Category: BLOG 2013/14

Archive of all student BLOG posts from 2013/14

Week 2 – Cheryl Lim

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London Roca Gallery

Architect – Zaha Hadid Architects
Engineer – Buro Happold, Max Fordham Consulting Engineers
Contractor – Empty, S.L.

Building Component – GRC / Fibre Reinforced Concrete

Material Properties
The exterior made of GRC / Fibre Reinforced Concrete had been pre-fabricated in moulds to be assembled and constructed on-site, spanning 2.20m in height. Fibre Reinforced Concrete allows for a simple yet cold expression for the façade, the façade itself made of 2 x 4m panels weighing 800kg each. This material, 6cm thick is made by two waffled concrete layers sandwiching a honeycomb mesh that allows for stretching in various directions, making it a robust composite material.

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Tottenham Court Road Station – Laing O’Rourke Construction Ltd; and Lend Lease Construction; Dr. Sauer Group (Consultant); architect TBC.

Concrete cast in-situ, loadbearing walls with columns – panels of 2×2 meters, 40 cm thick. Columns – steel sections needs to be inserted in the columns; columns cast in steel molds

Concrete – ready mixed (mix TBC); 24 hour cure

http://www.nce.co.uk/features/geotechnical/precision-piling/8624010.article

Week 2 – Site photo- Zsuzsa Peter

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Leandenhall Building

Architect: Richard Rogers

Structural Engineer: Arup

Contractor: Laing O’Rourke

The material used for the structure is prefabricated steel beams which are transported to the site (you can see on the photo the method trough which these beam are carried further inside the building).  The beams are cast in a I shape. The choice of using steel beams for the structure instead of concrete is probably motivated by the desire to create a free floor space which is relatively small in comparison to the building’s height, the beams being anchored on the perimeter of the building into the ground.

timelapse of the building process: http://vimeo.com/67882670

Week 2 – Site Photos – Andrew Yuen

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Project: Riverlight Residential Blocks, Nine Elms
Architect: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Structural Engineer: Ramboll

Building component: Metal/steel structural frame with diagonal bracing

Material: Reinforced Concrete

The reinforced concrete is used as the main material to manufactured the floor plates, in the area of 620000 sq. feet. The floor plates (slab) are produced in the factory with the method of casting, before they are transferred to the site for assembling process.

Concrete is a mixture of coarse and fine aggregates with a paste of portland cement and water as a binder material. The material itself has a high degree of hardness, good thermal compatibility which will not cause unacceptable stresses in response to the change of  temperatures and good durability that resists corrosion. However, low tensile strength and ductility are the main weaknesses of the material. By casting in reinforce components such as steel, it overcome the mentioned problems.