KEY PERSONNEL:
PROJECT CHALLENGES:
The difficult and complex fenestration of the building led to many difficulties in the positioning of the steelwork frames throughout the scheme, and as such numerous moment connections were used on the steelwork design to transfer vertical and lateral forces to ground level.
New-build special school
The project involved the design of new purpose-built special school buildings and facilities on a greenfield site on the outskirts of Enniskillen.
The site comprised a large ‘drumlin’ type hill and a low-lying portion of land that was the subject of an enabling works contract to culvert an existing stream crossing the site.
The school buildings and the car parking areas were constructed on the steeply sloping ‘drumlin’ type portion of the site with the playing pitches constructed on the lower lying lands adjacent to and over the culverted stream. The site of the main buildings was founded on good to reasonable ground conditions, the pitches are constructed on the poor ground (peat) and the access road has been founded on a transition area between these two areas.
The primary teaching blocks are a combination of single and double storey buildings which were designed as a mixture of braced and framed structures. Transfer structures were required within the main teaching blocks to compliment the Architectural requirements and the proposals for the main entrance canopy. The dining block and the assembly hall were designed as trussed clear span structures with adequate provision in the frames for services as required by the M&E consultants.
The C&S engineering aspects of the overall scheme have been designed to provide economical, durable, and environmentally friendly solutions.
