STRUCTURAL TIMBER
LEARNING CURVES WITH DREADNOUGHT CLT
B&K Structures helped transform a former naval hospital in a UNESCO World Heritage Site into the Dreadnought Building at the University of Greenwich – a major project showcasing what engineered timber can achieve.
1 B&K Structures were part of the team that sensitively restored the Grade II listed building by stripping it back and modernising it, ready for its role at the heart of the University. The Dreadnought building retains its character and sense of history while also providing a state-of-theart hub, creating learning and gym facilities and a 500-person capacity bar, together with teaching and social spaces. The project required the refurbishment of the existing building, together with a new PEFC-certified infill structure to the courtyard comprising visible grade cross laminated timber (CLT) floor panels to the first and second mezzanine floor levels. At roof level, the design specified a combination of white wood spruce glulam beams and insulated timber roof cassettes.
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Attended by 2,000 students, the Dreadnought Building provides a home for the Students’ Union and Student & Academic Services at the heart of campus life. Within the complex, the new University Library, School of Architecture and Construction buildings are arranged as a series of ‘fingers’, separated with open light-wells to fill the buildings with daylight. Collaborating with five delivery partners to ensure a right- first-time approach, B&K Structures undertook design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) workshops, using video conferencing for overseas partners. The key focus was to ensure clarity of design and detailing to eliminate errors from the delivery and installation processes, which had to work within the confines of a restricted site.
B&K Structures carried out digital surveys on the existing structure to facilitate the accurate design and manufacture of the replacement structural steel frame within the refurbished section of the build. BIM and factory tolerances enabled B&K Structures to infill the existing courtyard area with a multi-storey structural steel frame with cross laminated timber floor decks, glulam beams and insulated timber roof cassettes. Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) files were extracted from the Building information modelling (BIM) model and imported directly into computer numerical control (CNC) production machinery to eliminate the potential for any errors and guarantee manufacturing accuracy. Designs were optimised and tested in a virtual, pre-production environment before reaching the full manufacturing process to ensure optimal quality.
WWW.OFFSITEMAGAZINE.CO.UK | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
