When Davey watched Beyonce in concert at Glasgow’s SEC Hydro it’s fair to say his attention rarely strayed from her bootylicious performance.
He certainly didn’t notice the building’s elaborate latticed steelwork nor the translucent ‘cushions’ on its façade.
If he had, he’d have seen why the Hydro has become a superstar in its own right. Not only has the spaceship-like building with its otherworldly glow become a city landmark, it is one of the world’s busiest venues.
And now the engineering team behind the Hydro has had its own round of applause – having just been honoured with the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Major Project Award.
The combined efforts of the Arup team recognised almost ten years of work in turning architects Foster + Partners’ ambitious vision into reality.
Let’s look at how each engineering discipline comes together to produce such a landmark building.
Civil
Any one of the world’s most jaw-dropping structures – Sydney Opera House, the Shard or China’s Jiaozhou Bay Bridge – has a crack civil engineering team behind it, one which has to overcome tricky technical and physical challenges.
The Hydro team was no exception. Building on the banks of the Clyde, in difficult ground conditions in the city’s old docks, engineers had to create a structure that could withstand a one in 200-year flood.
Structural
Strength and safety are the watchwords of structural engineers and in the Hydro’s case this was achieved through a complex combination of concrete and steel.
The most impressive bit (take note, Davey, for your next visit) is the domed roof with its diagonally latticed steelwork.
Mechanical
This is where the heavy lifting, maths and measurements come in. The mechanical engineers behind the Hydro were responsible for getting the concrete fins and steel pillars in place, not to mention fitting thousands upon thousands of precision-engineered nuts and bolts.
Electrical
Lighting is a massive part of the Hydro, from the exterior LED panels that give that eerie glow to the massive interior lighting rigs. And that’s before we get to the lights in the loos or the top-lit lobby.
Engineers design and implement light solutions for spaces like this with sustainability, energy rating and budgets in mind.
Fire
Fire crews may be the heroes of the hour when it comes to tackling blazes but fire protection engineers save lives before fires occur. When dealing with huge structures like the Hydro, engineers look at building design, materials, fire alarms, sprinkler systems, and evacuation measures to ensure they’re super-safe.
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