Office building in Rovereto

Area 22, Rovereto, 11 Marzo 2008; Photo: Andrea Raffin / Promozione Acciaio

Premetal – Italy

Building use

Office building

Country/Region

Italy

Overview

The building stems from the site of a pre-existing industrial facility in a very central area of the valley where Rovereto is set. The building is next to the highway and very close to the rail tracks and creates a focal point of many viewers. The building is composed by two different volumes: a 3-story commercial and shopping portion and a 9 story-tall hotel. The hotel is built in concrete while the commercial and shopping section is built with a steel frame and composite pre-fabricated floors.

Basic information (construction date, number of stories, gross floor area, adopted design code, engineer(s), Contractor(s), etc.)

Construction date: 2009
Number of stories: 4 in the office portion, relevant here. 9 in the hotel tower
Gross floor area: –
Adopted design code: –
Engineer(s): Studio Ing. Detassis
Contractor(s): Premetal SPA

Issue and/or innovation

The building adopts an innovative design of the beam, called IFB, integrated Floor Beams that allow a very stiff floor that reduces deflection and vibrations thanks to the high rigidity of its assembly.

Specific solution/technical details

The structure of the building is built with S460 steel (460MPa), allowing the creation of slenderer columns and a less impacting vertical structure. On these, steel beams are laid to create the main span of the building the beams have non-uniform flanges, with the lower one . Pre-fabricated post-tensioned hollow-core concrete slabs are laid directly on the lower steel flange. Composite action is obtained thanks to the steel studs welded on the top flange of the beam that are then integrated in the concrete cast that completes the floor assembly.