Above are my autocad drawings, for the design development of the warehouse and office complex. Also included is the 1m x 1m detail that i focused on for my assignment.
White sealant has been used to try give the desired weilding effect between steel members.
Each panel has its own individual shop drawing, showing all the dimensions, cast in elements and other details required. It also specifies the panel weight, strength and reinforcement requirements. These drawings are used for the precise construction of the panels in the factory.
The workers must viabrate the concrete as it is poured using a 'wand'.
A ready mix truck will pour into the panel bed, covering the formwork, reinforced mesh and any additional inserts the cement. (Above)
Once the panel have been poured they are left in their panel beds over night, the next day they are moved to the storage racks in the warehouse. (Below)
Lifting inserts are casted into the panel and can be tied to the reinforced mesh. They allow for easy access to lift the panel safely.
Panels are lifted from their casting beds the day after they are poured. By this time they have reached a lifting strength on 25mpa and are then left placed in the rack for a minimum of 7 days to allow them to cure enough to take transport and erection stresses
The dano panel on the lean over trailer is being connected via the lifting inserts using 5-6 tonne olivetti clutches. This 25 tonne Franna crane can only be used for these types of panels, as other panels need to be rotated.
The Franna crane slowly lowers the panel into position while the two ground workers guide it using a burke (large crowbar).
Prior to any panels being lifted on site all the panel locations are marked out on the strip footings, and location pins are drilled in.
Once the structural panels are inplace, they need to be braced and propped using cast-in inserts to the panel and a deadman cast in-ground concrete anchoring brace (nominated on shop drawings).
This is a compliance/delivery document that is unique to each panel, it must have the panel id no., the date poured, the weight and strength of the panel. The crane driver can not lift a panel without this 'birth certificate'.
The physical size of the factory allows for long spanning steel universal beams to be fabricated under controlled conditions, with the assistance of the yellow overhead crane. This extensive fabrication in the factory under controlled conditions, reduces the time and labour required on site.
These are the connection that are to be welded to the UB, also pictured is the engineers drawings which specify the location of the holes that need to be drilled.
Once completely assembled the beams are treated with Inorganic zinc silicate primer paint, to protect the steel from exposed environments.
This is a photo of the coloumn connecting into the pad footing, as you can see the bracing plates are relatively large with multiple bolts. This was the standard connection method for all the columns throughout the building.
Above is the stairwell, the actual stairs are hollow core cast on site, and inconjuntion with the pre-cast concrete panels makes it almost inpenatrable by fire.
Steel framework has been used for the university offices on the lower levels, it is a quick and effective way of errecting straight framework. Labour time is vastly reduced as a timber carpenter would have to deal with the natural inperfections of wood, therefore more labour intensive. The only downfall of steel framework is the difficulty of screwing/nailing into the studs.
This is the new top floor, even though it will not be used in the short term insulation and the fire services have been installed (red pipes). What appears to be different to the lower floors which were constructed in 1933 is the uninterupted floor space, there is not such a clutter of columns. Also the lower levels use a masonry for exterior walls while the newly constructed top level uses steel framework. (see photo below)
Above is a photo of the exterior annex, with a precast concrete panel ceiling. The major columns are being temporarily supported by props until completed.
Above is a photo of the central atrium, allowing more natural light into a area that would otherwise be rather dark. What caught my eye is that there is no haunching on the beams.
The steel columns have been painted with a special white paint, which is supposed to be fire resistance for 2 hours, preventing any structural failure. The entire Denny Lascelles building was assessed by a fire engineer, this was required to get building permission by the council, especially due to the possible remaining flamible wool lindt.
What i thought was the most interesting fact from the site tour, was that the original floor ceiling heights were not sufficient for that required by the university for services etc. To retify this problem the construction team completely removed the first level floor, and then lowered each of the above floors to the obtained the desired clearance (except level 5). This was done by chaining sections of the floor to the above ceiling beam and lowering slowly to the required height. The picture above shows the old holes where the floor beams where bolted with cleats into the column. As this process reduced the building to only five levels it was decided to build a completely new level as the top floor.
This is the new top floor level of the building, here you can see a suspended ceiling that is attached/hooked to the purlins above via metal rods.
Roof to wall connections, with fly bracing giving additional support between columns. 
Ridge connection with extensive haunching braced to 'c' purlins. There is safety mesh supporting the insulation, covered with Kliplok roofing, which you can see stack on the left ready to be fitted. Along with the red pipe, being the fire services.
The end wall panel shows the bracing from beams, which holds the individual smaller panels inplace. Along with the unfinished roof, hence the safety railing bolted to the 'c' purlins.
This is a warehouse under construction located in Corio Bay.
This uncompleted structure compromises many different materials and construction techniques. Including non-structural pre-cast concrete panels, steel columns and a central steel posi truss.
The posi truss supports the roof purlins that span the entire width of the warehouse. This truss is supported by steel beam columns, which are the only items obscuring an uninterupted floor space. The panels have been customed designed under factory conditions to allow for glass to be installed.
This is the column connecting into the pad footing, it is also braced onto the pre-cast concrete panels to unify the structure. As you can see this is a non-structural infil slab.
The finished height of the tower is predicted to be between 800-950 metres, it is been keep secret in attempts to beat other current skyscraper under construction.
The Burj Dubai Tower is due for completion by June 30th 2009.
The structural steel core of the building.
An Giorgio Armani Hotel will occupy the lower 37 fllors. Floors 45 through 108 will have 700 private apartments, while corporate offices and suites will fill most of the remaining fllors. Expected to be a total of 160-189 floors.
It appears that the panels for this building will be load bearing, whereby the rafter will be bolted into the actual panel spaning across to the grey composite columns.
These three panels are not yet tied into the main structure, it is at this stage where stability of the erected panels is critical and as such they must be temporailty braced often using ferrules. The main brace will be bolted into the panel and again into the concrete slab or pier at an acute angle on the ground.
The braces are evenly spaced to ensure uniformity in load bearing, they are usually only designed to take wind loads.
This is a commercial builing under construction using pre-cast concrete panels. It is located on Princess Highway (Dandenong Road) in Carnegie. Accoding to the real estate sign above it is going to be a retail showroom, spanning two levels.
As you can see there is very little space to cast the panels onsite, i would assume that they have been made in a specialised factory, delivered to site via truck and lifted into position by a crane.
There are multiple concrete panels inplace to form the back wall, as you can see they are braced together at the edges using plates to support the panels prior to their incorporation into the final structure.
