ST AWARDS 2018
WINNER Commercial Project of the Year COMPANY: Heyne Tillett Steel & Studio RHE Project: The Import Building
CATEGORY SPONSOR
The Import Building is a new destination workplace that has been created as part of the wider Republic masterplan in East India Dock, Tower Hamlets. It has been specifically designed to appeal to the world’s fastest growing and dynamic businesses and is an exceptional example of the use of cross laminated timber (CLT) and glulam. Developer Republic will create 650,000sq ft of high-quality, low-cost workspace with a wide range of amenities and extensive public space. The masterplan will be realised in two phases. Heyne Tillett Steel (HTS) completed phase one in early 2018 with the extensive refurbishment of Anchorage House, now known as The Import Building and has been created as part of the wider Republic masterplan in East India Dock, Tower Hamlets. HTS provided the structural design for the integration of an exposed timber structure into the atrium of the existing nine storey
RC framed building, sitting over a single basement. Phase 1A of the project included partially infilling the atrium with an exposed glulam frame with CLT slabs to soften the aesthetic of the 1990s frame and extend the lettable area. The new structure is connected to the existing RC frame at each level to take the additional loading back to the original load paths with a series of bespoke structural connections between timber and concrete. Phase 1B included infilling the existing external arcade around the perimeter at ground floor level and adding a two-storey pavilion into the south-east corner of the building.
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As onsite space was limited, timber members were pre-cut, drilled and machined in Wiehag’s factory in Austria. The metalwork was factory-fitted, enabling efficient, fast and safe installation. This also helped to minimise disruption to the buildings occupiers as well as lowering the amounts of waste and levels of noise produced. Architects, Studio RHE, envisioned turning the existing 1990s office building into a space that felt renewed and contemporary and timber was used throughout to achieve this. The spruce glulam and CLT