Westport House, Edinburgh

ConForce provided valuable design input at the initial stage, giving detailed data for post tensioned slabs on all the upper floors, levels 1-6. This at first appeared to be a simple rectangular building using 250mm thick P.T. slabs on a 9.0 x 7.5m column grid. It soon developed however, into a very complex design requiring local thickenings for long spans, complex perimeter shapes, further complicated by a lack of stressing access. Finally a major co-ordination exercise with the stone cladding subcontractor was carried out to ensure that their fixings were clear of the post tensioning anchorages. The components and methods used were of bonded post tensioning with 4 and 5 strand 13mm tendons in 75 x 20mm ducts; 2 pours per floor with in infill strip in RC at mid – length of the floor. Shear rails were used for the first time on a ConForce project and this in addition to the post tensioning overall significantly reduced site fixing time on each pour.

We are very pleased to have been involved with this complex and interesting project that when completed will be a prominent commercial building in the city adding to our ever expanding portfolio of successfully completed projects in Edinburgh.