| A stainless reputation with designers |
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| Thursday, 08 May 2008 | |
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Stainless steel has gained a spotless reputation and has been featured prominently on many iconic buildings. B&E hears from British Stainless Steel association director Nigel Ward how designers are shaping their structures with steel. BUILDING AND construction is an important area of focus for the British Stainless Steel Association (BSSA). Whilst estimates vary, this sector accounts for about 16% of the UK market for stainless steel making it one of the most important end uses for the industry and still with growth potential. Stainless steel can trace its construction pedigree back to some familiar iconic examples. In 1926 stainless steel was used to clad the top 88m of the Chrysler Building in New York and a recent inspection found the material to be in excellent condition. At about the same time, a stainless steel reinforcing chain was fastened around the circumference of the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral as part of restoration work. Later examples include the Lloyds Building and One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London. The Thames Flood Barrier is also an excellent example of a project to use stainless steel in its construction and it has now become a world famous landmark. Stainless steel continues to be a regular choice for landmark buildings. The Lowry building in Salford uses a variety of different stainless steel finishes including patterned, polished, perforated and open mesh. Polished stainless steel has also been used for the construction of the 120m-high Dublin Spire, designed by architect Ian Ritchie Architects, and which was chosen to replace Nelson’s Pillar in O’Connell Street that was destroyed in 1966. Most recently, Foster and Partners’ iconic building, The Sage Gateshead, is clad with 3,000 stainless linen finish panels. Stainless steel was also chosen to clad the main roof of the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, designed by Capita Percy Thomas, which used a champagne coloured patterned finish provided by Rimex Metals (UK). Stainless steel is also widely used for more everyday applications. It has recently been used as an external cladding on the Frenchgate Interchange in Doncaster. In this case, a terne, or tin, coated finish was chosen because of its ability to develop a matt grey patina to blend in with the surroundings. Stainless steel is also used for street furniture, including lighting columns and was used as an integral material in the underground stations on the Jubilee line extension from Westminster to Stratford. Less obvious applications for the material include wall ties, where stainless has completely replaced galvanised steel, building fixings and brick supports. A growing application for stainless steel is as reinforcement for concrete structures. It is now recognised that under certain circumstances concrete may not be as durable as expected. This is particularly true in atmospheric exposure where contamination of the concrete with chlorides may occur such as in marine and coastal situations or for structures that can be contaminated with deicing slats. Under these circumstances, transport of the chloride through the cover zone of the concrete can lead to corrosion of the reinforcement well within the design life of the structure. There is renewed interest in the use of stainless steel reinforcement to minimise the risk of such corrosion. In fact there is a current project underway to rebuild the entire seafront at Blackpool on the north west coast of England and a considerable volume of stainless steel rebar to a grade of EN 1.4301 or 304 is being used. There are two reasons for the choice of stainless steel; the first is a minimum life requirement of 100 years and the second is that the concrete must retain a high aesthetic standard. DE HAVILAND AUDITORIUM, HATFIELD, HERTFORDSHIRE Architect: RMJM Cambridge RMJM’s stunning building has been an inspiration for many other designers. The building houses a 500-seat auditorium, which hosts music venues, seminars, conferences and other kinds of performance arts. RMJM said it chose Ugitop stainless steel because it is a material that suited the form of the building and provided a visually distinctive design, which will not radically change its appearance over time. The material suits the building’s curves, which freed RMJM up to create its distinctive design. The low reflective finish makes an ideal low maintenance cladding material. THE SPIRE, DUBLIN Material: 316L This impressive monument was erected in O’Connell Street in the heart of Dublin as a flagship project of a wider improvement to the city centre. The Spire stands 120m high and is 3m wide at its base. Its designers said they wanted to create as slender and elegant a monument as was technically possible. The Spire used stainless steel plate in thicknesses from 10mm to 35mm, which was produced and polished in France and rolled in Scotland. All the workshop fabrication of the Spire was carried out by Radley at its works in Dungarven, Co. Waterford. FRENCHGATE INTERCHANGE, DONCASTER Architect: Carey Jones The Frenchgate Interchange stands in the heart of Doncaster’s town centre regeneration scheme. The project contains more than 5,000m2 of Uginox Ame stainless steel, installed using the traditional standing seam technique. Although it is usually used for roofing applications, the standing seam technique can easily be applied to cladding. LOWRY CENTRE, SALFORD Architect: Michael Wilford This jewel in the crown of the redeveloped Salford Quays was originally conceived by architects Sir James Stirling and Michael Wilford. The project was finished off by Wilford following Stirling’s sudden and unexpected death in 1992. The building has a ship-like appearance when viewed from across the canal, while the stainless steel skin and glass façade around the front of the building reflect the sky and water. Its cladding uses a clip system and the main elements are in 0.5mm-thick 316 with a matt rolled finish. One of the building’s roofs is set off in 5mm Duplex 2205 with an acid pickled finish. The stainless steel exterior sets off the building as a beacon for the city’s cultural renaissance. THE SAGE GATESHEAD Architect: Foster and Partners The Sage Gateshead took 10 years of detailed planning and was designed after extensive consultation with musicians, audiences and music presenters and promoters. The building includes two auditoria with outstanding acoustics, a rehearsal space and a 25-room Music Education Centre, each conceived as a separate enclosure. The windswept nature of the site led architect Foster and Partners to create a welcoming covered concourse along the waterfront to link the various spaces. As a result the entire complex is sheltered beneath a broad, enveloping stainless steel roof that is “shrink-wrapped” around the buildings beneath. This extends over the Concourse, which acts as a foyer for the auditoria and hospitality areas for performers, audiences and students alike. WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE Architect: Capita Percy Thomas Wales Millennium Centre is one of the most vibrant arts centres in Europe. Its design incorporates locally sourced materials, which includes a stainless steel roof dome, which was sourced from nearby Pontypool. It featured an oxidised coating, to protect against Cardiff Bay’s maritime conditions.
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