Marina Bay Sands Singapore

Boasting the world’s longest public cantilever, the SkyPark® is an engineering marvel. The rooftop superstructure is sited 200m high straddling three 55-storey luxury hotel towers. The structure is 38m wide and 340m long – equivalent to four and a half A380 aircraft.

Arup is responsible for multidisciplinary engineering including advanced works, infrastructure, structural,civil, fire and geotechnical engineering, building physics,maritime engineering, traffic, lighting design, façadeand acoustic consulting and risk management.

"Every element of the project is technically challenging to design and build" explains Cheong Va-Chan, Arup’s Project Director.

The basements were constructed in deep marine clays, the SkyPark® features the world’s longest public cantilever and the lotus-inspired museum is a geometrically-challenging structure. Site works were densely packed, creating complex staging and interface issues.

Arup adopted innovative 3D modelling technologies, pushing the boundaries of current software and systems.

These modelling techniques provided a significant reduction in modelling time, better coordinated documents, rapid concept evaluation, optimised designs, visualisation of complex technical issues and improved communication with the client.

Finally some usefull facts about Marina Bay  :

Waterfront resort complex with hotels, shops, parks, theatres, convention centre, casino and museum.

Three cascading hotel towers topped with 1ha SkyPark®

World’s longest public cantilever.

World’s first ArtScience museum shaped like a lotus flower.

for more information:http://www.arup.com/Projects/Marina_Bay%20Sands_Integrated_Resort.aspx

Newport station redevelopment

As part of the regeneration of Newport, the station has undergone a £22m development funded by Network Rail and the Welsh Assembly Government with support from Arriva Trains Wales. 

The station is designed by Grimshaw, in association with Atkins and delivered by Galliford Try. Engineers worked around the clock to deliver this exciting, state of the art station. 

There are new benefits from the redevelopment in various sectors. Such as:

Access for passengers

The station now benefits from a footbridge linking all platforms, lifts, modernised customer information systems and new CCTV and waiting shelters.

Iconic design

The station has changed Newport’s skyline. Built with a material that is also used by the Eden Project, Newport station is the most eco-friendly in south Wales.

Car parking

Passengers now benefit from a new and bigger car park, with more than 250 spaces, and a longer Platform 4 to accommodate more people and longer trains in the future.

for more information:www.networkrail.co.uk/newport

London Gateway rail terminal

Balfour Beatty has won the contract to build a new rail terminal capable of handling the longest trains in the UK at DP World’s London Gateway.

Balfour will build the first of three rail terminals and double track the branch line to the new deep-sea container port being built on the north bank of the River Thames, situated east of central London.

The rail terminal will be able to accommodate trains up to 34 wagons long

Gina Acosta, London Gateway Port/Park Interface and Rail Terminal Manager said: “We recognise that customers are looking for a reliable service that will reduce transportation costs.

“With 33% of London Gateway port’s throughput expected to go by rail, we are committed to having the right infrastructure and operational processes in place from day one.  We are also future proofing rail capacity by double tracking the branch line.”

Marshall Scott, Managing Director at Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering said: “We are delighted to be working with London Gateway to build this important rail infrastructure which will help make the UK more competitive and create new options for distribution of freight.”

Andrew Bowen, London Gateway Engineering Director said: “I am pleased to have Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering working with us to develop London Gateway’s infrastructure in time for our opening next year.”

London Gateway will open in Q4 2013 and become the UK’s premier logistics centre.

for more information:http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2012/04/25/balfour-wins-london-gateway-rail-terminal/

Christchurch £2 Million Cardboard Cathedral

Christchurch, the earthquake-ravaged New Zealand city, will finally have its cathedral rebuilt. But it's no ordinary nave and steeple construction. Christchurch will instead receive a cardboard cathedral that will last 20 years .

The remarkable temporary structure made of cardboard will replace the once magnificent building. Cardboard tubes will be complemented by timber beams, concrete and steel and concrete, in a high tech structure that will give Christchurch residents a place to worship once more.

The church, vicarage and hall of St John's parish was demolished after the February 22 earthquake which claimed the lives of 185 people .

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban designed the holy space , and has been working on the building free of charge since May 2011 . He is famous for his sinous, latticed construction and emergency paper buildings.

Shigeru Ban also comment that at the ChristChurch Cathedral blog  "The strength of the building has nothing to do with the strength of the material," .

"Even concrete buildings can be destroyed by earthquakes very easily. But paper buildings cannot be destroyed by earthquakes. It's also consistently low-cost. Normally after disasters the price of building materials goes higher, but since this is not a traditional building material, it's very easy to get," he says.

The cathedral will seat 700 people  and will cost NZ$4 million. A completion date has not yet been announced.

for more information: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/04/17/christchruchs-cardboard-cathedral_n_1430610.html

Design Week, Milan, 17-04-2012

Next stop of Milan Design Week, Universita degli studi di Milano!! House of the Interni Legacy!  The University of Milan is a public teaching and research university, which - with 9 faculties and a teaching staff of 2,196 professors - is distinguished by its wide

 variety of disciplinary fields.

A leading institute in Italy and Europe for scientific productivity, the University of Milan is the largest university in the region, with approximately 65,000 students; it is also an important resource for the socio-economic context of which it is a part.

Milan is, in fact, the capital of Lombardy, one of the most dynamic and international regions in the European Union, a leader in the national economy that stands at the Italian forefront of research and development investments and commitment to technological innovation.

The University of Milan also possesses a remarkable artistic and cultural heritage that includes important historic buildings, inherited and acquired collections, archives, botanical gardens and the old Brera Observatory commissioned by Maria Teresa of Austria.

The University’s departments are housed in important historic edifices in the centre of Milan and in modern buildings in the area known as Città Studi (the City of Studies).

Among the palazzos that house the University’s facilities are the old “Ca’ Granda” ("the big house") – a monumental complex from the 15th-century in the heart of the historical city centre - the 18th-century Palazzo Greppi designed by Giuseppe Piermarini – who built the Scala Theatre in Milan – and the 17th-century Sant’Alessandro College commissioned by the Arcimboldi family.

 

 

Bloodbath photo wins Pulitzer Award!

The above photo is taken by Massoud Hossaini on the account of AFP global news agency. It was taken on the 6^th of December 2011 in Kabul, after a terrorist setting a bomb, killing himself and other 80 people and wounding another 150, women and kids amongst them. The photo shows a 12 year old girl, Tarana, that, as described by the photographer himself, “was covered in blood. She was dazed(…) and was crying a lot.”

It was described by the Pulitzer administrator Gissler as a single riveting image and a picture someone will long remember. Lets all hope that this picture will not only be remiscent to the great achievement of Massoud Hossaini but also a reminder of the hard timesand sufferings the afghan people are going through.   

Offices that aspire work

It is a well known fact that your office environment plays a major role on our working efficiency as well as the way we feel about our job. You can never value enough the moments when you wake up happy that you are going to work. The leading companies in every field have made throughout the years an outstanding leap away from the block type offices of the past to a more eye catching, exciting and personal working environment. It is considered a win-win situation for not only employees but also for their employers that can rest assure that both the morale and the efficiency of the employees is high and imaginative.

And last but not least the ever winning Google Company whose offices were voted as the best working environment throughout the world.