The new Convention Centre in Abidjan features an amazing roof, which is made of 8,000 unique-size tiles. These aluminium composite tiles are approx. 2.5 m² each and are fixed with stainless steel brackets on an aluminium sub-structure. Workers have to follow precise drawings, area by area, to install them. As you can see on the pictures, the roof is being built up like a puzzle.
Alexis De Pauw, Façade Package Manager: “Every tile has a different size to accommodate the shape drawn by the architects. So building this roof is like making a huge puzzle, you have to find the right piece and put it in the right place, step by step.”
A huge Meccano game and logistical challenge
The impressive frame of the roof was designed and constructed by LANIK, a Spanish company specialised in offering state-of-the art solutions for covering, facades and retractable roof structures. “It is made of 6,000 nodes and 20,000 bars, each of them being different. It’s like a huge Meccano construction”, Alexis explains.
Assembling so many pieces is quite a logistical achievement. Alexis explains: “The tiles arrive in a flat position in containers, with the folding lines being pre-milled. The packing list of each pallet indicates the position of the panels on the roof. They are folded on site and the anchor brackets are attached.”
Safety first
Covering this roof is also an incredible exercise in working at height. Alexis confirms: “As well explained in the 10 Life Saving Rules, workers are equipped with a safety harness and a lifeline for abseiling, and they are properly trained and certified for working at height. For this roof the work is particularly delicate as they must watch their step and walk on the joints between the tiles, because the supporting understructure is beneath these joints. Otherwise they could damage the tiles.”
In this part of the world, a roof like that must not fear snow loads, but the massive strain that can come from heavy tropical rainfall. Of course, our engineers thought of that as well! Each water drain can take 48 litres per second, that’s enough to fill a bathtub in 4 seconds. And the roof is equipped with 48 of them!
The roof in figures:
- 800 tonnes of spaceframe installed by LANIK (20,000 bars and 6,000 nodes)
- 325 tonnes of various sheet metal
- 500 tonnes of sound and thermal insulation
- 217 tonnes of waterproofing
Missing pieces?
On one of the photos, it seems that some pieces of the puzzle are missing here and there. It’s not because the workers couldn’t find them straight away… It’s just because some parts were damaged during transport and have to be reconstructed on site.
BESIX has been commissioned by PFO Africa, the leading construction company in Ivory Coast, to build the structure and roof cladding of this impressive Convention Centre, as well as carrying out the concrete shell. This ambitious structure was designed by architects Pierre Fakhoury and SNA + BSTLL. It will have a surface area of 12,000 m² and a capacity of 10,000 people to host trade fairs, cultural and sport events, and international conferences.
