leslie dan school of pharmacy, u of t
norman foster and partners, page 4


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Leslie Dan Pharmacy Building, University of Toronto

Norman Foster, Design Consultant

Moffat + Kinoshita Architects

Toronto, Ontario

 

Project Information:

The construction of this project requires the use of innovative and seldom tried techniques in steel construction. The "pods" are to be suspended from the sixth floor above. The smaller pod, pictured in this sequence, is suspended from 4 - 75mm diameter steel rods, with additional lateral bracing supplied by a steel bridge that connects the pod to the fifth floor.

The pod was assembled on the ground. Special chain falls were shipped up from Texas to carry out the lift. Four chains, hung from a trolley track above, would allow the pod to be first lifted, then trollied along to the proper horizontal position, then finally lifted to connect with the steel hangers. Each chain could be separately activated to achieve perfect alignment. The entire lift took under three hours on the morning of November 24, 2004.


Project Images:

A view down on the small pod, ready to be lifted. The temporary bracing that had been provided inside the pod to allow its erection is now removed.
The chain falls are attached to a temporary steel frame inside the pod. These provide 4 lifting points to allow the pod to be precisely levelled.

At last the pod is ready to go. Those yellow ropes control the chain falls above. The steel workers toggle the ropes to activate the lifting.
Lift-off!!
The pod sways gently in the space as it is lifted. Great care must be taken to limit its movement as the space is very tight. At times there is less than 6" clearance from the 19 metre tall concrete columns.
Halfway up the void.
Many eyes watch the lift as all aspects of alignment must be checked at each stage.
Prior to trolleying, the top elevation of the pod is verified as level to minimize adjustments in the last phase of connection with the rods.
View from below with the pod almost in final position.
 Here you can see that the rods and sockets are about 3 feet apart. It was bitter cold, windy and the heavy rain was coming into the enclosure by this time.
Closer....
 And closer still... Once in final position the pod will be left to hang for at least 24 hours to ensure that all is OK prior to welding the connections.


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The images on this site are copyrighted and as such may not be commercially reproduced without written consent of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction.

 
Updated May 29, 2006 x

©2006 Steel Structures Education Foundation