WME’s structural and MEP engineers are working on a pair of concrete frame buildings that share basement parking in Mekkah, Saudi Arabia (KSA).
The project is located on a plot previously unserviced, and the infrastructure is being implemented according to our specifications, so we are ensuring that the building services design is optimised.
The first building accommodates a hotel, with front-of-house on the ground floor and nine levels of rooms above. The operator will be Millennium Hotels. Serviced apartments, varying in size from studios to three-bed, occupy the five upper floors of the second building, with retail units at ground level. A concrete deck, steel frame link bridge is provided between the buildings at level two.
One challenging aspect of the hotel design is the co-ordination of the structural work, as floor plate areas increase in four steps as the building rises. Tapering concrete cantilevers of up to 6.5m are used at every fourth level, beginning with level five at 25m above the ground. These transfer structures are 3.5m deep, tapering to 1.8m deep at their furthest extension.
