The former Derry’s Department store, comprising an entire block at the heart of the city’s modernist Abercrombie and Watson plan, is set to be sensitively restored and converted into a 500-bedroom student residence, a 100-room hotel and restoring the active frontages at the ground floor with 60,000 sq ft of retail and commercial space.
The development involves the addition of a new lightweight storey to the top of the existing Derry’s building, the formation of 3 new internal courtyards and the addition of 4 storeys to the top of the existing Co-op building. The scheme also involves spanning both a 35m Warren truss and 3 single storey Virendeel trusses over a major retail unit and over a live substation. These support 4 storey’s of residential accommodation.
What were the challenges and what made the project successful.
With a live Major Retailer active in a portion of the ground floor, a 40 tonne Warren Truss had to be constructed to span across a 35m Gap. With the Tower Crane at its Max at 6 tonne, we had to construct the Truss in 6 Pieces, using the existing building and new steelwork as temporary supports. With close tolerance holes specified by the Engineer, 1370 bolts lined up first time, allowing the Truss to be installed and complete in under 3 days.
What benefits utilizing BIM and Tekla Software brought to the project.
Having used BIM across multiple areas of the Project the usefulness is hard to deny;
- Trimble Connect has allowed us to Co-ordinate instantly and directly with our Site teams, allowing Staff to check Part Numbers, Hole Sizes and Measurements within Seconds – with the nature of this project working long hour days, the ability to access the model has allowed work to continue round the clock each day.
- IFC Model Sharing has provided speed and precision during the detailing process, and significantly reduced error count when communicating with Structural Engineers or Separate Contractors. Using the Stair Manufacturers IFC Model, MGP were able to react instantly with material and drawings when an updated design was required on Site.
The project in numbers
Overall Tonnage: 950t
