Montevideo - 07.003
Program
Complete structural design
Concept
The existing structure is an old warehouse located on the "Eilandje" built in 1897 using brick and natural stone masonry. The floor area is 125m long by 60m wide. The façade is based on an 11,3m grid and caracterised by big wooden doors in each span. The roof is supported by a regular steel structure, which consists of asymmetric frames.
Furthermore, the project includes the construction of a two-storey basement for car parking under the old warehouse, the construction of removable mezzanine levels built from timber and destined to accomodate office space - position to be determined by the occupants, as well as the construction of new built commercial and retail space which will be attached to the existing structure.
Specific features
The roof's steel structure will be removed to facilitate the excavation works and reassembled once the basement is built.
The structure has to be strengthened locally to be able to support the loads induced by the new roof, which complies with the current building insulation standards.
The façade is propped temporarily while the excavation works are underway. The existing foundations have also to be reinforced.
The peripheral retaining walls are built using the "soilmixwand" technique. The drawdown of the ground water level by 2m reduces the pressure on the retaining walls during the construction phase. The excavation will reach a depth of 6,5m, i.e. 4,5m below the current ground water level.
