Not every steel job is a warehouse or a tower. Much of our work is steel inside and around everyday buildings: a hotel’s pergolas, a hospital’s new roof, an office’s modification, a villa’s extension, a school’s auditorium roof. These jobs are smaller in tonnage but often harder in design, because the steel has to fit an existing building, a tight site or an architect’s exact shape.
Building types we design steel for
- Hotels and resorts: pergolas, canopies, shade structures, feature roofs and openable roofs, such as the InterContinental in Ras Al Khaimah and the H-Hotel social club in Abu Dhabi.
- Hospitals and clinics: roofs and steel works on buildings that stay in use, such as the SKMC hospital renovation and the Elemental day surgical center.
- Offices and public buildings: feature frames, modifications and full engineering, such as the Esaad building for Dubai Police, the MBF HQ office in Sharjah and the SLB office in JAFZA.
- Schools and sports buildings: long-span roofs over pools, halls and courts, such as the Emirati school in Ajman and the Mushrif gym and paddle tennis courts.
- Villas and private homes: extensions, roof pergolas, home gyms, suspended pools and strengthening, such as the Palm Jumeirah villa extensions and the steel suspended swimming pool in Dubai Hills.
- Feature elements: stairs, lift frames and advertising structures, such as the 30 m helical staircase and the 12 steel lift frames in Nad Al Sheba.
Design points for steel in buildings
Working with an existing structure
Extensions, new roofs and added floors load a building that was designed for something else. Before the new steel is designed, we check whether the existing columns, beams, slabs and foundations can carry the extra load, and design the strengthening where they cannot. Our structural assessment and strengthening service covers this work.
Fitting the architecture
In a hotel lobby, a villa or a feature stair, the steel is often on show. Member sizes, connection details and finishes have to suit the architect’s design as well as the loads, so we agree the visible details early and design the connections to look as intended.
Comfort as well as strength
Floors, stairs and suspended structures in buildings that people use every day have to feel solid. Besides strength, we check deflection and vibration, so a slim stair or a long-span roof does not bounce or sag.
Steel with concrete
Most buildings in the UAE have a concrete frame, so new steel usually connects to it: base plates and anchors into slabs, beams fixed to concrete walls, and steel roofs on concrete columns. We design both sides of that connection, and our RCC structural design service covers the concrete parts.
Our work in buildings
We have designed steel for about 20 commercial, public and residential buildings across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah. The projects below show the range, from a hotel resort to a home gym.
Related services
Most building projects use our structural steel design service, with shop drawings and detailing where we prepare the fabrication drawings too. For a price on your building, request a quote.
