The new $16.3 million air traffic control tower at the Newcastle International Airport in Newcastle, England, was completed in September 2007. Designed by 3D Reid Architects, London, this distinctive 150-foot-
(46-m-) high vase-like structure boasts several cascading tiers of tapered panels by Kalzip Inc., Michigan City, Ind. The project utilized 9,750 square feet (906 m2) of 0.035-inch (0.9-mm) 65/400 aluminum standing-seam panels with widths varying between 12 and 18 inches (305 and 457 mm).
The Kalzip system provided a cost-effective, compact solution that served to complete the striking geometry of the futuristic building. While the three tiers of Kalzip panels at the bottom of the tower were comparatively easy to complete, the two-story, 50-ton (45-metric-ton) top module had to be preassembled on-site with the aid of a jig and then lifted into place by a 500-ton
(450-metric-ton) mobile crane.
The tower’s design incorporated extra bracing around the parapets to minimize movement on the preclad frame during the lifting process, which allowed the circular viewing tower to be lifted over and around the top of the main shaft to very fine tolerances and fixed into preformed pocket connections. Between the two levels of Kalzip panels, a galvanized tubular hollow steel framework in-filled with stainless-steel mesh forms the concave sides of the structure.
“The Kalzip forms a major part of the external envelope and interfaces smoothly between the other materials and elements,” said Carl de Witt, project architect. “We researched various wall cladding products, but the geometry of the building directed us to use the tapered aluminum standing seam as it suited the conical shape of the base building and external walls of the upper element. It ensured that the design concept of having a sculptural building could be realized.”
“It was a difficult and extremely challenging project. Not just because it was an exposed location on the edge of an active airfield, but because the upper levels had to be built on the ground and then hoisted into the air,” said Bryan Bauld, project surveyor for the roofing contractor, Lakesmere Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland.
A key benefit to the single sculptural design is that it contains all the associated components for the operation of the air traffic control tower, therefore reducing the building’s carbon footprint.
Sir Robert McAlpine, Newcastle, was the main contractor for the project.
Kalzip Inc.
