PROJECT REVIEWS Volume 7 No 3. Solutions in Steel PUBLISHED QUARTERLY FOR BUILDERS, ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS AND SPECIFIERS

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1 PROJECT REVIEWS Volume 7 No 3 Solutions in Steel PUBLISHED QUARTERLY FOR BUILDERS, ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS AND SPECIFIERS

2 Theatre design creates dramatic form with simple materials The Brolga Theatre at Maryborough is an impressive example of how the dramatic use of simple materials can overcome the budgetary constraints that inevitably hamper regional developments. Large volumes, a rising roof line, strong colours and simple materials were used to create a bold and elemental structure that dominates its elevated site on a bend in the Mary River. The building is mostly steel-framed, with lightweight internal and external cladding. This allowed fast erection and reduced the need for extensive footings. The steel structure is expressed where possible. Stramit metal sheeting was chosen as the primary cladding to meet the requirement for economy, durability and low maintenance. David Kelly, a Practice Director at architects Bligh Voller Nield, said the use of flexible and economical steel sheeting gave the designers an opportunity to create a monumental form. It works on a practical level as a public building but is also appropriate to the Queensland regional vernacular, David Kelly said. Walls are predominantly clad in Stramit Longspan cladding (2500 square metres) in three shades of grey Gull Grey, Armour Grey and Slate Grey to break down the 2 Solutions in Steel

3 mass of the building visually. The roof is Stramit Speed Deck Ultra concealed fixed decking (3000 square metres) in Gull Grey. External forms and construction detailing are simple yet refined, with crisp expression of wall and roof junctions. The bold, attractive appearance is given further significance by its link to the Maryborough building tradition, which is characterised by elegant metal and timber sheds constructed on a grand scale. The site itself was previously the location of a major sawmill and the new building reflects this industrial heritage. In addition to the 926-seat theatre, the complex includes a large foyer, cafe and multi-purpose performance space, as well as dressing rooms and workshops. In July the building won the RAIA Queensland Chapter s top award, the FDG Stanley Award for Public Buildings Project Brolga Theatre and Performing Arts Centre Developer Maryborough City Council Architects Bligh Voller Nield in association with Maria Graham Architects Builder Evans Harch Metal Cladding Stramit Building Products Solutions in Steel 3

4 Metal cladding transforms hospital amenities into visual assets Project Brisbane Hospital Laundries Developer Queensland Health Metropolitan Linen Services Architects Briggs Peterson & Buhr Principal Consultant Engineers GH&D Group Structural Engineers Bornhorst & Ward Builders John Holland Roofer Westwind Roofing Steel Cladding and Purlins Stramit Building Products Queensland Health is setting the standard in the design and construction of attractive, economical hospital buildings that take full advantage of the beauty and durability of metal cladding and framing. Some of these buildings have already been featured in the pages of Solutions in Steel. The Metropolitan Laundries project involved the design and construction of two new laundry facilities at two different hospital sites within the Brisbane area for Queensland Health Metropolitan Laundries Service. The two buildings, which provide laundry services and sterilised linen, are essentially identical apart from the colour schemes. Constraining the design was the need to fit the structures around large and bulky equipment such as continuous batch washing machines, multiple gas dryers, ironing machines and sterilisation and processing areas. These are connected by a high level, continuous conveyor system that transports linen around the building. Early co-ordination between the architects, structural and mechanical engineers and a specialist laundry designer was essential to achieve the complicated planning requirements while producing an economical, durable and versatile design solution. Internally the building consists of two portal frame structures housing the clean and dirty sections, divided by staff amenities, offices and small workrooms. Airlocks were incorporated for travel between the two areas. Portal frames were required to support the overhead conveyor and maintenance platforms. At the same time, the economical spacing of the large spans allowed the designers to make maximum structural use of roof purlins, wall girts and infill wall panels. External walls are a combination of reinforced concrete panels and Stramit Corrugated wall cladding (3000 square metres). The use of curved metal screens provides a maintenance-free and aesthetically pleasing building that makes a positive contribution to the environment of the hospitals. The roof is clad with 5000 square metres of Stramit Speed Deck Ultra concealed fixed decking, with ventilation provided through two full-length metal ridge vents. The decking profile was chosen for its combination of strength and light weight, as well as its outstanding durability and wind resistance. External steel cladding, flashing and accessories are all finished in Colorbond colours, with some in Zincalume finish. The colour schemes of the two buildings reflect their surroundings. The Princess Alexandra Hospital echoes the neighbouring buildings which are clad with Stramit sheeting in rich Colorbond colours and Colorbond Metallic coatings, while the Prince Charles Hospital facility has a subdued, earthy colour scheme in keeping with its more natural environment. 4 Solutions in Steel

5 Stapylton Travel Centre Rest stop canopy provides a new highway icon BP Australia has created a new standard in highway rest stops with its Travel Centres in South-East Queensland. The centres feature a full range of amenities and services for motorists and long-haul truck drivers, including food hall, TV lounge, meeting space, supermarket, cafes, video games and children s playground. The design of the centres goes beyond the functional requirements and endeavours to enrich the experience of the traveller. Interior volumes are designed to be highly accessible and visually legible. The spaces are carefully layered to promote a progression of experience and provide several comfortably scaled spaces. A column-lined internal street intersects and links the layers and helps to reinforce movement within the building. Dominating the design is the canopy, around which the main elements are organised. It serves as an umbrella as well as a recognisable icon for the facilities, providing shelter and uniting the separate functions of food and fuel. The winged edge of the canopy provides a strongly shadowed under-croft offering protection from the elements and a welcoming place to rest, reminiscent of the Queensland veranda space. material. The roof includes 3000 square metres of Stramit Speed Deck Ultra concealed fixed decking in Zincalume, while the soffit and walls include some 1500 square metres of Stramit C-Clad 280 cladding in Off-White. The dominance of the broad canopy and its protective nature allow the building envelope to be both flexible and transparent, with the glass walls blurring the distinction between outside and inside. Two variations were developed which provide a solution for any location and these will be implemented at other sites in Australia and overseas. Project BP Travel Centres Developer BP Australia Architects Arkhefield Structural Engineers Lowenstein & Stumpo Builder Lanskey Constructions Roofer Fairbrother Roofing Roof Cladding Stramit Building Products The winged form is consistent throughout the sites. Its skin is finished in Zincalume sheets which provide a high quality finish while fulfilling the brief for a durable and economical Coomera Travel Centre Solutions in Steel 5

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7 Stylish bus stations add new landmarks to urban environment The new South-East Queensland Regional Busway Network is an attempt to offer commuters a reliable, efficient alternative mode of rapid transport. Opened in May, the new Busway stations have received very positive feedback from the public. As well as being key components of the system, the Busway stations provide a visual signature for the network and as such are more than mere passenger facilities. They form a significant part of the urban landscape and must sit comfortably in a diverse range of contexts. Individual designs were created for each of the 10 stations and all are constructed primarily from steel, aluminium and other metal products. These materials were selected because they provided slender structural elements that helped to create an open, transparent environment. Metal building products were used for the station superstructure, including platforms, stairs, lift cores, lift cars, pedestrian bridges, awnings, street furniture, median barrier fences, post-top lighting, tubular handrail, platform kerb edges and secure metal balustrades and ancillary fencing. Stramit Longspan cladding was specified for the station roofs, for its low pitch characteristics and high water-carrying capacity. This allowed the station structures to be as horizontal as possible in a potentially very wet sub-tropical environment. Metal building products also offered the opportunity for repetition of detailing for ease of fabrication and assembly. Other advantages included the ability to maximise off-site fabrication and minimise erection time. Durable finishes can also be applied to prefabricated metal components under factory controlled conditions, providing greater quality control and further reducing erection time. Project South-East Queensland Regional Busway Network Developer Queensland Transport Project Managers QT South-East Transit Project Team Bus Station Architect Derek Trusler Project Architects Cottee Parker Peddle Thorp Planet Design Woods Bagot Structural Engineers Bligh Tanner Bonacci Group Builders Walter Constructions A W Edwards Roof Cladding Stramit Building Products Solutions in Steel 7

8 DIY modular homes designed for living in the round If someone said your domestic castle could be delivered on a truck and built in a week by a couple of handymen, you d probably say: Tell him he s dreaming! Reiny Loeliger has been haunted almost all his life by that same dream, of creating low-cost kit housing that really could be supplied in a kit and bolted together by beginners. The result is RAL Homes, in the western Victorian town of Ararat, which since 1989 has been supplying prefabricated, modular kit homes that can be erected by do-it-yourselfers. Reiny and wife Lorraine set up their contract building company at Ararat in While developing the business, Reiny was also busy thinking about innovative and affordable ways to enclose space efficiently. Meanwhile, he collected what he describes as Australia s largest library on prefabricated homes. Eventually, some 20 years later, Reiny wandered out into the back yard with some sheets of corrugated iron and built himself a tunnel-shaped hut. Sitting in his simple Nissen hut he knew he was on to something but he began to feel that it was too dark and enclosed, 8 Solutions in Steel

9 so he cut an arch in one wall and connected another tunnel on the side to form a groin intersection. Suddenly there was light and an exhilarating feeling of space. From this crude hut came a prototype modular home in 1988 and the following year he set up RAL Homes. Today there are more than 100 projects completed and the system has been perfected to the point where everything can be supplied from the RAL factory on a single truck or shipping container and assembled with standard tools on a slab or timber platform. The basic design of the RAL home is simplicity itself a medieval groined vault formed by two intersecting barrel vaults. The semicircular arches are constructed from eight prefabricated plywood panels bolted together, covered with three layers of insulation and clad with curved Stramit Corrugated sheeting (or preferred profile). A wide range of designs is possible using the RAL modular system, and if the client feels the need, the home can be extended or reshaped at any time. There are two quite surprising features of RAL houses. One is the overwhelming feeling of space and light inside them, resulting from the cathedral-like effect of the groined vault and the large glass end walls. The other is their energy efficiency (thermal resistance rating of R3.8). Every home can achieve a Five-Star energy rating even on a timber floor. They are also amazingly strong despite the total lack of structural elements other than the arches themselves. The integral strength of the groined vault is such that the homes can be supplied with a cyclonic rating up to W50C (wind speeds of 200 km/h). The futuristic style of the homes is complemented by the fact they are built with the future in mind. Reiny claims they can be dismantled at any time and all the components recycled. Reiny has never gone in for mass production or wide distribution through resellers. He and Lorraine provide a friendly, individual service for every owner-builder and each house is designed in association with clients to meet their particular requirements. Visit them at Solutions in Steel 9

10 Don t forget foot traffic when designing a roof The design of roofs using the limit-state method must take account of serviceability as well as strength. When designers set serviceability criteria, they often overlook foot traffic. Serviceability refers to the various functions that the design (in this case, the roof) will be expected to perform during its life. The strength limit-state is the point beyond which the roof would collapse or blow off. The serviceability limit-state is the level at which full functionality would be maintained throughout the intended life of the building. This level varies with the type of structure but is obviously lower than the strength limit-state. The serviceability limit-state for roof sheeting is the longest span at which no permanent product distortion will occur and any deflection will be kept to an acceptable level. Most Australian Standards for structural building products set serviceability limits, but these are minimum levels only. It is the responsibility of the designer to establish whether the appropriate performance levels should be higher than these minima. The Australian Standard AS1562 sets minimum serviceability limits for foot traffic on roof sheeting. These would be appropriate for an agricultural shed, for example, where limited sheet deformation and occasional leakage in very heavy rain may not be an issue. However, most industrial and probably all commercial buildings need to remain not only leak-free but dent-free. Accordingly, roofing spans recommended by Stramit Building Products are set at higher serviceability limit-states than the Standard. When designing a roof, refer to the Stramit Foot Traffic Design Guide, which provides recommended spans for Stramit roofing products over a range of foot traffic loadings. These include high loads of 1.8kN (for a roof with high maintenance traffic), normal loads of 1.1kN (for moderate foot traffic) and controlled loads of 0.9kN (where foot traffic will be from experienced personnel only). In setting these performance levels, loads other than wind may need to be considered. When designing large flat roofs, in particular, foot traffic loadings must be taken into account, since they can have a major effect on the appearance of the roof. All roofs are subject to some foot traffic during their installed lives. This may be from fixers during installation or at times of routine maintenance of the roof or other equipment located on or projecting through the roof. For further information, talk to your local Stramit Technical Services Manager or contact your nearest Stramit office for a copy of the Stramit Foot Traffic Design Guide. 10 Solutions in Steel

11 Rugged outdoorstype, readyfor longterm commitment. If you re looking for a metal roof that can handle the toughest environments you need a Stramit roof made from the new Colorbond Ultra coated steel. Available in 6 contemporary colours, the proven durability of Colorbond Ultra coated steel ensures long life and low maintenance in coastal areas. If you re looking to build a long term relationship, call Stramit now.

12 SYDNEY Frank Street, Wetherill Park NSW Telephone (02) Facsimile (02) CANBERRA 4 Bass Street, Queanbeyan NSW Telephone (02) Facsimile (02) COFFS HARBOUR 6 Mansbridge Drive, Coffs Harbour NSW Telephone (02) Facsimile (02) NEWCASTLE 17 Nelson Road, Cardiff NSW Telephone (02) Facsimile (02) ALBURY 109 Boronia Street, Albury NSW Telephone (02) Facsimile (02) ORANGE 51 Leewood Drive, Orange NSW Telephone (02) Facsimile (02) MELBOURNE _ KILSYTH Colchester Road, Kilsyth VIC Telephone (03) Facsimile (03) MELBOURNE _ BAYSWATER 491 Mountain Highway, Bayswater VIC Telephone (03) Facsimile (03) MELBOURNE _ MULGRAVE 2 Faigh Street, Mulgrave VIC Telephone (03) Facsimile (03) MELBOURNE _ PRESTON 219 Dundas Sreet, Preston VIC Telephone (03) Facsimile (03) BENDIGO Ramsay Court, Kangaroo Flat VIC Telephone (03) Facsimile (03) HOBART Farley Street, Derwent Park TAS Telephone (03) Facsimile (03) SOUTH AUSTRALIA 2 Maritime Court, Gillman SA Telephone (08) Facsimile (08) BRISBANE Platinum Street, Crestmead QLD Telephone (07) Facsimile (07) TOWNSVILLE Bayswater Road, Garbutt QLD Telephone (07) Facsimile (07) CAIRNS 83 Kenny Street, Portsmith QLD Telephone (07) Facsimile (07) MACKAY Brickworks Court, Glenella, Mackay QLD Telephone (07) Facsimile (07) MARYBOROUGH 10 Activity Street, Maryborough QLD Telephone (07) Facsimile (07) ROCKHAMPTON Alexandra Street, North Rockhampton QLD Telephone (07) Facsimile (07) DARWIN 55 Albatross Street, Winnellie NT Telephone (08) Facsimile (08) PERTH 21 Alloa Street, Maddington WA Telephone (08) Facsimile (08) BUNBURY Lot 1, Proffit Street, Bunbury WA Telephone (08) Facsimile (08) WEBSITE Solutions in Steel highlights innovative projects that use Stramit steel building products. Suggestions for articles are welcome. Please send details of your nominated project to The Marketing Manager, Stramit Building Products, 6 Thomas Street, Chatswood, NSW registered trade marks of Stramit Corporation Limited. ABN A member of the Amatek Group. Stramit Corporation Limited, August Produced by Inform Promotions creative@informpromotions.com.au