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Hotel Images
reinforcing dowelled in afterwards to connect the
cantilevered slabs.
The 23m wide sensually curved porte-cochère
over the entrance vestibule is a marvel of structural
ingenuity, cantilevering 12m from the building from
cylindrical steel stays which seem impossibly flat
to hold up the combined weight of the 18mm thick
glazing and steel joists. Stepping the perimeter
joists and cantilevering the glass sheets has
created a visually very thin and ethereal feel to
the porte-cochère.
Engineering
The 12-storey One on Whiteley Structure at
Melrose Arch consists of eight suspended slabs
for residential and hotel use above a ground
floor retail level with four levels of basement
below that.
The basement parking structure was constructed
using thin post-tensioned slabs whereas
the residential slabs made use of bonded posttensioned
cables. The structure is split into two
portions separating the hotel and residential floor
plates running east to west.
Due to the varying depths of residual granite
rock, the foundation method chosen was a combination
of conventional pad footings and piles.
Single large diameter piles ranging from 600mm
to 1,800mm were chosen, firstly to reduce the
risk of localised variability but secondly, mainly
to achieve cost optimisation. Pile caps were also
eliminated and the columns sprung directly out of
the pile. Special column cages were dropped into
the pile to achieve the desired stress transition.
The installation of the larger diameter piles posed
quite a test for the piling contractor with ground
40 One on Whiteley