Site Visit: Federation Square

Federation Square’s design is the product of an international architectural competition won in July 1997 by Lab architecture studio of London in association with Bates Smart Architecture of Melbourne. Atelier One were appointed Project Structural Engineers. The judging panel said of the winning design: “It draws its inspiration from the unique characteristics of Melbourne’s arcades and laneways, and transforms these elements into a new form of organization, celebrating the city. The design will invite pedestrians to explore a complex and urban linkage of open and closed spaces, a set of different amenities brought together in the architectural equivalent of Federation.”

"The Atrium" is one of the major public spaces in the Federation Square cultural precinct in central Melbourne, Australia. It is a remarkable galleria-like structure made of glass, steel and zinc, and fashioned as a street-like space, five-stories high with glazed walls and roof.

The exposed metal structure and glazing patterns follow the fractal geometry used elsewhere in the precinct's building facades. The following are construction details of the Atrium from the exterior:

Site Visit: Construction of Westfield Shopping Centre Flyover, Geelong

The centre is currently undergoing a refurbishment, as well as an expansion over Yarra Street via a controversial flyover. The flyover was criticised for blocking views of Corio Bay from Yarra Street, and that the bridge was not just a walkway but an overhead carpark, shopping strip and roadway on the scale of the bridge at Westfield Southland.

The basic frame incorporates steel construction technology:

Detail of Steel Construction involved in overpass:

Article from http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2007/11/07/8662_business.html:

Geelong's Westfield shopping centre takes to the skies
by Peter Begg 07 Nov 2007

CREEPING: Westfield Bay City's Yarra St flyover is starting to take shape.

Photo: ALISON WYND

THE controversial Westfield Bay City flyover has started edging its way across Yarra St as the shopping centre expansion starts to take shape.
The Yarra St flyover drew a chorus of objections when first proposed, with most arguing it would obstruct views down the thoroughfare towards Corio Bay.
The flyover started taking some of the air space above Yarra St last week, but work was at a standstill during the past two days because of the Melbourne Cup extended weekend.
Westfield has said the work is on schedule, with the entire project expected to be completed by July 2008.
It will add 50 to 60 new stores to the shopping centre, including a Big W department store and possibly a Borders bookstore.

Tutorial 3: End Wall Section: Steel Portal Frame

Carousel Pavilion, Geelong Waterfront

ARCHITECT: McGlashan Everist Pty Ltd
ENGINEER: Meinhardt (Vic) Pty Ltd
BUILDER: Wycombe Constructions Pty Ltd
FABRICATOR: Northsteel Pty Ltd
PLACE: Waterfront Geelong

SITE: Designed to protect and showcase a restored and operating 19th century steam carousel, complete with steam engine and band organ, the steel and glass Carousel Pavilion plays a cornerstone role in the revitalised Geelong Waterfront.

DESIGN: The steel frame of the building comprises six umbrella forms of 12 x 12 metres in a 3 x 2 array, one of which is pictured below.

The steel structure is exposed and utilises a range of hollow sections. The cross-linked main arms of the umbrellas are fabricated box sections sculpted to reflect roof loads with minimal use of material. The diagonal arrangement of the mainframes and the combined arching effect develops an inherently stiff structure, which eliminates the need for diagonal bracing in roof or walls. The structure was refined using a 3D software package for analysis, steel design and generation of bills of quantities to compare the cost effectiveness of design permutations. Close attention to connection detailing was important as the structure was prefabricated and fully bolted, contributing to aesthetics, integrity of protection and cost control.

ENVIRONMENT: Sited on the sea wall and exposed to very high wind loading, designers carried out detailed analysis using Australian Wind Code recommendations for strength limit state condition. Window mullions are structural and stiffened with a horizontal truss, which forms the lower roof edge of the Pavilion.
Sea spray and chloride deposition on the structure were judged to require special attention for steel protection. On careful assessment of the area, top grade after-fabrication galvanising to AS/NZS4680 (ISO 1461) was used on all structural steel.
Expanded metal cladding on the cantilevered perimeter of the roof had a cost benefit and provided the desired shading with minimum wind resistance.

The above is a small exemplary detail of the steel structure used in the roof of the building.

City of Greater Geelong, Carousel Pavilion Information Sheet, retreived 25 February 2008, http://www.geelongcity.vic.gov.au/library/pdf/5052/85.pdf.

Tutorial 2: Standard Fixed Portal Frame

Site Visit: Southern Cross Station, Melbourne, Victoria

Southern Cross Station, Melbourne

Architect: Grimshaw (working within the Grimshaw Jackson Joint Venture)
Client: Leighton Contractors and Civic Nexus
Awards: RIBA International Award,Lubetkin Prize

The station is simply a big roof over a complex piece of transport infrastructure. It is open at the sides. It keeps some of the weather out, but really its vocation is as a civic structure. It is a point of entry to the city and, critically, it makes a space connecting the new and the old parts of the town.

The roof itself makes much of building physics. It is possible to describe the project in terms of structural forces, prevailing winds and the ventilation of diesel fumes. These environmental and structural issues are solved with great skill and they provide a fairly convincing narrative to justify the cheerful, wavy roof form. Its real significance lies in the fact that it makes a good space beneath and an extraordinary undulating landscape above. These roof elevations are often private fantasies for the architect, but here, surrounded by high-rise buildings, the upper surface becomes a topography that is visible to everyone. The view down on to it is lovely.

Detail of Roof from Above:

The edge of the building that faces the old town is perhaps the most important façade. The architects have made an open loggia framed by the edge of the rising and dipping roof. This long elevation is only ever partly seen as you approach it along the deep cavernous streets of the city. You always understand it as a fragment of a much bigger thing. This lends a particular drama to the approach. You see the great overarching structures intertwined with wavy tresses of light, you see the movement of trains through the structure, people meandering through and, all the time, the reflection of the old town thrown back by the glass.

This was an undistinguished station which forced passengers to tunnel their way under the tracks. The new station not only makes people feel safer by elevating them above the trains, it also engenders pride in their city and its rail system. And it might do much to encourage Australians back on to the train - making this the greenest of its many green credentials. This powerful conflation of old and new, people and trains, structure and light make the Southern Cross station a worthy winner of this year’s Lubetkin Prize.

Some construction details from the site:

http://www.architecture.com/Awards/RIBAInternationalAwards/2007/SouthernCross/SouthernCrossStation.aspx

An example of timber construction: Lupton Street, Geelong

Tutorial 1: Timber Framing