KEY PERSONNEL:
PROJECT CHALLENGES:
Ground condition of varying quality; meeting standards prescribed by regulatory bodies
Upgrade play park, portacabin and grass pitch to 2-storey sports hall, fitness suite/dance studio, office space, stores, staff kitchen, changing rooms, toilets, 3G-synthetic pitch
All buildings were constructed on traditional pad and strip foundations with trench fill to a suitable bearing stratum approximately 1.5m below the surface.
Structural slabs are at three levels to suit varying ground make-up. Each ground floor section is 200mm precast hollow core units supported on masonry tassel walls off reinforced concrete strip foundations on trench fill.
A flat-roofed sports hall, barrel-roofed fitness suite and changing area are linked with a lower flat-roofed foyer and corridor.
The superstructure is a braced-steel frame. The sports hall sway frame is stabilised with vertical diagonal plate bracing in the walls and the roof supported with curved cell beams and tubular bracing. The fitness and changing areas have an aluminium standing seam roof on metal deck. The flat roofs are supported by timber joists.
In preparation for the pitch, localised made ground was replaced with granular fill. A 450mm sub-base of Type 3 stone and geotextile layer were laid and left for two months to reveal any potential for settlement before the addition of Bitmac, shockpad and 3G surface. The pitch was designed to FIFA Quality Concept (FQC) Handbook of Requirements for Football Turf 2*, GAA Performance Standard for Laboratory & Field Testing, IRB Regulation 22 / IRB Artificial Rugby Turf Performance Specification, and BSEN 15330 Pt 1.
The design for roads and paths included car parking and alterations to the entrance from Curragh Road, a permit for road opening arranged through liaison with the Section Office of Transport NI.
No retaining structures were required on the site but a berm was created as defence against potential runoff into neighbouring properties at a lower level. It was fitted with petrol interceptors.
(Images from P&K McKaigue)
