Complex 3D design and contamination overcome for Canada Life in central Leeds

- Structural Consultancy Services

The steel frame has recently been completed for an eye-catching glass clad £10 million building on a former gas works site in central Leeds, which is being re-developed by Canada Life. Significant ground and structural design challenges were overcome by structural engineers Bettridge Turner and Partners (formerly GBP) to deliver the design provided by architects Watkins Gray International.

According to Chris Jarvis of Watkins Gray International, “BT&P had no difficulty interpreting our design requirements and quickly rose to the challenges presented during the project. They were very pro-active in developing innovative solutions to the structural design and contamination issues”.

To maximise the passage of light through the glass clad structure, it includes an open lift shaft with a glazed lift car and a moment connection steel frame with composite concrete floors. Without the benefit of cross bracing, the steel frame posed a complex three-dimensional design challenge for Bettridge Turner and Partners. The overall floor depth was kept to a minimum using composite action between the steel beams and the concrete floors.
The main entrance opens up into a top lit glass atrium, while the other three elevations feature striking white concrete staircases. According to Philip Chan, Structural Engineering Director, Bettridge Turner and Partners, “The thinner walls provided by the absence of cross bracing gave the architect more freedom to exploit the benefits of a fully glazed aluminium cladding system”.

The building sits on driven pre-cast concrete piles, pile caps and ground beams, with an in situ ground bearing concrete slab. The material excavated to accommodate the foundations and to adjust ground levels was treated with cement and reused on site, following changes in regulations regarding the disposal of contaminated soil.

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