Unique steel framing solution for National Gallery

The £21 million project to create a new East Wing entrance at the National Gallery, London, hinged on a unique structural solution from Kingspan Metl-con.

For the first time since the 1830s, people can enter the popular museum at ground level from Trafalgar Square using the new Sir Paul Getty Entrance.

The project linked an existing door dating from the original gallery building with a new atrium created out of an old service courtyard.

The 15 metre high courtyard - open to the elements - had to be covered, sealed and integrated with the various levels of the gallery.

Initial site inspections indicated that the ground of the courtyard - and hence the basis for the new structure - was unstable.

It was forecasted that the new construction and the existing building could move in an opposite direction to each other up to +-5mm in a vertical direction.

Therefore a construction solution had to be developed which allowed this vertical movement to be accommodated.

Using the company's Multichannel galvanised pre-engineered structural channel sections, Kingspan consultant engineers created a 'box within a box' system in which the entire new atrium is restrained back to the existing building with sliding joints.

The floor of the box sits directly on the ground floor of the old courtyard, and the steel framework or shell of the box is fastened at regular intervals vertically and horizontally to the existing walls by the flexible joints.

On to the steel framework craftsmen working for the project architects Dixon Jones then hung Noir St Laurent marble and plaster, and glazed over the atrium space to create the new internal space.

"This project tested both the creative capabilities of Kingspan's engineers and the products we deliver," said Marketing Manager John Williams.

"The architects and main contractors were struggling to cope with the vertical movement problem, and a lack of a solution serious hampered the overall project.

Kingspan is extremely proud to have developed the flexible framework structure.

"The result is a suitably impressive addition to one of the world's finest buildings.

Our solution has helped to make the project a reality.".

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