STEEL AND PLASTICS BATHROOM TOWER
two feet from the rear wall of the courtyard). Traditional loadbearing construction would have required ap- preciably more plan area, and a cir- cular building of helical form could not be economically built in brick or concrete. This was the reason why plastics and structural steelwork were adopted.
The geometry of the ramp, which was easily formed in steel, offers an even distribution of bathrooms in re- lation to the bridge access points at each floor level of the main hostel building, thus giving many more stu- dents access to the bathrooms at any one time than if the bathrooms had been grouped in corridors on separate floors as is the normal procedure.
Steelwork prefabrication
The 82 ft. high steel framework of the tower was prefabricated in 11 sections and assembled on site. All this work is of standard channel sec- tions, H-beams and columns, and steel angle, forming a lattice structure based on a hexagonal plan of 6 ft. diameter. All structural steelwork was shot blasted and zinc sprayed with a coating of .004 in. High-strength friction grip bolts were used through-
out.
The full diameter of the tower is
achieved by adding cantilever beams supporting intermediate pod-support- beams which describe a series of con- centric hexagons. Each segment of the hexagon is level, because the floor beams are sitting on top of the first cantilever beam but are bolted to the underside of the second cantilever beam. Each bathroom pod is sitting on a slightly higher platform than the preceding one, forming a staircase effect.
Completing the structural work is the spiral access ramp. This is simply a continuous steel tray, prefabricated in sections, the double curvature geometry requiring careful workman- ship from the fabricators. The whole tower is clad with Profilit wireline flanged strip glazing.
This project is believed to be the first large-scale application of glass re- inforced plastic for bathroom pods in the UK. It was proposed that light- weight bathrooms should be supplied in two halves easily installed in the tower and assembled like the two halves of a pea pod.
Bathroom pods
This solution was put to Integral Plastics Ltd. as structural glass rein- forced plastics and bathroom speci- alists and the detailed design was ham-
mered out to satisfy building authori- ties, the clients, the space available, and the design requirements. The total became 18 complete bathroom pods with bath, w.c. and wash basin. plus 12 double units consisting of one compartment with shower and wash basin and one compartment with w.c. and wash basin, i.e. 42 separate com- partments.
Each pod is made up from two shells which are flanged and bolted together the joint being "wiped- in" with gel-coat giving a permanent seal. The moulding forming the low- er half of each pod consists of the bath/shower tub and floor, the wash basin and cover plate underneath it
on" being "planted
as separate mouldings.
The below-waterline areas of the wash basin and bath incorporate a gel- coat of higher specification than the remainder of the pod. Both the floor of the pod and the floor of the bath are reinforced with chipboard as well as glass fibre.
The top moulding is of much light- er construction than the lower half as its function is no more than that of a waterproof shell. The roofs of the pods are reinforced with % in. ply as well as glass fibre.
Walls of the top section are stiffen- ed with half-round “Somic” reinforce- ment in the form of a cross. Each
complete pod weighs approximately 250 lb. and can be handled easily by three or four men.
Services core
Mechanical services are placed in the core of the tower. Warm-air heating is employed with fan-coil units sited at the connection with the main hostel building. Grilles in pod doors allow air into the bathrooms
TA
Unloading bathroom pods at site
Close view of plastic bathroom pods
Far East BUILDER, June 1968.
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