[Translate to Englisch:] Center Parcs Longford Forrest

Ballymahon (Ireland)

Center Parcs swimming pool

The Center Parcs holiday village in Longford Forest (Ireland) impresses with an architectural eye-catcher: A subtropical swimming pool made of GLT arched beams, round steel columns and a huge glass façade invites you to enjoy a special holiday experience.

The project was commended in the category “Engineering Project of the Year” at the Irish Building Awards 2019.

Task

A tropical swimming pool with impressive design

The heart of the new Center Parcs site in Ballymahon, Ireland, was to be the approx. 4,500 m² tropical swimming pool. Directly adjacent to a landscaped lake, with glass façades up to 18 metres high and a gently sloping roof form, timber was the most suitable building material for the roof construction (initially planned in steel), due to both its aesthetics and the corrosion requirements.

Implementation

This is how WIEHAG implemented the timber structure

The support structure consists of articulated arched beams with up to 57.5 m free bearing distance. It is supported on inclined, up to 17 m long round steel columns. At the customer's request, larch was used for the 1.80 m high beams. Due to the maximum transport length of approx. 50 m, articulated and bending-resistant joints were used. A challenge for the arched supports was the inner radius of 7.50 m, but this was solved in terms of production technology with timber as the material.

The construction site in fast forward...

[Translate to Englisch:] Center Parcs Ballymahon

“WIEHAG demonstrated excellent technical skills, organisational ability and safety awareness throughout their work on our Center Parcs, Longford project.”

— James Moloney, Regional Manager, John Sisk & Son

Problem-solving expertise

Success factors for the project

Corrosion protection

The corrosion protection requirements for swimming baths (C4) were satisfied here by using fasteners made of stainless steel suitable for swimming baths and appropriately coated steel parts.

Efficient assembly

To ensure fast and safe assembly, the connections on site were designed with multi-cut eye bar connections made of high-strength steel. All slotted plates, rod dowels and bolts were already fully inserted at the factory, so that a steel-steel connection with only a few bolts was sufficient on site.

Successful cooperation

The coordination between the individual trades (architecture, façade, timber construction, skylight) took place continuously on the 3D model. The smooth cooperation between the general planner and WIEHAG from the quotation to the planning and execution made this project successful.