Member Article

Engineering Firm Pampered With Top Award For Spa Project

A Leeds based engineering firm has won a prestigious industry award at Yorkshire’s Structural Engineering Awards for its work on Rudding Park’s state of the art £9.5million spa.

Adept Consulting Engineers won the ‘medium sized structure for a medium sized firm’ award for its innovative engineering design on the spa, which opened in May 2017, at the luxurious Harrogate hotel.

The awards are hosted by The Institution of Structural Engineers and are specifically designed to recognise structural engineering achievements in Yorkshire. Projects are independently judged on engineering merit alone, and the awards were presented at a glittering ceremony at the Met Hotel in Leeds city centre.

Rudding Park’s three-storey spa incorporates subterranean treatment rooms, a 17-metre swimming pool on the ground floor, sauna and steam rooms located in a glass structure on the first floor, as well as a hydrotherapy suite, thermal rooms, treatment complex, restaurant and bar as well as a feature rooftop garden.

Adept was responsible for designing the reinforced concrete structures that are used in the main building and basement areas to support the weight of the swimming pool and the roof garden. The development was designed by architects Enjoy Design and Henry Boot, and Howard Civil Engineering were the project’s main contractors.

The judging panel said: “The designers are commended on their holistic approach to achieve innovative solutions to technical problems in an efficient and sustainable manner. The judges were particularly impressed by the way the new building blends into the existing adjacent historic Grade I structure whilst utilising modern materials and inspirational architectural design. By sinking the new structure into the ground, the input of the structural engineer has been instrumental in achieving these aims.”

Erol Erturan, managing director at Adept, said: “This was a complex project because of the vast weights involved - the landscaped roof garden alone has a loading requirement of two tonnes per square metre. It was also vital that the engineering solution met an exceptional design standard, in order to complement the rest of the building and its stunning surroundings.

“As a result, we designed a major reinforced concrete frame for the main building and basement, which gives a real sense of quality and is complemented by a steel frame on the top floor. The concrete has the added benefit of being extremely water tight and good acoustically, meaning parts of the building are very quiet to enhance its relaxed ambience. For the engineering solution to play such an integral part in the atmosphere of the overall building is a testament to how successful it has been, and we’re delighted to have our efforts recognised with this award.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Steven Wright .