MSC Consulting undertook the engineering design for the Fitout of BP Offices that are located inside the Watercare Building in Newmarket.
MSC’s work on the Watercare building also encompasses fit-out design for major tenants in the eight-level reinforced concrete building. This included retrospective design of a 6m diameter spiral staircase cut into the floor plate to connect and open up the two levels to be occupied by BP. As this work was undertaken after the building was completed, MSC engineers had to recheck the seismic implications for the building as a whole and design structural steel members to support the floor around the hole.
With the staircase being retrofitted, these supporting beams had to be cut and re-welded inside the building, as access was limited. The staircase itself is structural steel and was designed to be hung from the new strengthened beams so the floor below was not taking all the additional weight. Industrial strength stainless steel rods act as both a structural and aesthetic element of the staircase.
