- way reduced the surface area and London clad upper bowl, topped by an cost of cladding. undulated steel perimeter ring The Velodrome achieved a steel winners Architect Hopkins Architects truss, which restrains the roof Breeam “excellent” rating, assist- Structural engineer cables. The cable-net includes 14 ed by its 29% recycled content, Expedition Engineering km of steel cable, with 36 main lightweight structure and use of Two of the sporting venues built for the cables arranged in pairs at 3.6m natural ventilation. Steelwork contractor centres. It is pulled down hard The judges were impressed by 2012 games are among the six top winners Watson Steel Structures Ltd on to the seating bowl structure the use of lean, sustainable de- for this year’s Structural Steel Design (Severfield-Rowen PLC) below, giving the venue its dis- sign to achieve an iconic sporting Main contractor ISG Construction tinctive roof form. The 13,000sq venue. Awards, which also include two bridges, Client Olympic Delivery Authority m roof is estimated to be about “It’s incredibly elegant — a 35% lighter than that of the next very, very fine building,” says a viaduct strengthening project and the With its Pringle-like double- comparable venue and is topped judge Oliver Tyler. “I like its ef- major upgrade of a famous British theatre curving roof, the London 2012 with a standing-seam aluminium ficient use of material, and its Velodrome has become one of covering. The roof ’s cable-net integration of architecture and Text by Pamela Buxton the most recognisable and popu- form reduced the need to work at engineering. You feel that it’s a lar venues on the Olympic site. height, with the cables set out at reflection of what cycling is all According to Andrew Weir, ground level before being jacked about — efficiency — with warm director of structural engineer into position over three weeks. curves and a sense of drama. It’s Expedition Engineering, the in- The upper and lower tiers of very, very well put together.” tention was always to use a very seating are separated by the main After the games the Velodrome lightweight structural solution to circulation concourse, which is will remain on the Olympic Park s the 2012 Olympic cultural, mixed-use and com- achieve Hopkins’s “very simple glazed to allow views in and out as part of the VeloPark cycling Games gets under- mercial buildings. Once again, and pure” concept for the 6,000- of the building. Cladding was venue. way, it’s fitting that a public art work is included — two of the key venues this time Wolfgang Buttress’s on the Stratford site RISE sculpture, following on are among the win- from the success last year of An- Aners in this year’s Structural Steel tony Gormley’s Crouching Man. Design Awards, given for excel- Among the winners are two de- H g A lence in structural and architec- mountable buildings: the Ol- n tural design. ympic Stadium and, on a much ava os K The Olympic Stadium and smaller scale, the Garsington r : T Velodrome are two of the six re- Opera Pavilion, designed to be di E cipients of the top awards, along packed away each year if neces- Cr with the Peace and MediaCityUK sary. The symmetrical bridge links Protestant and Catholic communities. footbridges in Derry and Man- Judges praised the pared- chester, the Royal Shakespeare down and highly legible design Theatre in Stratford, and the re- of the Olympic Stadium, and the It also responds to bends in the medial project to strengthen the “great refinement” of the Velo- AWARD river to maximise long views in Bidston Moss viaduct. Ten other drome. either direction. projects were commended, with They were also impressed Peace BRidgE “As you walk across the bridge, a further 13 projects among the by the elegance of the bridges, views open up in one direction finalists. and the great attention to detail Derry-Londonderry and close down in the other,” says “The Olympics were bound shown in projects such as Fos- Marks. “The structure is always to figure in this year’s awards,” ter’s McLaren Production Centre on the side where the long views says chair of the judges David in Woking and Rogers Stirk Har- Cyclists test out Hopkins Architect aren’t.” Lazenby. “But transport infra- bour’s Neo Bankside. Architects’ “lean and sustain- Wilkinson Eyre Architects The river span accounts for : London 2012 : London 2012 : London T T structure was also very strong, “The overall standard was di able” Velodrome. di Structural engineer 96m of a total bridge length of E E such as motorways, viaducts, rail very high indeed, even among Cr Cr Aecom 312m. The bridge deck is made and footbridges, and energy cen- those who aren’t getting awards,” Steelwork contractor from weathering steel in an or- tres. These structures are very says Lazenby. “The two things Rowecord Engineering Ltd thotropic triangular box section, important, and have clearly been that come over most strongly are with transverse cantilever gird- Main contractor very well done.” the genuine spirit of cooperation ers connected to the underside A total of five bridges, and two in the teams and the focus on to- medieval courtyard theatre. Graham Construction of the box web. The convex edge power stations, were among the tal team success. In these tough AWARD Steelwork by Billington Struc- Client of the deck has a stringer beam winners, as well as residential, times, it’s what you have to do.” tures and CMF played a crucial Ilex Urban Regeneration Company that connects the ends of the ThE Royal role in the whole transformation deck cantilevers and supports project, making the construction Wilkinson Eyre’s footbridge over the parapet system. tHE JUDGES ShAkespeare as light as possible to minimise the River Foyle in Northern Ire- The deck width varies from π Chairman of the panel piling requirements in the wa- land is far more than a useful 3.5m at the ends of the cross- David Lazenby Theatre terside location. The building crossing to connect the com- ing to 4.5m seating areas at the Representing the Institution uses 580 tonnes of steel to create munity of Ebrington in the east pylons. The curve of the deck of Civil Engineers Stratford-upon- extensions to the existing listed — including a former British bar- is accentuated by a zone of alu- π Gerry Hayter building, including the new au- racks — more directly with the minium decking throughout the Representing the Highways Avon ditorium. Here, the exposed steel centre of Derry-Londonderry in span. Each inclined pylon rises Agency created the structure and also the west. 38m and rakes away from the π Joe Locke Architect Bennetts Associates reflected the architect’s desire to As its name suggests, The bridge, evolving from hexagonal Representing the steelwork Structural engineer Buro Happold create a hand-made aesthetic. Peace Bridge is conceived as a fabricated box sections up to a contracting industry Judges visiting the Energy Steelwork contractors The 1,040-seat auditorium is landmark structure that physi- triangular pyramid at the tip. The π Martin Manning from Waste Facility in Jersey. Billington Structures Ltd formed by four 24m-long, 3.4m- cally and symbolically links the deck is suspended from one edge Representing the Institution (primary steelwork) deep, steel roof trusses. These Catholic and Protestant commu- by a filigree array of hanger rods of Structural Engineers structures and can be situated rest on the concrete auditorium nities. As such, the architects were spaced along the concave edge of π Chris Nash, partner either in the UK or overseas, CMF Ltd (auditorium steelwork) walls that form the sides of the careful not to visually prioritise ei- the deck at 4.5m intervals. at Grimshaw Architects, provided they have been built Main contractor Mace Group Ltd auditorium building. ther side of the bridge, instead de- The bridge opened one year Representing the RIBA by UK or Irish steelwork Client Royal Shakespeare Company The upper seating tiers are signing a completely symmetrical ago and, says Marks, has become π Bill Taylor, architect, contractors. They must have supported on 10 slender cruci- structure. something of a destination in its Representing the RIBA been completed and be ready form columns with the ring beam “It’s conceived as two self-an- own right, with locals enjoying π Oliver Tyler, director for occupation or use during It took approximately 1 million structure tied back to concrete chored suspension bridges that spending time on benches in- of Wilkinson Eyre the calendar years 2011 and man-hours to complete the £112 cores behind the auditorium overlap for 20m or so in the mid- corporated within wind breaks Representing the RIBA 2012.