Tata Steel’s Hartlepool plant in the UK has supplied almost 2,000 tonnes of premium steel to build the vast engineered roof suspended above the new Louvre gallery in Abu Dhabi, which was listed recently as one of BBC Culture’s best buildings of 2017.
The crucial contribution to the construction of one of the world’s most impressive new architectural endeavours required 1,900 tonnes of Celsius® square hollow sections being rolled and delivered for the project, working with Alukönigstahl in Austria.
In addition to housing hundreds of precious artworks, the newly-built £1 billion museum in Abu Dhabi is its own work of art. It features a latticed dome designed to protect visitors from the heat, while allowing the 55 rooms and galleries it covers to experience natural light. Sixty-three supersized elements, made from steel profiles, support the canopy – the size of five football pitches.
Andy Pottinger, Associate Director, Buro Happold, the Design Engineers who specified the premium Tata Steel product, said: “We’re really pleased that a top-quality product has enabled us to realise our vision of the Louvre dome.”
Roland Halbe
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Andrew Ward, Works Manager at Tata Steel said: “The team at Hartlepool is very proud to have produced steel that has helped to construct what is definitely one of the world’s standout new buildings.
“We worked very closely with Buro Happold to ensure the stringent technical requirements were understood. Our technical capability to manufacture steel hollow sections is well proven, and I am confident this was a key consideration in the tender evaluation. Tata Steel has a global track record of managing complex project packages.
“Tata Steel has executed projects of this nature in the past with extreme precision and accuracy, ensuring achievement of project objectives and client goals.”
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is the first universal museum in the Arab world, born out of an intergovernmental agreement signed between the United Arab Emirates and France. The museum presents both ancient and contemporary works of historic, cultural, and sociological interest from around the world.
Article Source: Tata Steel Europe Ltd