Forming part of Boeing’s strategic plans to expand its Global Fleet Care Service, the construction of a new Boeing Hangar at Gatwick was a significant project, with digital technology and BIM at the heart of its successful delivery.
Designed by D5 Architects and measuring 150 metres by 95 metres, approximately the same size as two football pitches, the construction of the new Boeing Hangar at Gatwick required around 3000 tonnes of structural steelwork. Designed to enable servicing of the 787 dreamliner and 737MAX, the hangar was also to provide future accommodation for the new 777-9X, set to be Boeing’s largest and most efficient twin-engine jet plane, larger than Boeing’s 747 jumbo jet.
Appointed as the lead design consultant on the project, Mott McDonald was contracted to deliver the structural, civil, infrastructure and MEP design. While JD Pierce, structural steelwork contractor, was tasked with detailing and fabricating the hangar’s steel frame. With both of them playing key roles in the delivery of the project, they each turned to Trimble’s suite of Tekla software for support.
Talking about the project, Pierre-Louis Morcos, who led the Mott MacDonald team, said: Unsurprisingly, this was a hugely exciting project from our perspective as structural engineers. Given the structure’s function as an aircraft hangar, providing a large and column-free space was imperative, ensuring there is sufficient room to safely manoeuvre aircrafts within the hangar to meet the functional requirements. For us, this obviously meant that we were limited in terms of available space to position our supporting structure and had to carefully consider load paths and the overall stability of the structure in both the temporary and permanent case.
