This 200m x 100m x 12m clear height building was a warehouse, on the coastal plain north of Chennai in southern India. The site is extremely exposed and subject to cyclonic storms. The foundations had already been laid and the design had been done by the contractor, using concrete columns and heavy steel trusses.
We re-designed the building using steel columns; the original design required 1760 tonnes of steel, but it was built to our design with 675 tonnes (including steel columns and all cold rolled sections). It took 4 weeks to re-design it, but it was still completed 2 months early. Not only was the tonnage reduced by 62% but the tonnage rate was also reduced, and smaller cranes were used for erection. The overall saving was c. £1.8m.
Our total charges and costs including flights and hotel accommodation were about 6½% of the savings made.
We stayed on to address 2 other buildings of comparable size and made similar savings on each.