Mayhew Theater in London, England by Gilbert-Ash

Article source: Gilbert-Ash

In March 2019, Prince William’s presence at The Mayhew Theater in London was captured by media outlets throughout the world. He was speaking to an audience celebrating the opening of the visually stunning Mayhew Theater in London, a new teaching and presentation space built in the courtyard of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. While many eyes and ears were listening to the Prince’s keynote, keen AEC observers were taking note of the visually stunning theater.

Built by contractor Gilbert-Ash, the glass, steel and wood building has a complex design. Along with an impressive custom glazed oval walling system, one of the most notable design elements in the superstructure is its cantilevered hyperbolic paraboloid top ring beam with a zinc roof. It’s often referred to as “The Pringle” (potato chip) due to its shape. To put that highly geometric language in context, it essentially means that the Mayhew Theater was a complicated structure to build.

Image Courtesy © Gilbert-Ash

• Contractor: Gilbert-Ash
• Project: Mayhew Theater
• Location: London, England

Image Courtesy © Gilbert-Ash

Adding to the complexities of design and construction was another challenge – extreme space constraints. The theater had just 5 meters of clearance on either side and was only 90 meters from the main road.

Due to the space constraints of the job site, the complicated design, and work with subcontractors, it wasn’t possible to start work onsite and adapt the design as work progresses. Instead, the team built the steel superstructure off-site in order to determine on-site dimensions. Once complete, the structure was lifted by crane into its courtyard space.

Due to the variety of materials and shapes in the theater’s design, Gilbert-Ash relied on essential data from a reality capture scanner to inform all 3D modeling needed to ensure successful completion of the project.

Image Courtesy © Gilbert-Ash

To design and build the theater, the team used a Leica BLK360 imaging laser scanner to create a virtual representation of the structure in BIM. This enabled them to accurately validate the terrace dimensions and constraints, as well as determine the post-tensioned slab thickness and location of reinforcement. It also afforded an opportunity to spot potential issues before construction began. With the 3D models, the team could easily identify clashes between all three disciplines and address potential issues before the design and construction began.

“The only way for the team to set out dimensions on site was to capture it in 3D,” said Paul McGeachy, design director at Gilbert-Ash. “Then the team used the BLK360 to scan the superstructure and determine precise dimensions, which they could then use to order other materials, like glass and wood components. The accurate point cloud data captured by the BLK360 enabled us to begin their entire design process with precision that helped ensure accuracy during every step of construction.”

After capturing the superstructure, McGeachy used several workflows to process the data and create 3D models with Autodesk Revit, ReCap Pro & Mobile, and Navisworks. He was then able to develop the existing Revit model and dimensioned Autocad drawings, and the steel subcontractor was able to successfully design the steel structure, framing, and connections using Tekla Structures software.

As the Mayhew Theater celebrates one year since its opening, the structure is a reminder of the ways that new technology impacts and informs existing structures while enabling AEC teams to accomplish what was once impossible.

Image Courtesy © Gilbert-Ash

Tags: England, London

Category: Theater

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