Steel portal-frame warehouse

A single-tenancy warehouse and office structure framed in steel portals, used here to demonstrate the project page structure.

Placeholder entry. This page demonstrates the project detail layout. The project name, location, year, scope and any client attribution are outstanding and must be confirmed by the practice before publication.

Role

Structural engineer

Structural system

Steel portal frame on pad footings with a slab-on-ground floor

Structure type

Single-bay steel portal frame

Floor system

Slab on ground

Stage

Detailed design and documentation

Scope

Structural design of the primary portal frame
Footing design and slab detailing
Connection design and fabrication documentation
Shop drawing review

The brief

A warehouse structure of this type is driven by span, height and the cost of steel per square metre. The frame has to clear the operational floor area without intermediate columns, carry the roof and wall cladding, and resist wind across a large, effectively sealed box.

Structural approach

The primary structure is a series of steel portal frames at regular centres, braced longitudinally, bearing on pad footings sized to the site’s geotechnical conditions. Purlins and girts span between frames and act with the cladding to distribute wind load back to the bracing.

What mattered on this job

Frame spacing and haunch geometry were the two decisions with the largest effect on tonnage. Connection detailing was resolved early with the fabricator so that the documentation matched how the frames would actually be assembled.