Opening a masonry building into a single clear prayer hall

The load path was the whole job. Removing several walls in one operation changes how the floor above spans and concentrates what used to be distributed line loads onto a small number of new bearing points. Each one was designed rather than assumed, because a masonry pier that looks generous can still be the thing that governs once the load arriving at it has doubled.

The existing construction made that harder rather than easier. Traditional masonry with steel already built into it, on localised piers, under precast concrete planks, is a structure whose load paths are partly historic and not always where the drawings suggest. Sizes were taken from a site survey rather than from record information, and the pack states plainly that the contractor must check and measure before work starts.

One internal staircase was removed and blocked off to form a room, and a plant room formed at ground floor in the space it left. Removing a staircase takes out a stiff element as well as a circulation route, so racking checks were run as part of the pack rather than left as an assumption.

Fire protection was set at a minimum of 60 minutes for all elements, which for a building of public assembly is the point at which the structural design and the fire strategy stop being separate conversations.