Research Facility, Vietnam

This project, similar to our previous research facilities is located in a high seismic zone which required complex analysis and design solutions.

Unlike the previous project, the upper ground strata layers were too soft to propose a raft solution and the significant risk imposed due to liquefaction of the soils during an earthquake meant that we came up with a piled solution which was socketed into the firm rock strata located somewhat 35m BGL.

The risk imposed from a piled base was the impact it had on the isolation between the superstructure and substructure that was required by the client.

However, to overcome this we came up with a solution that catered for the structure to be anchored to the piles forming a trapezoidal concrete head on each pile whilst allowing a smooth interface for the isolation requirements.

This structure was also modelled in Revit and the applicable BIM integration meant that the reinforcement detailing was done in–house which proved to be effective when it came to additional detailing requirements due to the seismic design.