Grand Canal Quay - Progress Update

To the north of the Grand Canal Square development in Dublin’s Docklands, one of Ireland’s most exciting and innovative steel structures is beginning to take shape. The complex steel superstructure of the luxurious Manuel Aires Mateus hotel, which the Sunday Times recently described as bringing “the champagne fizz back into architecture in Dublin" is currently being engineered and erected by AMSE.

The structure for the building, designed by ARUP Consulting, was originally tendered as a concrete frame, however due to the programme advantages afforded by steel, the decision was made to change to a steel frame solution. AMSE, in conjunction with ARUP, have undertaken to deliver the highly complex alternative, one of the most innovative steel designs ever produced in Ireland.

The hotel features a dramatic lobby designed “as though excavated from a seven storey rock”, and involving a storey deep transfer structure consisting of primary and secondary trusses, supporting a 6-storey beam and column frame.

The architectural elevation of a “chequerboard pattern” is actually part of the structure, rather than just a style gesture, and requires the steel columns to be offset relative to the floor below at each level to accommodate the position of the glazed panels and to achieve the thin continuous vertical joint required.

AMSE Engineering Director Denis McNelis explained how the project provides both a logistical and a creative challenge at each stage of the project,

“In terms of design this project is the most complex and challenging project we have ever undertaken” he explained.

“The primary transfer structure consists of four primary trusses or girders supported on concrete walls, which transfer all the loads from the seven storey building to those walls. The loads from the building are transferred to the primary girders through the secondary trusses that run along the length of the building, and the support for the façade of the structure is cantilevered an additional 4.5m out from the secondary trusses so as to achieve the thin edge required architecturally.”

“The project also presents significant fabrication and erection challenges. The 11m long x 3.5m high 40 tonne primary trusses required full penetration butt welds at every joint with 3.5m long bolted splices required to connect the secondary trusses to the primary trusses. In fact, the most heavily loaded connection between the 65m multi-span secondary truss to the primary truss is transferring nearly 3000 tonnes through a 110 bolt connection.”