PROJECT
TITANIC DISTILLERS, BELFAST
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING he explained. The result is an incredible exercise of imagination and balance; the entire distillery is supported from only 12 contact points within the original building. S tructural and civil engineers ‘ADD Consulting’ provided the analysis and design of the required structure for the new distillery within the Thompson
Pump House. The original 3-foot-wide walkway at the ground floor, which overlooked the basement and pump machinery down below, was retained and strengthened. A new double-storey steel structure to support the 60 tonnes of distillery equipment was also installed. To ensure the listed pumphouse equipment below remained undisturbed, the lower level of the double-storey structure acts as a transfer deck bridging the 30-foot-wide basement. As this is a listed building, Director David Graham commented they were very limited in terms of interaction with the original fabric. “The steel outriggers which strengthen the walkway cantilever out from the new steel frame, but don’t touch the walls, which was critical to minimise disturbances with listed building fabric”,
ADD Consulting used 3D modelling and BIM clash detection to ensure a flawless integration between new and existing. There was also a lot of up-front co- ordination with the distillery equipment. The positioning of the feet of the stills, wash backs and tanks was critical for the setting out of the steelwork. “We were extremely proud to work on such an iconic building in Belfast’s history” David commented. “At the very start of the project, we were given the original plans from 1898, a moment in history when so many things were about to change. If only I could sit down with the person who drew the plans and tell them everything that was about to happen: Titanic’s own fate, two world wars… This project was really special.”
T: +44 (0)28 3760 0200 E: mail@addconsulting.co.uk www.addconsulting.co.uk
STRUCTURAL STEELWORK
M Hasson & Sons Ltd. designed, manufactured and installed the structural steel at the Thompson Pump House building and was responsible for the development of the existing building to support the bespoke distillery equipment to produce the Titanic Distillers merchandise. The intricate design was able to feature a mesh floor that reveals the original pump machinery in the basement. As with the other sub-contractors, M. Hasson & Sons had to deal with the challenges of incorporating the original fabric of the historic building. The work started with a thorough survey of the existing iconic building, followed by the design of the structures, accomplished by their experienced team of draughtsmen. It was crucial that all members of the structure were manufactured just right to snuggly fit around the distilling equipment. M. Hasson & Sons, through innovation, were also able to produce circles in the decorative steel beams to resemble ship
portholes – a subtle nod to the dry dock’s huge residents. Amazingly enough, all the structures had to go in through the main entrance, a 2m by 1,5m door that didn’t leave much room for error. The team was able to use an old gantry crane found on site to hoist the steelwork into position. The crane was operated by hand and also had to go through the original doors to then be hoisted into place. “This was an iconic project, and there was a sense of pride and satisfaction not only from our team, but everyone involved. I could not speak highly enough about the JPM team; the interaction with them was seamless,” commented Managing Director Paul Hasson. “It is amazing to see an attraction that will be visited by thousands of people and think of all the work done by our team.”
T: +44 (0)28 2957 1400 E: info@hassons.com www.hassons.com
www.nibuilder.co.uk
FOLLOW US ON:
NI BUILDER | 19
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online