Retail tenancy alteration and shopfront framing

Structural alterations within an existing retail tenancy, used here to demonstrate how fit-out and change-of-use work is presented.

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

New steel lintels and posts within existing loadbearing masonry

Structure type

Alteration within existing building

Key risk

Undocumented existing structure

Stage

Design and certification

Scope

Assessment of existing loadbearing walls
Lintel and post design for new openings
Temporary propping requirements
Structural certification for the altered scope

The constraint

Fit-out work in an older building routinely runs into structure nobody has drawings for. The first job is establishing what is actually loadbearing before anything is designed around it.

Structural approach

New openings are formed with steel lintels bearing onto posts or thickened masonry, sized against the loads actually being carried rather than a nominal assumption. Where the load path above an opening was uncertain, it was opened up and inspected before the design was finalised.

Temporary works

Propping requirements were documented as part of the design rather than left to the builder to resolve, including the sequence in which existing structure could be removed.