Trussed rafter specialist Pasquill, part of the Saint-Gobain group, was tasked with the challenge of supplying the new Heritage Skills Centre building site without affecting the castle’s existing structure.
Glulam columns and roof beams had to be offloaded from a large delivery wagon onto tractors and trailers before being guided through the site’s narrow entrance, passing the castle’s historic prison on the way. Delivery noise levels had to be minimised to accommodate the requirements of the nearby Law Courts.
The rectangular stepped frame of the centre is former by curved glulam beams with inserted steel flitch plates.
The PEFC-certified whitewood glulam was supplied with one coat of timber preservative, with the wood exposed internally.
"The use of glulam beams and columns, rather than steel, is highly sustainable and the structure internally creates a pleasing visual effect," said Dirk van Rensburg, of project architect Arrol and Snell.
