How Tata Steel helped meet tight build programme

Speed of construction was one of the key considerations on the Madeira Road MSCP and Student Accommodation project; a development that housed three interconnected student accommodation buildings and a seven-storey car park close to Bournemouth’s seafront.

Not only did the solution take into account the commercial considerations and fast build vital to the academic calendar, but the structure was completed on time, to budget and to a very high build quality has been nominated for two Local Authority Building Control awards.

The Madeira Road project posed two totally different challenges.

The two different buildings on Madeira road posed two different challenges – the student accommodation needed to provide a shallow floor zone that achieved acoustic properties and a two-hour fire rating; and the car park needed to provide a light, safe environment, that also took into account the close proximity of the site to the sea.

Acoustics and fire performance drive design for student accommodation

10,000 m² of ComFlor® 51+ decking was used for the three interconnected student accommodation buildings. Its re-entrant profile provided ample depth of concrete to achieve two-hour fire resistance with excellent acoustic properties, and all within a shallow floor slab.

Comflor® 51+ presents a virtually flat soffit and small dovetail opening. This contributes little to the transfer of heat through the slab in the event of fire, resulting in a relatively thin slab being required to met fire design requirements, thus overall building height is reduced. It is also the best performing deck acoustically of the ComFlor® range so was ideal for use in the student accommodation.

“For the Arts University Bournemouth student accommodation project, Morgan Sindall, the main contractor and Upton McGougan, the structural engineers, selected Comflor® 51+ as the preferred flooring product, because it contributed to a fast track solution, enabling the structure to be completed on time and on budget” said Ric Martin, Senior Architectural Technologist for BrightSpace Architects.

Winning combination makes car park more secure

ComFlor® 60 with Colorcoat® FD 170 pre-finished steel was the only product able to meet all of the design criteria for the multi-storey car park, whilst also providing a 15 year guarantee direct from Tata Steel.

Over 9,000 m² of ComFlor® 60 with Colorcoat® FD 170 has been used to construct the seven-storey car park which needed to provide a light environment and a solution that would ensure users were as safe as possible. It also needed to withstand the corrosive coastal environment and imposed structural loads.

The ComFlor® 60 deck was also the only manufacturer backed composite floor decking able to meet the structural load requirements of the project.

Colorcoat® FD 170 shines bright

Colorcoat® FD 170 is a well proven pre-finished steel that offers excellent corrosion resistance. The special 170 micron pre-finished steel on the underside of the exposed soffit side of the deck offers unrivalled protection against corrosion from the coastal environment. The product supplied in White made best use of the natural and artificial light to provide a lighter, safer environment which is important for multi-storey car parks. Factory manufacture of the pre-finished steel is an innovative solution and removes the need for on-site painting which provided health and safety benefits and improved aesthetics as well as a faster speed of build.  Use of pre-finished steel also ensures a uniform paint film thickness across the profile, improving the overall corrosion resistance.

“As the specialist consulting engineers for the design of the multi-storey car park we were seeking a flooring system with a protective finish which could provide the required corrosion resistance guarantee period in coastal environments; while the performance specification also demanded a high reflectance to provide the specified Lux levels for the car park lighting solution,” explained Hill Cannon’s Peter Matthewman.

The scheme was part of a £40 million regeneration project for Bournemouth coastal resort, Bournemouth Development Company (50/50 partnership with main contractor, Morgan Sindall and the borough council) with Morgan Sindall in overall control of the design and build project and providing structural engineering input. BrightSpace was the lead architectural consultant, with Harrogate based Hill Cannon recruited as a specialist in multi-storey car parks.

To find out more about how Tata Steel products can help you maximise the structural performance as well as fire, acoustic and weather resistance of our projects, please contact: call 01244 892199.