The structural engineers were introduced to Severfield by established partners Lindner Prater Limited. Perega will provide design services, while Severfield is handling the steelwork modelling.
The scope of the secondary steelwork includes purlins, roof and soffit support elements, edge details, roof walkways and brackets for guttering and rainwater chutes. It will face additional constraints as no penetrations are permitted in the primary steel, so every fixing must work off welded tabs and connections from primary members rather than through the structure itself. That constraint demands a different approach to detailing.
Blast loading requirements add further complexity: connections must be designed to fail only after the structural member itself, demanding robust detailing throughout. And geometry compounds the challenge. The building is T-shaped and sections that look similar on plan often require entirely separate design treatment.
To manage that complexity, Perega has used 3D modelling and IDEA StatiCa for connection design more extensively than on any previous project.
Material minimisation was a key driver of the design approach throughout the project. Brackets were redesigned to remove enclosed box sections, resulting in less steel, cleaner detailing and simpler long-term maintenance.
Adam Holliday, senior structural engineer at the employee-owned engineers, said: “This is a much bigger project than anything we’d typically take on in secondary steelwork. The end bays have their own unique details; you can’t simply repeat what you’ve already designed in the central section, so we’re looking much further ahead in the programme than we usually would. For Perega to be part of the infrastructure being built for the country means a lot to us. It’s good to be part of history.”
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