Structural Engineering
Over the last five decades we’ve been providing structural engineering services to both the public and the private sector. We have participated in a large number of projects in various sectors, such as public buildings, hotels, educational facilities, offices, commercial and residential estate.
Building structures is one of our key strengths. Normally we are engaged at the beginning of the project, together with the architect and the other consultants. Through teamwork we come up with the conceptual design for the structure. At that stage the construction material is also determined after exploring all available options. The detailed design follows, during which it is important to have frequent meetings with the team to ensure correct coordination of the design. In the course of the detailed design we also develop the construction drawings. Our involvement continues through the construction phase, where we routinely inspect the works and ensure that technical specifications are met, and all quality control procedures are followed.
One of our expertise is earthquake-resistant design (seismic design), as Cyprus is located in an earthquake-prone zone. Nature has tested and proved the soundness of our designs, during the high intensity earthquakes in Cyprus in the 1990s. Also, Dr Aris Theophilou has made scientific contribution in the field through his PhD Thesis titled “A ground motion selection and modification method suitable for probabilistic seismic assessment of building structures”.
In our consultancy we adopt the state-of-the-art of engineering software. We have full licenses for the world renown software SAP2000, ETABS, and STAAD-Pro. We have also developed our own in-house computer program, RC-PADD, which carries out the earthquake-resistant design of reinforced concrete frame structures to Eurocode and ACI-318. We believe that with correct usage software tools can elevate the standard of the design. Nonetheless, we do adopt strict quality control procedures by checking all computer analyses through manual methods.
Key aspects in all our designs are structural robustness, quality of materials, durability, economics, and energy efficiency. Health and safety is another factor of paramount importance to us. We ensure that every proposed solution is constructible and give great emphasis in designing out hazardous construction activities at the onset of the project.
The soundness of our designs is ensured by complying to all applicable standards, design guides, industry technical specifications, and health and safety guidelines. Traditionally we’ve been adopting the British Standards, and over the last decade there has been a shift towards the Eurocode and other applicable European Standards.
Sample projects: