Project overview
The open market building is part of the Qaryat Al Hidd development in Abu Dhabi. Wrenze Steel carried out the structural design and detailing for the project, for Qaryat Al Hidd Development as client and with Khatib & Alami as consultant.
The analysis model on this page shows a long, narrow steel structure. A row of columns carries a framed floor or platform level, and above it a curved lattice roof runs the full length of the building, wrapping down at one end.
Our scope
Our scope was structural design and detailing.
Structural design came first. We set up the analysis model, applied the loads and designed the columns, beams, roof members and connections. The support symbols at the base of each column in the model mark where the structure meets the foundations, and the reactions at those points feed the foundation design.
Detailing followed, turning the design into drawings for fabrication and erection. On a long structure with a repeating roof pattern, careful detailing makes the most of repetition: many members and connections share the same geometry, which saves time in the workshop and on site.
Our steel shop drawings and detailing service covers this stage.
The structure
A long, curved lattice roof is efficient when built in steel. Curved members carry load partly through their arch shape, and a grid of ribs and longitudinal members spreads the load across the roof surface. The pattern also gives the roof its visual character, so the steel is part of the architecture.
Curved steel roofs need care in three areas.
Thrust. A curved roof pushes outward at its supports. That thrust has to be resisted, either by ties, by the supporting frame or by the foundations.
Stability. Long, slender curved members can buckle sideways, so the ribs are braced by the longitudinal members and, where needed, by diagonal bracing.
Length. A long building expands and contracts with temperature. In the UAE climate that movement is significant, so long steel structures need a plan for movement joints or for the forces that restraint creates.
See more retail and market projects and our work in Abu Dhabi, or request a quote.
