Member Article

Major Danish construction project for Macalloy

Rotherham construction materials manufacturer, Macalloy, has continued its strong export activity by supporting the transformation of a major business building in the heart of Copenhagen. The Dinnington-based company is a world leader in the design, manufacture and supply of threaded bar and cable systems to engineering and construction projects across the globe.

Now its architectural compression struts have been used to support the glass façade, which covers the exterior walls of the renovated building that has been the home of the Confederation of Danish Industry’s (DI’s) for over 30 years.

The large scale modernisation has seen the “Industriens Hus” (House of Industry), gain more space and become a contemporary building that can satisfy the needs of a modern and forward-looking organisation.

Designed by Transform architects, the three year project involved adding a new 9,000 sq m structural glazing façade, a 7,200 sq m “diagrid” façade, a 2,000 sq m atrium, and a 1,000 sq m street level façade.

The startling new exterior is a gigantic media façade, with more than 80,000 LEDs that can be programmed for different speeds, colours, and direction and producing thousands of different ‘expressions’, displayed at one of the most heavily trafficked intersections in Copenhagen.

Macalloy tension bars have also been used as bracing in the angled atrium roof that fans down towards the city’s famous Tivoli Gardens.

It was also the first major project to employ Macalloy’s breakthrough cross coupler system, which gave the architects an aesthetically pleasing, cost saving option.

Challenges were presented by the roof’s awkward slant, so Macalloy had to ensure that products supplied were compatible with the demands of the sloping surface, which demanded ‘mm precision’ to ensure the position of each cross coupler was correct to allow a secondary bar to pass through. Karsten Dybvad, CEO of the Confederation of Danish Industry, said: “The building’s unique shape with large glass façade has been the subject of considerable attention. I think it is a great building to look at and a great place to work.”

Other international projects that Macalloy is involved in currently include, Abu Dhabi International Airport, Jerusalem Bridge and Calgary Airport.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Gatehouse .