Architectural hot dip galvanizing - hdgasa

Architectural hot dip galvanizing
changing the mechanical or electrical
systems of the house.
For the engineer
Charles approached us to help him design
his beautiful house on the hill. There was
no doubt about the use of structural
steelwork as the backbone, complete with
ribs, for the double storey dwelling – the
Architectural Revit models incorporated a
strong visual element of exposed
steelwork.
An extensive reinforced podium presented
a springing point for the steel frame. A
concrete sheet retains the bank set into
the hill at rear, extends forward as a
ground floor supported on RC columns
into the basement, and finally folds into a
25m length pool along the front edge.
Since speed of construction was important
to Charles, the engineering strategy was to
quickly define the steel/ concrete interface,
and get going with the concrete – using
the wet-works construction time to design
and detail the steelwork.
In our view, one of the most satisfying
steelwork design processes is one which
affords collaboration with architect and
fabricator from the outset, and we were
fortunate here. Working closely with
Warren and Charles from concept
structural development stage, the decision
to modulate, how and with what were
smooth decisions.
‘Light weight’, precast ECHO slab
elements were used to create the floor
elements, supported on steel beams
which wrap upward in cycles of vertical
ribs to support external balconies and
vertical shading screens. The steelwork
frame is horizontally braced by a series of
vertical concrete walls and masonry ducts,
which are carefully mechanically tied at
strategic points both to steel and ECHO
floor planes.
Structural trigger points:
◆ ‘The long way around is the short way
home’ – Charles house is minimalist,
steel needed to be modular and flush.
The suite of steel sizes was selected
and validated using a full house
structural model in OASYS.
◆ No cross-bracing or visible zigzags!
◆ As the steel was to be hot dip
galvanized, and aesthetic, all
connections needed to be shopped,
and all interfaces considered – there
could be no welding or touch-up on
site. Thanks to Terry from the HDGASA
for his valuable advice from time to
time.
◆ On the front elevation a sweeping first
floor covers an unusually high ground
floor living space, complete with
missing corner columns. We think the
photos speak for this structural trigger
point!
As there was little lead time for
fabrication, Rebcon opted to go direct to
shop detailing from engineering sketches
and a series of detail meetings. This is no
easy feat and the subsequent outcome is
in no small part as a result of Rebcon’s
professional and outstanding
commitment to their product.
continued on page 8...