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The facts
Client: Jockey Club
Racecourses Ltd
Location: Epsom, Surrey
Services: Civil and Structural
Engineering
Sector: Sport and Leisure
Contract Type: Design and Build
Project Value: £38m
Start/Completion: July 2007 - June 2009
The project
When Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Cornwall,
officially opened the new Duchess’s Stand at Epsom Downs Racecourse
it marked the final part of a three year, £38 million redevelopment
project.
Capita Symonds provided civil and structural engineering
services on all aspects of the project, including the construction
of a new Entrance Pavilion and a 120 bedroom on-site hotel and the
centerpiece - the 11,000 capacity Duchess’s Stand. This impressive
building boasts the 1,123sqm Oaks Hall on the ground floor while
the second floor features 14 private boxes and the plush Downs View
suite – an exclusive room for around 100 people with spectacular
views of the course.
The racecourse’s redevelopment programme began in August 2006
with the demolition of the Rosebery Stand and the building of the
new Entrance Pavilion. The second phase involved the knocking down
of the original 1914 Building and Grandstand and the construction
of the new Grandstand. The project also involved the design and
construction of a new 120 room Holiday Inn Express adjacent to the
Racecourse.
The Duchess’s Stand is a steel-framed structure, incorporating a
reinforced concrete ground floor, precast hollow core first and
second floors and together with plant access floors at mezzanine
levels. A structural deck roof spans between the main, curved,
steel plate girders at approximately 8m centres, forming a 26m
cantilever canopy over the precast concrete stepping units track
side. The curve of the main roof and rafters together with the roof
cantilever provide one of the building’s main architectural
features.
Steel floor beams have been used but because of the significant
(up to 16.5m) spans and the need for a transfer structure at second
floor, a variety of steel trusses have been used in the first and
second floor construction with varying depths depending on
location. Hanging points have been provided to several first floor
trusses over the Betting Hall to provide flexibility in the use of
the space for conventions, exhibitions etc.
Awards
- Short-listed for Construction News Quality Awards