Another success story – Tesco Superstore, Woolwich, UK

July 26, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Another success story in constructions - Tesco Superstore, Woolwich, UK

-> Architecture office: Sheppard Robson Architects

-> Structural Engineer: Walsh Associates

-> Master builder: Willmott Dixon

-> Steelwork Design: TSI Structures Ltd

-> Location: London, Woolwich

-> Dimensions: 180m x 85m x 52m

-> Specification: 80,000 sq ft Tesco superstore, various other retail units and 259 homes over 17 stories.

-> Total Build Cost: Woolwich Central – Phase 1 & 2 £400m

TSI Structures undertook the challenge of modelling a 17 story, post tensioned concrete structure for connecting secondary steel to a major new supermarket complex in Woolwich, UK.
The 80,000 sq ft Tesco superstore, various other retail units and 259 homes over 17 stories was a total build cost of £400m. The store opening date was set before construction started, so they were under pressure to complete the project to a tight deadline.

Advance Steel allowed TSI Structures to model concrete slabs, walls and beams. They were able to model the cast in channels, and using Advance Steel meant these elements came across onto the drawings. The DWG file format aided in the approval process.

Adrian Betts, from the TSI Structures LTD design office, explains why Advance Steel was the best solution for the completion of this project: “We would not have been able to produce this building in 3D without Advance Steel’s ability to model external elements such as concrete. We were the only member of the construction team with the ability, software resources and technical knowhow, to fully model the enormous concrete structure in three dimensions. Our model and the 3D drawings were used by the Architect for client presentations. With the AutoCAD base this enabled us to add different material renders to the concrete surfaces creating a more realistic and aesthetically pleasing model”.

Click here to see more images

Watch this video to see the story behind the project:

Architectural/Miscellaneous Steelwork Webinar

July 25, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Are you a Steel Fabricator or Steel Detailer?
Do you detail steelwork such as stairs and railings?

In our next free webinar, discover how to gain productivity and reduce errors with Advance Steel for Architectural Metalwork, from the comfort of your own desk!

Friday, July 27, 2012 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM BST

During this webinar, we will create:

– Platforms
– Stairs, railings joints etc
– 26+ drawings with 73 parts
– 20 Assy drawings 1x Ga
– Full material lists

all in just 45 minutes! How long would this normally take?

Join us for this FREE Webinar on 27 July, 12pm-1pm

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

GRAITEC announces +20% turnover growth for Q2 2012

July 23, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

GRAITEC announces 19.7% turnover growth for the second Quarter of 2012, compared to 2011. The year to date growth reaches a consistent 20% for first half of the year.

After a very successful 2011, at the end of Q2 Graitec’s turnover, margin and profitability grew by +12% . This positions Graitec as the industry’s fastest growing company.

The performance of Graitec, North America, Asia Pacific, Russia, Germany and France have been absolutely remarkable during the first semester. Graitec’s turnover more than doubled in key regions, demonstrating the capacity of Graitec to expand its business outside more traditional markets. This demonstrates a great capacity to sustain a fast rhythm of growth for example Germany + 40% year to year, Italy +13% and France +11%.

The Graitec Advance Suite is a global structural BIM solution for construction professionals. Graitec have achieved an amazing growth of +34% in 2012 compared to 2011.

“This is a great performance that demonstrates the growth capacity of GRAITEC solutions but also their fit to the market, customer needs and BIM environment. I’d like to highlight the fact this growth is driven by the international Graitec subsidiaries such as North America or Asia Pacific “, comments Alexandre Tartas, GRAITEC COO.

Advance Steel, after an strong 40% growth during Q1 2012, continues on an even more positive trend growing by 60,6% during Q2 every territory has contributed to this success.

For Alexandre Tartas : “Advance Steel illustrates quarter after quarter the dynamism and the relevance of Graitec Advance Suite positioning in the construction industry. Graitec reinforces its positioning of specialist solution provider for highly qualified professionals in the construction structural field. Advance Steel standalone is contributing to the great performance of Advance Steel and customer feedback is absolutely fantastic. GRAITEC has during Q2 addressed many requests from StruCad users demonstrating the relevance of Advance Steel for their most advanced needs “.

Advance Design continues to benefit from a high adoption rate especially in the French market that recognizes GRAITEC Advance as the very best structural analysis solution on this market.

“The quality of the solution provided, such as the comprehensive international codes and the service provided by GRAITEC have highly contributed to the great first half of the year result for Advance Design with 21% growth”, says Alexandre Tartas.

Year to date, Advance Concrete performs with a 16% growths compared with 2011.

Alexandre Tartas explains : “Great improvements have been realized in Advance Concrete to better answer to customer and market expectations. Graitec R&D team continues to work to meet expectations. We have a great confidence in our team, to bring the best in class solution to the market and make Advance Concrete the leading solution for 3D reinforcement. “

Alexandre Tartas concludes : “Q2 and more generally speaking first semester 2012 have been a great success. But it is only half of the GRAITEC 2012 road to 29 million Euros. However, with14,5 M € turnover (about 17,71M USD) we can realistically expect to be on or even above target in 2012, this is very encouraging. Every employee can be proud of their contribution to this result. “

Graitec Pte is looking for a Technical Manager

July 16, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

GRAITEC offers a dynamic, ambitious, and high growth potential work environment coupled with the opportunity to add a commercial flavor to your engineering background. Competitive salary + performance bonus matching experience. Only candidates deemed suitable shall be contacted.

GRAITEC is looking for it’s subsidiary in Singapore a Technical Manager (pre-sales Advance Steel AE)

Job Purpose:

To contribute to the increased profitability and development of Graitec customer base by providing a range of pre and post sales consultancy and training services and utilising in depth technical experience to work with the teams across the business to enhance the company’s services and product offerings.
To fully understand, use, demonstrate, position and localise where applicable our flagship Steel modelling and detailing product Graitec Advance Steel in accordance with the Asian market.
To support the pre and post sales efforts of the sales teams and company as a whole by expertly providing varying and relevant product demonstrations, support, training, consultancy, configuration and customisation to clients and prospective clients.

Key Accountabilities:

Positioning Advance Steel as the preferred solution for the relevant industries.
Providing product training for both AutoCAD and Advance Steel and any other agreed products either at Graitec reseller site and potentially at client site or within Graitec Asia offices.
Developing an understanding of the complete functionality of Advance Steel to ensure every opportunity is maximised.
Preparing Advance Steel for the Asian market. This will required monitoring associated and relevant standards. Creating and updating product databases, product defaults and specifications. Contributing to the continued enhancement of the product based on personal and client feedback.
Technically liaising with suppliers and manufacturers and creating specification documentation according to developments required to create libraries of the components and sections they provide. Thereafter interpreting and converting these specifications, following industry standards and best practices into useable product macros and libraries.
Providing product demonstrations, presentations and creating, specification documents for customising application software to meet specific requirements.
Providing ongoing product support and promotion in conjunction with the sales and technical teams. This will include conducting online webinars and other similar activities as required.
Supporting customers and staff with technical queries face to face, by telephone, online and via email.
Organising and running technology workshops for new and existing customers/ resellers to further enhance Graitec Asia reputation as a leading advisor and consultant in the market.
Being an ambassador for the Graitec during all customer interactions and acting as a role model for the behaviours which will develop Graitec into a truly service orientated business.
Supporting “the people” strategies, which hold the integrity of the Graitec Group values.
Participation in Company projects as and when required.
Carry out any other ad-hoc duties within your capabilities that are relevant to the job and reasonably requested of you by your manager.

Person Specification

Outline Competencies:

Customer Focus
Quality Focus
Communication
Personal Organisation
Personal Development
Teamwork
Self Motivated
Commercial Awareness
Innovation and Problem Solving
Product Knowledge
Industry Knowledge
Training
Building Relationships
Influencing Others

Technical Skills:

Training experience
Experience of Autodesk products supported by Advance Steel (incl. AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture and AutoCAD MEP or current and past versions)
Experience within any technical industry, ideally Architecture, Construction or Structural Engineering

Locations:

Singapore
International travel will also be necessary from time to time

If interested please send your resume to: info.asiapac@graitec.com

Focus Magazine, June Edition: Redefining the Future of Construction with Innovative IT in Asia Pacific

July 12, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Focus Magazine, a prestigious magazine aimed at promoting French businesses in Singapore and in the region, is a publication written in English, produced by the FCCS (French Chamber of Commerce in Singapore ) and distributed to the French, European and Singaporean Business Communities in Singapore. Each issue deals with a specific subject related to French businesses in Singapore or in Asia.

Focus Magazine, June Edition: Redefining the Future of Construction with Innovative IT in Asia Pacific

Last month’s edition welcomed our very own Pascal Bergougnou, Managing Director of GRAITEC Asia-Pacific in Singapore, to talk about the major changes that occurred in Asia Pacific, mainly Singapore, in recent years and his strategic move for the GRAITEC PTE subsidiary. He states: “From commercial to residential, new development to upgrade, retrofits to restorations, Asia is the engine of growth. The Singapore construction sector has enjoyed robust growth with building contracts worth 25.7 billion USD, representing an annual increase of 14% in recent years.”

Singapore’s construction industry is set to grow significantly over the next years. But the political scenario is not as favorable as it should be. Several changes to government policies have affected the construction industry, including a 40% reduction in foreign workers by 2013. As Hubert H. Humphrey, former Vice President of the United States of America, once stated: “Asia is rich in people, rich in culture and rich in resources. It is also rich in trouble.”

Despite this, the Asia Pacific economy is showing signs of recovery from the global recession. The construction industry’s growth will be sustained by demand for public housing and other major infrastructure projects. Organizations like Build Smart Singapore and Building & Construction Authority have been extremely active to achieve higher productivity through the buildable design legislation.

With more than 13 years of experience in sales and business development across Asia, Pascal Bergougnou has a comprehensive understanding of business in Asia. After a year and a half as Managing Director for Asia Pacific, he articulated the goals of the GRAITEC Singapore subsidiary: exploring business avenues, expanding market share and penetrating into emerging markets and sectors of growth in Infrastructure and Construction.

To see the full June edition of Focus Magazine, click here

Brentwood School Sixth Form Centre – awarded at RIBA 2012

July 10, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Brentwood School Sixth Form Centre designed with Advance Steel was awarded at RIBA 2012

Brentwood School’s new Sixth Form Centre has won the 2012 RIBA Award from the Royal Institute of British Architects. The new Sixth Form Centre, designed by architects Cottrell and Vermeulen, took almost two and a-half years to build and was completed in August 2011. Although, it has been used by students since the beginning of the new academic year in September, the Sixth Form Centre was officially opened in November 2011 by His Royal Highness, Prince Edward.

RIBA judges were very impressed by this project, stating that the three buildings which make up the centre (the remodeled Victorian vicarage, the classroom block and the Wessex Auditorium) “celebrate the spirit of education, unfolding as a sequence of spaces for learning, socializing, and gathering: a new sixth form block, a remodeled Victorian vicarage and a new assembly block. Drawing inspiration from the existing Victorian vicarage, the new design is expressed in a language that is both contextual and contemporary. The sculpting of the roofs creates non-standard, domestic-scaled classrooms filled with natural light, reminiscent of the gabled roofs of the Victorian vicarage, but with an added measure of playfulness.”

Brentwood School Sixth Form Centre designed with Advance Steel was awarded at RIBA 2012 The project consists of the three buildings which make up the centre – the remodeled Victorian vicarage, the classroom block, made of a steel/concrete hybrid design, with a very complicated roof and the Wessex Auditorium, an assembly hall with a complex box section truss design.

Facilities include common rooms and private study areas; 16 additional classrooms equipped with up-to-date teaching aids, interactive whiteboards and the internet; a dedicated computer suite and the multi-purpose auditorium, with 400 seats. The rooms are heated by a ground source heat pump which draws water from 15 vertical pipe loops penetrating 100 meters below the ground. A sophisticated building management system allows the temperature in the building to be controlled remotely and windows opened or closed automatically.

Adrian Betts, from the TSI Structures LTD design office, explains why Advance Steel was the best solution for the completion of this project: “The ability to import AutoCAD drawings and convert these lines into Advance Steel objects was essential. Without this command many extra office hours would have been spent modeling the new concrete steel structure and the existing building.”

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GRAITEC Advance July webinars

July 6, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Structural Engineers, Steel and Concrete Detailers… Discover how to gain productivity and reduce errors with our BIM software…

Attend to our upcoming free webinars!

ADVANCE Design : Eurocode 3
Discover how you can design and optimize steel member sections according to the latest version of EC3 with Advance Design.

On Tuesday, July 10^th, 2012
From 9:00 am to 9:30 am CEST
From 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm CEST

During this half hour presentation, you will discover how you can benefit from dedicated tools in Advance Design to handle your steel construction projects: in a few clicks, you can design and optimize the steel members including buckling and lateral torsional buckling effects, check the fire resistance according to EN1993-1-2, design the connections according to EN1993-1-8 and get detailed reports with all intermediate values.

ADVANCE Steel: Model views & Project Explorer
Manage and display your project with Advance Steel

Advance Steel: BIM software for structural steel engineering, detailing and fabrication

On Thursday, July 12^th, 2012
From 10:00 am to 10:30 am CEST
From 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm CEST

We will show the benefits of using the Project Explorer based on a model created with Advance Steel in this webinar. End-users can easily create different model views from their model (e.g. an elevation view, a specific level, different viewports of a joint) and control their display with the user-friendly Project Explorer.

ADVANCE Concrete: General overview
Discover our Concrete detailing solution in 30 minutes

Advance Concrete: BIM software for structural concrete engineering, detailing and fabrication

On Wednesday, July 18^th, 2012
From 9:00 am to 9:30 am CEST
From 6:00 pm to 6:30 pm CEST

In this webinar, you will have an overview of the software and see the benefits of using Advance Concrete such as: efficient structural 3D modeling tools (2D/3D modeling from structural elements, modeling of complex geometries), advanced drawing and finishing tools, unique reinforcement modules (creation of bar lists, 3D visualization of reinforcement, automatic control of collisions, etc.), user customization (interface, drawings, lists, objects, etc.) and collaborative work (DXF / DWG / Revit imports, multiuser technology, BIM approach for data synchronization, IFC standards, NC files, etc.).

Designed with GRAITEC software, Centre Pompidou was awarded at RIBA 2012

July 4, 2012 / graitecgroup / Leave a comment

Designed with GRAITEC software, Centre Pompidou was awarded at RIBA 2012

RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Awards have been running continuously since 1966 and are judged and presented locally. No matter the shape, size, budget or location, RIBA Award winning-schemes set the standard for great architecture all across the country. Although more than 50 buildings in the UK won the RIBA Award, only 9 in the EU have won, including Centre Pompidou, calculated with GRAITEC Advance Design.

The Centre Pompidou Metz is a museum of modern and contemporary arts designed by architects Shigeru Ban and Jean de Gastines and located in Metz, France. The Centre Pompidou-Metz is a branch of Pompidou arts center of Paris, and features temporary exhibitions from the large collection of the French National Museum of Modern Art, the largest European collection of 20th and 21st century arts. The museum is one of the largest temporary exhibition spaces in France with 5,000 m² divided between 3 galleries, a circular shaped restaurant, a theatre, and an auditorium.

Designed with GRAITEC software, Centre Pompidou was awarded at RIBA 2012 The Centre Pompidou-Metz is a large hexagon structured round a central spire reaching 77 meters high, with three rectangular galleries weaving through the building at different levels. The great nave covers 1,200 m² and provides flexibility for the exhibition of large artworks, with the ceiling rising progressively from a height of 5.70 to 18 meters.

The roof is a 90 meters wide hexagon with a surface area of 8,000 m². The roof structure is composed of sixteen kilometers of glued laminated timber, which intersect to form hexagonal wooden units resembling the cane-work pattern of a Chinese hat. The roof’s geometry is irregular, featuring curves and counter-curves over the entire building, and in particular the three exhibition galleries. The entire wooden structure is covered with a white fiber-glass membrane and a coating of Teflon, which has the distinction of being self-cleaning, protects from direct sunlight and also is transparent at night, thus offering viewers a spectacular and unique overview.

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