ArcelorMittal has supplied some 8,000 tonnes of steel sections for an unusual city hall in the Dutch town of Utrecht.

The eye-catching city hall, situated partially beside and partly on top of a railway station complex, was constructed using steel from ArcelorMittal Europe - Long Products, including 5,000 tonnes of HD sections for wide flange columns in Histar® 460 grade, used in the building's columns.

Conceived as a 'vertical landscape', the new Utrecht city hall, designed by Kraaijvanger Architects, is unique in both structural design and shape. The complicated design brief required that both the station complex and municipal offices be accessible from the plateau above the railway tracks and platforms. This was further complicated by upcoming plans for a transport hub to be developed at ground level.

A unique design

Thanks to its split-level location, the city hall required a special structural design. Rather than following a purely right-angled system, a system of fully functional diagonals is used, which transfers the vertical loads in the façade. Together with the north tower's concrete cores, these diagonal elements also provide stability to the building.

The south tower, built directly over the central station, is supported by five mega columns that cut through the public transportation terminal. A complex 3D structure transfers the loads from the south tower to the columns.

The lower three levels of the city hall, located between ground level and public level, are used for parking and for technical facilities. Together, they form a podium at public level at approximately 7.5 metres above ground level, linking up with the station concourse above the railway tracks and platforms.

Particular attention was devoted to connecting the area on both sides of the tracks by means of a 'central boulevard', which hangs above the tracks alongside the new station complex and opens up on the western side into the area in which the city hall and the station concourse meet. The building's entrance hall is located in this central boulevard.

Image credit: Stijn Poelstra for Kraaijvanger Architects


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