Steel frame superstructure
This method was selected for its fast off site construction and fast onsite erection. The steel frame can be fabricated while the foundations are being built and brought to site immediately after the foundations are built. This allows for a quick construction program. The off-site frame production ensures a high quality building and substantially increases the site safety.
The Sports Centre is a large clear span construction
On this occasion a specialist prefabricated beam was specified: The design utilised Metsec lattice Trusses (http://www.metseclatticebeams.com/). These light weight trusses are economic to produce and fast to fabricate. The Trusses are supported off a hot rolled steel frame. The columns on the sports hall are RHS (“Rolled Hollow Sections”). These are a more expensive section to purchase per tonne, but the square shape allows for the brickwork to be built flush to the column and also the wall to be flush to the sports hall. A flush finished hall is essential, so that balls do not bounce off at odd angles.
The site is sloping with the rear of the building being 3m higher than the entrance. To deal with this the storage areas have been built into the hillside. Retaining walls are constructed around the rear to stabilise the ground.
Soil Investigation Completed
This indicated that clay was present. Croft undertook an analysis of the trees to confirm the depth of foundations. By producing sections across the building we were able to eliminate piles and confirm that mass concrete footings would be sufficient. This saved significant money to the project. The floor needs to be isolated from the clay substrate: to do this it has been suspended. To speed up construction and reduce the build time, precast beam and block floors have been specified.
