1. Richard Rose Central Academy, Cumbria
2 CROWN WOODS SCHOOL, were 1.8 kN/m2 with a live load of
GREENWICH 4.0 kN/m2, except for the roof which had a
The new Crown Woods Secondary School dead load of 1.0 kN/m2 and a live load of
in Greenwich, London is a nine form entry 0.6 kN/m2. The column layout was typically
school which will be a ‘collegiate’ with three 7.65 m x 7.80 m.
mini-colleges offering education to pupils
2 aged 11-16 and a sixth form college for 3 SUSTAINABLE CHOICE, CUMBRIA
16-19 year olds – each college will have The scheme design for the new Richard
450 pupils. Rose Central Academy, in Cumbria, England,
Nicholas Hare Architects provided the initial specifically looked to use post-tensioning, so
concept and Structural Systems worked that the benefits of thinner slabs and
closely with BDP to fine tune the initial reduced material content could be fully
design to produce a flat slab post-tensioned exploited.
scheme. Balfour Beatty appointed Structural The three storey building to the east of
Systems so that the initial design could Carlisle city centre consists of a main three
3 commence with the rest of the design team storey atrium space, bounded on both sides
and then novated them to Balfour Beatty’s by teaching accommodation. Two
chosen frame contractor, A J Morrisroe to multifunctional halls sit within the atrium and
carry out the full design and installation of offer a range of interfaces with the teaching
the post-tensioning. accommodation. The main learning
The design has nine pavilion buildings linked accommodation is located on either side of
by external covered walkways. In addition to the atrium and is traversed by wide feature
the colleges, other buildings house the staircases and steel bridge links.
specialist teaching areas, such as The exposed slab soffit has a high quality
4 design/technology, music and sport. The finish and is complimented by the reduction
checkerboard arrangement of the buildings of down-stand beams that a post-tensioned
creates strongly defined courtyards and slab typically offers. Down-stand PT beams
maximizes use of natural light. 600 mm deep were required under transfer
Post-tensioning was used for some 8,000 m2 columns at level 1 and for atypical spans,
of 250 mm thick slabs. Imposed dead loads where a 450 mm deep PT beam was
44 CONNÆCT

2. Local insight: The Greenwich Meridian
THE MERIDIAN LINE is an
imaginary line which
runs from the North Pole to the South
BUILDINGS
utilized. The slab depth varied, but was Pole. By international convention,
typically 250 mm deep to cater for the agreed in 1884, it runs through ‘the
9.75 m end span carrying 4 kPa of live load. primary transit’ instrument – the main
In addition, a 3.45 m cantilever required a telescope – at the Royal Observatory
450 mm deep PT beam in order to control in Greenwich.
deflection at the cantilevered end. It is known at Zero Longitude and it is
The area of just over 10,000 m2 was the line from which all other lines of
completed in 15 pours, within a tight longitude are measured. This
program, through the winter months with includes the line that runs 180
subzero temperatures commonplace. Careful degrees away from Greenwich, also
measurement of the in-situ concrete cube known as the International Date Line.
strengths allowed early release of the slab There have been many meridian lines
formwork providing huge time savings in the during the course of history including
frame program. Typically the formwork was nine lines at Greenwich alone!
released after five days during the colder For listeners of the BBC’s World zones are measured from the
spells – a feat not easily achieved using Service, Greenwich Mean Time Greenwich Meridian and although it
traditional RC construction. (GMT) will be a familiar expression. was replaced in 1972 by atomic time
GMT represents the mean – or (UTC), it is still widely regarded as
4 HIGH QUALITY FINISH, average – time that the earth takes to the correct time for every
GREENWICH rotate from noon-to-noon. All time international time zone.
From a very early stage, it was known that a
reinforced concrete frame with post
tensioned slabs was the best solution for 5.0 kN/m2, except for the roof which had a
TEAMS & TECHNOLOGIES
London’s new Thomas Tallis School in dead load of 2.3 kN/m2 and a live load of
Greenwich. 1.5 and 7.5 kN/m2. 1 2 3 4
The school comprises six blocks over three A high quality finish was necessary to the TECHNOLOGY BBR CONA flat
levels – joined by various walkways – soffit of the slabs, as in many areas, an
1 ITE COLLEGE WEST
providing 14,500 m2 of post-tensioned exposed soffit was required. The 1,950 pupil
OWNER Institute of Technical Education /
suspended slab. secondary school will be equipped with a Gammon Capital Consortium
Most levels are 225 mm thick except for the gymnasium to meet the British Gymnastic MAIN CONTRACTOR
roof which was 240 mm. Column layout was and British Judo Association’s requirements Gammon Construction Singapore
typically 7.40 m x 7.40 m. Imposed dead and has already qualified as a 2012 Olympic ARCHITECT DP Architects
loads were 2.2 kN/m2 with a live load of training base camp. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT
Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner
BBR NETWORK MEMBER
BBR Construction Systems Pte Ltd (Singapore)
2 CROWN WOODS SECONDARY
SCHOOL
OWNER Greenwich Council
MAIN CONTRACTOR Balfour Beatty
Consultant Building Design Partnership (BDP)
BBR NETWORK MEMBER
Structural Systems (UK) Ltd
3 RICHARD ROSE CENTRAL ACADEMY
OWNER Cumbria County Council
MAIN CONTRACTOR Kier Construction
Consultant Building Design Partnership (BDP)
BBR NETWORK MEMBER
Structural Systems (UK) Ltd
4 THOMAS TALLIS SCHOOL
OWNER Greenwich Council
MAIN CONTRACTOR Balfour Beatty
Consultant Building Design Partnership (BDP)
BBR NETWORK MEMBER
4 Structural Systems (UK) Ltd
CONNÆCT 45