Bank Buildings, Belfast, UK: Making safe after a fire

Abstract

In August 2018, a fire badly damaged a listed building in the centre of Belfast. This left the perimeter walls standing and the inside largely destroyed. Because of the dangerous nature of the structure, the surrounding area was closed. This paper describes the engineering aspects of the approach to making the remaining structure safe to allow the surrounding area to reopen and to start the rebuilding works on the retained building. The design approach to the public safety cordon involved the use of empirical techniques, as well as advanced simulation software. The design approach for the facade-retention scheme was complicated by the poor ground and buried services, as well as having to allow for installation with no access inside the building. The solution involved the use of shipping containers as structural components, as well as fibre-reinforced foundation rafts. The scheme has been successfully installed, and access to the city centre has been reinstated.