Premier Composite Technologies has announced the completion of the amazing roof installation at the Haramain Railway Station
The Haramain High Speed Railway project links the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah via Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City. The work was planned in phases and includes the construction of four passenger stations.
PCT was awarded the contract to build the Concourse Roof at the Madinah station back in February 2012. The scope of work for PCT included all elements of design engineering, manufacturing, delivery and installation of the advanced composite cladding for the concourse roof at the Haramain railway station at Madinah.
The station’s facilities include a main building which houses the arrival and departure concourses, a mosque with a capacity of 600 worshipers, a centre for civil defence, helipad, car parking with a capacity of 1,000 parking spaces and VIP lounges.
Designed in a JV between Foster+Partner and Buro Happold, the Madinah Station is built in a unique design of umbrellas with green tiling giving it a remarkable and eye-catching appearance. The concourse roof design consists of a highly repetitive pattern that is made up of 41 panels that fit together to make one large square module 27 x 27 metre. Each panel is required to be structurally lightweight, fire resistant, immune to extreme temperatures and weather conditions, and easy to install.
Working alongside Foster + Partners and Buro Happold, PCT developed an advanced composite solution that is built using a fire resistant composite of glass fibre and epoxy resin combined with a lightweight foam core and finished with glass mosaic coloured tiles. PCT produced 1,312 of these panels to complete the 26,400m2 surface area of the station roof.
The structure has been designed to use as much natural light as possible. For this purpose the roof panels have unique diamond shaped skylights incorporated into the design. The composite roof has a suspended inner ceiling made of green anodised aluminium segments with a special embossed perforated pattern and fixed anti-glare lamellas to help achieve high reflectivity. The glass skylights are dropped into the moulded recess after the roof is assembled and are equipped with anti-glare system to enhance the light distribution inside the station.
A modular approach to the design with a high degree of prefabrication meant that all FRP parts were produced at the PCT facilities in Dubai Investment Park. Installation and final sealing operations were done on site. On the ground, four panels were pre-assembled to form a segment of approx. 100sq.m weighing almost four tonnes. Adjustable footing in three directions allows for easy on-site installation and fixation to the main steel structure. With no secondary structure in place, the largest span is 13.5m.
Each module is able to move independently with movement joints sealing the gaps between the modules. The movement joints are covered using FRP SS clad capping which also serves as maintenance walkways.