eckersley ocallaghan structural and facade engineers

Facade Engineering

About us

Services

Eckersley OCallaghan is an award winning international engineering design practice. We enjoy working with a range of materials, forms and building types across diverse sectors and project scales to deliver imaginative solutions. We have developed an international reputation for our structural glass designs as well as our work with steel, concrete and timber. Our services include Structural Engineering, Facade Engineering and Structural Glass design. Eckersley OCallaghan was formed in 2004 by Brian Eckersley and James OCallaghan after many years working separately as Chartered Engineers. Both founding Directors complement their structural engineering experience with a background in architecture. They have built a team of the highest calibre, now over 40 strong operating from ofces in London, New York, Paris and Shanghai. Our team collaborates closely with architects, designers and clients throughout the UK, North America and across the world. We foster relationships where our efforts to innovate are valued, resulting in benets to the projects on which we work and the people we work with. In 2010, our work in the eld of Stuctural Glazing was recognised with a Queens Award for Enterprise: Innovation by HM Queen Elizabeth II.

We provide engineering design consultancy in the UK and throughout the world in the following areas: Structural and Civil Engineering Facade Engineering Structural Glass design

Where other specialist engineering advice is required beyond our in-house capability, we can often engage one of many other specialist rms around the world with whom we collaborate. Our extensive experience of projects in many different parts of the world means that we are adept at dealing with International Codes and Building Regulations, and with diverse local and cultural requirements. Our services are engaged in a variety of ways. These may be by an end-user client, as a subconsultant to the architect or by the contractor responsible for constructing a project. Our involvement may be to provide creative conceptual design, more detailed work for bidding and tender, or for full input up to completion of a project.

eckersley ocallaghan

Facade Engineering

Our experience with structural glass led us to develop a group that can extend this area of expertise into more holistic facade design and engineering, working from the same rst principles approach. Facade engineers have assumed a central role in architectural and engineering design teams in recent years, as building envelope design becomes ever more complex due to increasingly stringent energy requirements and material and technological advances. Architectural trends towards more geometrically complex forms and tactile cladding materials require a greater understanding of materials of their structural characteristics, how they are made, and how they can be used in different applications. At the same time, building envelope physics are being more closely analysed to ensure that occupant behaviour is achieved and strict building energy performance standards are met. These challenges require specialist engineers as part of the design team from the early stages of design. We offer a full services approach to facades in all system and materials types. The systems proposed may be custom-built for a particular project, or an assembly of existing facade typologies and technology. Our service includes full design, analysis and associated specications whether they are performance or prescriptive-based. Our specic experience in closely working with industry partners to extend the possibilities of fabrication places us in a unique position to ensure that every facade is conceived with

fabrication technology and budget to the fore, and that these are fully integrated throughout the detailed design. The increasing need for more energy efcient envelopes is the cornerstone of many facade design goals. We have adopted the latest analysis software to enable us to design systems that achieve and exceed these goals. Key to this effort is the research and development we maintain to ensure we are abreast of the latest technology, coatings, and current thinking in energy efcient building skins. As a practice we take a very sustainable view on design and at the core of this is the reuse of existing buildings. We therefore offer a comprehensive service of existing facade condition survey and reporting, in which condition and remedial works required can be identied and specied. Beyond that, entirely new facades systems can be designed and specied that can be compatible with the existing building structure, giving the building a new sustainable lease of life. Our facade group is led by Damian Rogan who has established a facade design reputation through his previous work at Buro Happold. This is strengthened by an alliance with our sister company in New York, led by Phil Khalil, who also has a deserved reputation for his facade solutions on complex projects. Eckersley O Callaghan is a member of the Centre for Window and Cladding Technology

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Facades / Design Team support

By engaging with design teams at the earliest stages, we take leadership of all technical aspects of the facade design, helping to steer the scheme towards performance criteria, systems and materials that are technically robust, economical, and achieve the architectural intent. We can provide a fully engineered design or performance-specied design, as appropriate to the project and procurement route. Throughout the design stages, we assist the architect and engineering teams in the following areas: Material option appraisals System selection for different wall types Design for structural, thermal, solar, acoustic, re performance Geometrics and panelisation of cladding systems Determining appropriate standards for design and testing Detailing of principal systems and interfaces Illustrative guidance on facade system assembly Material and system specication (UK, US, international standards) Procurement assistance / tender review Prototyping / performance testing review Review of contractors proposals Factory and site installation review

The re-use and rejuvenation of existing buildings is increasingly under consideration for clients seeking to make best use of their assets. We offer a comprehensive service of: Condition surveys and reporting Specication of remedial works Over-cladding system design

Additionally, we can assist clients as a third party advisor for: peer reviews facade procurement assistance value engineering facade inspections

eckersley ocallaghan

Facades / Expertise

Comprehensive facade engineering involves a good working knowledge of a range of materials, knowledge of the industry, and the ability to produce structural and environmental designs of cladding systems. We have assembled a team of diverse talents, providing the full range of engineering services required to design, detail and document facades of various types. Facade engineering is inherently interdisciplinary, and we understand that a proactive, collaborative approach is required to produce the best designs and have condence that these designs are comprehensive and coordinated. We are experienced at working with engineers of other disciplines to ensure that other requirements including acoustics, re, security and lighting are considered and incorporated into the facade design.

Our structural design expertise encompasses: Structural glass assemblies Aluminium curtain wall systems Steel systems, including long-span structures Skylights and glazed roofs Cable walls, tension and membrane structures Bespoke moving structures Composite materials, including GRC and FRP Specialist engineering of blast- and seismicresistant structures Use of Strand 7, Robot, SJ Mepla, and bespoke in-house tools

Our environmental design expertise encompasses: Thermal analysis, U-value calculation, condensation risk assessment Solar analysis to maximise daylight and control/harness solar gain Detailing to eliminate cold-bridges Glazing selection Achieving performance criteria to meet building regulations Use of Therm, Window, WIS, Diva, and bespoke in-house tools

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Facades / Collaboration

We believe that clear communication of ideas is essential to successful collaboration, and we put a great emphasis on sketching, modelling and drawing documentation. We utilise industry standard CAD and modelling software to explore design options and visualise and document proposals. Working closely with our industry partners, we have produced fully documented drawing sets for contractors through fabrication and installation. Our engineers and technicians are skilled in the following tools: AutoCAD 2D and 3D Revit Rhino, Grasshopper Bespoke in-house panelisation tools

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Facades / Contractor support

EOC prides itself on having a close working relationship with some of the leading curtain wall and glazing manufactures in the industry. We believe that through understanding material production we are better able to innovate and provide robust, deliverable designs. We offer detailed design services to contractors in the following areas: Structural sizing of facade materials and support systems, movement accommodation Thermal analysis to EN and US standards Geometric optimisation and panelisation of complex surfaces Detailing of bespoke systems and components, including setting-out and assembly diagrams Calculation submittals for licensing in UK and numerous US states, including CA and NY Sequencing, method statements, rigging and staging

eckersley ocallaghan

Upper West Side, NYC

Apple

George Street, Sydney, Austria

Apple

Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Client: Apple Inc Completed: 2009

This is the rst store Apple has opened in this area of the city, uniquely characterised by its arts educational history and burgeoning young family population. We were responsible for the structural design of the whole building. Although mainly new-build, the project is considered a refurbishment because some structural elements of a previous building were protected and utilised in the structure of the new building. A consequence of this enabled us to design the structure using less new material and reduce its embedded energy footprint. Structurally the building is effectively two sections. The main retail oor is anked by two stone clad, steel framed walls which cantilever upwards and support the delicate hybrid steel and stainless steel trusses. The front wedge portion of the store is formed using structural glass, the vertical glass columns support the steel roof purlins and provide lateral restraint for the main facade glass, which in turn acts as a structural shear wall. The stiffness of the glass wedge portion is far greater than that of the cantilevering steel walls enclosing the main retail zone and hence there is a complexity in resolving the junction between the two which has been subtlety addressed as a concealed movement joint at the rst truss. The roof of the wedge is formed with laminated, cold bent, toughened glass panels which are stitched together with ttings in a manner that allows them to act as a horizontal diaphragm resisting the wind loads imposed on the front elevation. The project was very fast track in that it was designed and constructed within 20 months.

Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Client: Apple Inc Completed: 2008

The rst of the Apple high prole stores in the Southern Hemisphere, located in George Street Sydney, embraces glass fabrication technology at its foremost. The glass panels which form the storefront facade are the worlds largest laminated glass sheets. Each monolithic sheet is 14m tall and 3m wide held off the building on a glass supporting frame. The panels required the design and procurement of a specially designed autoclave in order to carry out the laminating process at this scale. A dramatic three storey linear void, lined with stainless steel, houses the staircase. This has two straight ights with glass treads spanning simply across the void between the walls.

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Glass Lens
Architect: Carpenter / Lowings Client: Land Securities Completed: 2012

Park House, Oxford Street, London W1

Gateway Station
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Architect: Pfaffmann + Associates Client: Port Authority of Allegheny County Completed: July 2012
The Gateway Station is the centrepiece of Pittsburghs 1.2mile light rail extension. The new enclosure in the centre of Philadelphias Gateway Plaza forms the entrance into the station below. Eckersley OCallaghan was brought on by the design team to develop a custom glass connection and mounting system to form the envelope station below. Flat glass panels stagger and overlap to follow the curved contours of the tube steel, supported by pivoting ttings which both clamps and bonds to the glass allowing for non-linear geometry to be developed with a single tting. Collaboration with the architect and installers allowed for a design which minimised glass thickness by removing the need for bolted connection creating a delicate glass surface uninterrupted by exterior surface connections.

Working with Carpenter / Lowings Architecture and Design, we engineered a simple and elegant entrance sculpture to mark the ofce entrance for this large new mixed-use building for Land Securities on Oxford Street. The sculpture is lens shape in plan and 8m x 8m in elevation. Reective interference patterns fritted onto the curved laminated glass panels, combined with Carpenter / Lowingss signature use of light, result in a remarkable dynamic visual effect whilst maintain transparency. The supporting cable net is enclosed within a harp-type structure which maintains high tension loads in the cables in order to resist wind loading on the glazing without transferring tensile forces into the main building structure.

eckersley ocallaghan

Apple

IFC, Hong Kong Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Client: Apple Inc Completed: 2011
The IFC HK store is located in the Central area of Hong Kong and is Apples rst entry into this market. The store is part of the IFC Mall and is suspended 11m above Man Cheung St, the building bridging the street with a 40m span. EOC were responsible for the 9m tall glass facade, glass spiral stair, glass balustrades and internal mall storefront. The principle challenges lay in the glass facade. It represented a departure from a bolted glass connection to a new type of encapsulated tting where the metalwork is bonded into the body of the glass. This led to no visible bolted connections between glass elements and enhanced the minimal appearance of the facade. The facade had to be engineered to resist the extremely high wind loads that Hong Kong sees during Typhoon season. Both the facade and the other glass elements also had to be capable of accommodating the signicant deections of the bridge structure. The proposals lay well outside the conventions of facade and glass engineering in Hong Kong and the strict local construction guidelines led to long negotiations with the building authorities during the permitting process. EOC provided extensive justication of the design, through analysis and through both large and small scale performance tests.

Westeld White City, London

The Village

Architect: Gabellini Sheppard Client: Westeld Completed: 2008

EOC were approached by Gabellini Sheppard of New York to assist them with a new concept storefront design for this landmark retail development in West London. The key parameters being its height at 8m tall, the desire to have a sawtooth prole while accommodating a sinuous plan geometry. The architect was very keen on creating a crystal jewel like effect with the storefronts in the Village to evoke the exclusivity of the merchandise being displayed. Drawing on the laminating technology we previously developed we conceived a simple connection detail that eliminated the need to drill holes in the glass ns. This enabled us to propose annealed glass ns which in turn had the signicant processing benet of being polished after lamination yielding a perfectly crisp and polished edge, thus enhancing the jewel like effect desired. The simplicity of the connection allows each n to be angled differently relative to the face glass panels without the need for custom machined parts. With over 6,000 sqm of structural glass in this scheme the ability to simplify the connecting parts enhancing the aesthetic led to a very successful outcome.

eckersley ocallaghan

FIR House
Fire Island, New York, USA Architect: PS Design Client: private Completion due: 2014
Located on oceanfront sand dunes within both a ood- and hurricane-prone region, this two storey steel-framed minimalist residential project requires breakaway construction as well as lightweight components that can be transported to site by sea. Contained within the heart of the steel framing are prefabricated pod structures housing all the mechanical equipment for the carbon-neutral house. EOC is providing facade design for the full-height external glazed walls facing the beach, louvered shading system, glazed roof and solid cedar-clad walls

Novartis Institute
Cambridge MA, USA Architect: Maya Lin Studio / Toshiko Mori Architects Client: Novartis Institute for Biomedical research Completion due: 2015
Novartis chose architects Maya Lin and Toshiko Mori to design two new buildings in its extension of its Cambridge MA campus the centrepiece of the innovative companys worldwide research operations. The Maya Lin design comprises a distinctive randomly perorated natural stone screen hung from a unitised aluminium curtain wall system, an unusual system that has been developed in detail by EOCs New York facades team. EOC has been instrumental in resolving the stone design and a supporting stainless steel structure that assembles the individual stone panels into mega-panels that are xed to the aluminium curtain wall behind, which is then xed to the primary structure using conventional brackets. This innovative approach has enabled the cladding contractor to save considerable assembly time on site.

eckersley ocallaghan

H&M

New York, USA

Apple

Ginza, Tokyo, Japan

Architect: Tek Architects Client: H&M Completion due: 2014

EOC is providing facade engineering to two new agship retail stores for H&M in New York City. The eye-catching design features a mixture of large clear-span glazing and back-lit panels. EOC is working closely with the lighting engineer to develop a light box system in a rain screen wall for the opaque cladding elements. Particular attention is paid to the glass specication and surface treatments to attain a unied appearance between the opaque and transparent glazed systems.

Architect: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Client: Apple Inc Completed: 2003

Apples agship retail store in Tokyos Ginza district is in the ground oor of an existing ofce building that needed refurbishment to improve its environmental standards. To achieve an improved solar and thermal performance, the existing facade was over-clad with a ventilated outer skin of body-tinted glass. The addition of the outer skin served to reduce solar gain and glare in the ofce space and also created a buffer zone of trapped warm air to improve thermal comfort in the winter months. Vents at the top and bottom of the facade cavity are operable to optimise ventilation between the two skins and control overheating in the summer. Careful attention was paid to detailing of the outer skin, which is xed to a stainless steel frame using patch plates. The inner facade has operable panels to allow user control over the natural ventilation systems.

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Structures

Our work covers all structural materials, traditional and non-conventional, and all building types. We have an extensive portfolio of projects encompassing: Commercial and retail Education Residential, both one-off and larger scale developments Museums and cultural Institutions Public Art installations and exhibitions Interior design Bridges

We might be engaged by an end-user Client, as a sub-consultant to the Architect or by the Contractor responsible for constructing a project in a design and build arrangement. The extent of our involvement may be to provide creative conceptual design, more detailed work for bidding and tender, or for full input up to completion of a project. We can provide or procure advice related to drainage, geotechnics, highways and all other aspects of building development in the structural and civil engineering elds.

Our approach with all structures is to fully interrogate the options available, with a view to identifying the most efcient, economic and elegant solutions. We aim to provide clear options which address the parameters dened by the project and its architecture. Our team enjoys this collaborative approach, both within a design team and beyond with the contractors. Our structures team is a blend of both analytical and creative engineers, who can make pragmatic decisions as well as design rened details. Our strong architecturally-inuenced background is a common thread amongst all our team, which we believe is critical to the solutions which we provide. Projects might be in the context of new-build, or refurbishment and restoration of traditional and historic buildings.

eckersley ocallaghan

Structural Glass Design

We are one of the worlds foremost engineers and innovators in the eld of glass structures. Our glass projects have ranged from ingenious display cabinets and spectacular staircases to some of the worlds largest and most iconic glass structures. Many of these projects have moved forward the boundaries of what is possible in structural glass, and some have radically transformed those possibilities. We work on all scales in structural glass, and in all locations globally. Our services range from conceptual design commissions, through assisting specialist fabricators and contractors to carry out detailed design, to full services for clients from concept design to completion. Design in structural glass requires a particularly rigorous approach to structural analysis, and we have many years experience of this, making use of the latest software developments. We are particularly adept at getting innovative glass structural designs through the varying, and often complex, building department requirements of different cities throughout the world. We have been invited to sit on many of the standards committees around the world formed to develop more universal codes of practice governing the design of structural glass. In 2010, our work in structural was recognised with a Queens Award for Enterprise: Innovation by HM Queen Elizabeth II.

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Staff Proles
Brian Eckersley Director London James OCallaghan Director London
B Eng (Hons), BA (Arch) CEng MIStructE B Eng (Hons) CEng MIStructE MHKIE

Brian is responsible for the majority of the practices UK projects. He has extensive experience of many types of buildings and scales from historic refurbishment and rehabilitation through to large new-build schemes on greeneld sites and has been on the project team for numerous award and competition-winning schemes. He has a keen interest in how pragmatic and economical use of engineering and construction methods can be used to make buildings. Brian graduated in Civil Engineering at the University of Bristol and subsequently in Architecture at the University of North London. He spent seven years working with structural engineers Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners on many innovative structures and collaborated with innovative architects and artists on their work. After spending time building a house suspended on steel trusses across a half constructed and derelict London building, he set up practice 1997 and continued his interest in unconventional structures and particularly the use of structural glass. In 2004 he founded Eckersley OCallaghan Structural Design with co-Director James OCallaghan. Brian has taught at many UK schools of architecture including the Architectural Association, the Bartlett School, The Royal College of Art and the University of Cambridge.

Acknowledged as an authority on the structural use of glass, James is perhaps best known for his contribution to the highly innovative glass stairs, bridges and other structural elements in a range of Apples agship retail stores including New York, London, Tokyo, Sidney and Beijing. As a key player in the establishment of Dewhurst Macfarlanes New York Ofce, he became Principal and worked on projects such as the School of Business at the University of Chicago, the Carl Icahn Laboratory at Princeton University and the David L Lawrence Convention Centre in Pittsburgh. Since forming Eckersley OCallaghan, James and Brian have worked together to realise their shared vision of a pioneering structural design practice that truly integrates architecture and engineering. James believes it is imperative that the industry keeps on communicating to progress as a whole. When we take on the challenges of developing complex glass structures, we need the industry to share the enthusiasm we have for developing new ideas. Which is why he continues to pass on Eckersley OCallaghans experience in this eld at events such as Glasstec and Glass Performance Days. Following his commitment to projects in Hong Kong and Asia, James became a Member of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers in 2011.

eckersley ocallaghan

Staff Proles
Philip Khalil PE Director USA Damian Rogan
BSc MSc CEng MIStructE

Facade Group Leader, London

BEng MSc CEng MIStructE PE CPEng MIEAust

Phil became a director of Eckersley OCallaghan LLC and principal of the New York ofce in 2011. His main areas of expertise include innovative structural systems such as tensile structures, membranes, inatable ETFE cushions and structural glass systems, as well as facade systems ranging from unitized curtain walls, rainscreen systems, long-span glass walls and stadia enclosures. Research work within the eld of nite element analysis has led to specialist experience in faade systems, 4- dimensional erection analysis and design, tensile structures, structural glass, blast engineering, concrete at slab design rationalisation, stadium and bridge design. Through his ongoing commitment to Architects such as Frank Gehry, Phil has gained experience of working within the digital environment using modeling / CAD software such as CATIA, SolidWorks, Rhino and AutoCAD. Finite element software such as Strand7, Larsa and Robot is further supplemented with thermal modeling tools such as THERM and WINDOW as well as design applications written in Excel and Visual Basic scripting. He previously worked as Engineering Director with Front Inc, a New York City based Architectural Facade Consultancy, involved in the analysis, design, construction and implementation of innovative facade structures.

Damian became leader of Eckersley OCallaghans facade engineering team based in London ofce in 2012. Upon graduating in 1999, Damian joined Dewhurst Macfarlane in New York and for the next three years worked with high prole architects on building projects and installations in glass, steel and concrete. Joining Buro Happold in 2003, he worked initially in the lightweight structures group on sports stadia in the UK, Italy and Dubai and developed expertise in longspan, dynamically sensitive structures. Having collaborated on facade projects over many years, Damians interest in building technology and energy performance led him to join the practices facade engineering group. Operating in a group of 20 engineers, he was a member of the core leadership team, overseeing all structural design work while also managing teams on projects in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Asia. Damian has experience of a broad range of facade systems and materials and how these can be applied creatively and effectively on new and refurbished buildings. With a degree in urbanism from the London School of Economics, Damian brings a broader understanding of urban and social issues to his work. He has a strong belief in the possibilities for improving the built environment through a considered, collaborative approach to design.

Phils recent continuing professional development has included undertaking the professional engineering licensing requirements and exams in the UK, USA and Australia, including seismic analysis and design exams in the State of California. He has supplemented his experience with numerous training courses in design and analysis, as well as authoring technical publications and articles.

Since 2009 he has worked as a technical consultant at the Architectural Association. He has been published in conference proceedings and lectured on facade engineering at the University of Cambridge and Glasstec. Bachelor of Science Washington University in St Louis, USA Master of Science London School of Economics UK Chartered Engineer since 2005 Member of UK Institution of Structural Engineers since 2005

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Contact us

London Eckersley OCallaghan Ltd Kingsgate 1 Bravingtons Walk London N1 9AE UK

New York Eckersley OCallaghan & Partners LLC 137 Varick Street, Suite 406 New York NY 10013 USA

phone: +44 20 7354 5402 email: london@eckersleyocallaghan.com

phone: +1 646 756 4731 / 4734 email: nyc@eckersleyocallaghan.com

Paris Eckersley OCallaghan SARL 6 Place de la Madeleine 75008 Paris FRANCE

Shanghai Shanghai Eckersley OCallaghan Structural Design Consulting Co Ltd Room 112 No. 1 Lane 180 South Shanxi Road Xuhui District Shanghai 200030 PRC

email: paris@eckersleyocallaghan.com

email: shanghai@eckersleyocallaghan.com

web: www.eckersleyocallaghan.com

eckersley ocallaghan