Weaving Works (Armagh House), Belfast

This development of an existing concrete-framed building from 1906 required a preliminary condition survey, in-situ tests of the concrete structure, and the development of a full 4-storey repair strategy.

A new 5th-floor extension was designed in exposed, lightweight, moment-framed glulam sections. This was founded on steel grillage of beams and stub columns, carrying the loads back to the building’s existing structural load path.

Several structural floor sections and reinforced concrete columns were removed to create a more open-plan ground floor, with a new piled, steelwork picture-frame designed as an entrance feature.

The building stands clear on three sides, but in a busy area of the city, so scaffolding was streetscaped with timber tunnel and hoarding for public safety. Construction traffic was co-ordinated from Joy Street where it was more moderate; however, a remote-controlled crane was erected within a lightwell where the Environmental Health Agency agreed to proprietary propping off the building’s RC structural frame and T&B closely monitored the connections to ensure the integrity of the building as maintained.

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