Gilbert-Ash Constructs Mayhew Theatre at the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office

作者：克里斯托弗·多拉德（Christopher Dollard）

Gilbert-Ashis an award-winning UK construction firm that’s completed high-profile and prestigious construction projects, ranging from hotels and offices to foreign embassies and consulates, in 40 countries over the course of 30 years. With offices in London and Belfast, they are often contracted by the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office due to their expertise and high-quality construction. They recently constructed the外交教学学院在伦敦的外国和联邦办公室officially opened by Prince William。

The Diplomatic Teaching Academy, formally named as the Mayhew Theatre after Cecily Mayhew, the first female diplomat from Britain, is a parabolic glass, steel, and wood structure that had to be built in the courtyard of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London - meaning that the steel superstructure needed to be lifted by crane into the courtyard located 90 meters away from road access and with only five metres of clearance on any side, which is quite a delicate operation.

对于这个项目，吉尔伯特·阿什（Gilbert-Ash）需要在紧密而敏感的空间内运行。他们还必须完成具有非常严格的几何设计规范的复杂且高度现代的建筑。幸运的是，他们投资了Leica BLK360成像激光扫描仪，这是一项重要的技术，可以帮助他们在Mayhew剧院取得成功，赢得了冠军2019年建筑卓越奖。

Advanced Technology Required for Complex, High-Profile Construction

吉尔伯特·阿什（Gilbert-Ash）的成功记录表明，吉尔伯特·阿什（Gilbert-Ash）一直在应对备​​受瞩目的建筑工作的挑战。但是，由于上述复杂的挑战，Mayhew剧院的设计和施工过程需要先进的技术。

“The superstructure of the building was acantilevered hyperbolic paraboloidtop ring beam with a zinc roof - which was referred to as the Pringle due to its shape - and within the building you had an elliptic paraboloid cedar slat ceiling,” said Paul McGeachy, Design Manager at Gilbert-Ash. For non-architects, that highly geometric language indicates that this is a complicated structure to build.

是的,双曲paraboloid-shaped品客薯片potato chips. To gain a sense for how complicated a “hyperbolic paraboloid” is, the New York Timespublished an articleabout supercomputers and mentioned Pringles, specifically how they are engineered: “Procter & Gamble even uses supercomputers to make sure that Pringles go into cans without breaking.”

Clearly, the Mayhew Theatre is a complex structure that required impeccable precision at every stage of design and construction, and the hyperbolic paraboloid zinc roof, not unlike a Pringle fitting into a can, needed to fit into the courtyard without damage to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, a Grade 1 Listed Heritage building. If Pringles require supercomputers to fit into cans, then Gilbert-Ash certainly required a BLK360 to build the Mayhew Theatre successfully.

You can even view a detailed description and diagram of how the theatre was constructed in Construction Manager Magazinehere。

Gilbert-Ash Invests in Leica BLK360 to Create 3D Models

在项目开始时，高级估算员McGeachy和Graeme Gourley意识到，他们需要对剧院的建筑计划进行非常精确的测量。他们已经在数字构建和现实捕获工具方面有一定的经验，但是McGeachy遇到了BLK360，并认为这可能是适合其技术组合的正确选择。bob综合app赌博

“我当时在一个数字建筑博览会上，检查了不同的摊位，然后遇到了Leica摊位。一位发言人通过它说服了我，并给了我一个示威活动。” McGeachy说。“到那时，很容易确定这将是我们数字施工工具的一个很好的补充。”

但是，由于工作现场的空间限制，复杂的设计以及与分包商的合作，因此不可能简单地在此处开始工作并随着工作的进行调整。取而代之的是，吉尔伯特·阿什（Gilbert-Ash）决定开始构建场外钢超结构，以确定现场尺寸。

“Everything had to be meticulously thought out off-site by using digital construction methods,”
古利说。“我们预先修饰剧院，以确定玻璃制造并发送到现场之前的玻璃大小。”

“For us to set-out dimensions on site, the only way we could see to do that was to capture it in 3D,” said McGeachy. They then 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 Gourley’s team to begin their entire design process with precision that helped ensure accuracy during every step of construction.

“我们是北爱尔兰最早投资莱卡BLK360的人之一。我们用它来捕获我们的3D点云数据。” McGeachy说。“借助我们开发的3D模型，我们可以轻松地确定所有三个学科之间的冲突，并与分包商举办研讨会，以开发更改设计的方法。”

Design and Construction Workflow for a Hyperbolic Paraboloid

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.

“You’ve got these very complex geometric shapes, and it makes it even more complicated when they’re relying on and interacting with each other in this design,” said McGeachy. Because of the variety of materials and shapes in the theatre’s design, Gilbert-Ash relied on essential data from the BLK360 to inform all 3D modelling needed to ensure successful completion of the Mayhew Theatre.

Gourley说：“ Leica BLK360基本上已经改变了我们完成项目的方式，这对我们产生了巨大的影响，尤其是在分包商的协调下。”“设计冲突可以早些时候确定，客户可以更好地了解他们在项目中的发展。”

With such a complicated structure being built for such a prominent location, purpose, and client, the BLK360 helped Gilbert-Ash to continue their successful relationship and award-winning work with the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office. We look forward to seeing how Gilbert-Ash incorporates 3D laser scanning into their future projects.