Your Project
Technical data of the project
Project title
Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg
Physical Location
KVS, Lakensestraat, Brussels
Site owne
City of Brussels
Architect
A.2R.C and B.O.A.
Engineering office
Verdeyen-Moenaert
General contractor
Willemen,
Verstraete & Verhelst
Length
55m
With
25m
Height
26m
Volume
40220m³
Mass:
difficult to estimate: as we are dealing with an historical
building
Why is this project important?
This project concerns the renovation of the Royal Flemish
Theatre in the center of Brussels and the construction of a
second building nearby. The
modernization of the KVS
(Royal Flemish Theatre) and the construction of a new
building fits into an ambitious scheme devised to provide
the KVS and its company with the state-of-the-art facilities
needed to
produce top-quality
performances.
The
restoration program covers all parts of the facades, roofs
and exterior balconies in keeping with the original design
by Jean Base (1887), as well as the remaining facade of
the former arsenal (1780). The entrance hall, the foyer,
and the grand staircase are also being carefully restored.
Rebuild in 1958 within the existing building, the present
auditorium no longer caters to current requirements in
terms of stage design and visual comfort, so it is due to be
demolished and replaced by a new one. The new hall has
a capacity of 500 seats. The internal organization plays on
the contrast between the oldest sections of the building
and a mysterious object that might resemble a cocoon.
Standing apart from the existing walls, the object will be
separated from the foyer by an atrium criss-crossed by
catwalks, extensions of the exterior passage, providing
access to the theatre. This intervention restores the
continuity that previously existed between the exterior
passages and the inner spaces. From a technical point of
view, the reinforced concrete structure of the new
auditorium is conceived to be completely independent
from the existing building. The modeling of this structure
was done using ESA-Prima Win.
Use of ESA-Prima Win
Description of the technical questions to be solved
with ESA-Prima Win:
The
model of the reinforced concrete theatre hall
was
made during the construction phase and gives us the
answer to different technical questions.
First of all, the 3D finite elements
model enables us to
estimate the influence of the eccentricity brought into the
concrete structure by the geometry of the 4 levels of
balconies.
More precisely,
we
wanted to know the
importance of the generated traction forces into the two
symmetrical concrete walls. The traction forces have to be
retaken in the foundation that is a screen of secants piles.
Secondly, acting as a load takedown model, it was easy to
obtain the loads on the foundations.
Finally, the reinforcement of the columns, beams and
slabs can now be designed using the calculated axial
force, bending
moment and shear force diagrams.
Deflections can be controlled as well.
A description of your experience with ESA-Prima
Win when realizing the project:
The introduction of the basic 2 dimensional geometry was
done using the DXF interface. The interface
was really
appreciated, as we are generally disposing of the 2D Cad
file before
we start
making the ESA-Prima
Win
model.
After all, the geometrical part was the most intensive one:
controlling if there were no double nodes, no overlaps,
controlling the thickness of the 2D Macros. It is difficult to
have a good view on the model. The load input consists of
surface loads (2D distributed loads), some nodal and line
loads (free loads)
were used. The supports are vertical
node supports.
Once the structure being calculated, the
results
were easy to obtain and seemed to be realistic.
Although, at some points non expected high stress
concentrations are found due to discontinuities of the
geometry,
which is fair enough.
Modules used:
standard ESA-Prima Win modules
75
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