Unique design creates natural looking landscaped terraces sloping down towards Newcastle city centre

16/03/2001

Terramesh Large® from Maccaferri Ltd, specialists in retaining structures, slope reinforcement and erosion protection, has played a vital role in creating an attractive setting for Gateshead Music Centre in the North East. Making its first appearance in the UK, Terramesh Large® has been used in the construction of a series of terraced slopes overlooking the Tyne.

The client, Gateshead Council, has embarked upon the transformation of over 40 acres of derelict urban land sitting at the heart of the Tyneside conurbation. This will be a new cultural quarter to be known as Gateshead Quays. The overall project will be constructed at a cost of £250 million and the Music Centre, Gateshead is one of the flagship projects now taking shape.

Working for Main Contractor for the groundworks and advanced siteworks, Hall Construction Services of County Durham, Maccaferri has supplied 1000m² of Terramesh Largeâ for the slope facings in the grounds of the Music Centre. Creating 750m² of terracing on eight levels, the contract, let on a design and build basis, was valued at £80,000 to Maccaferri, acting as designers and suppliers of material for Hall Construction Services who carried out the construction on site.

Designed by London-based architects, Sir Norman Foster & Partners, the new building will feature a futuristic curved roof structure. Proposals for the external groundworks were required to reflect this, and Paris-based landscape architects, Desvigne & Dalnoky, drew up the plans based on a sinuous wave shape with terraces of varying widths.

This presented a challenge for local consulting engineers, Mott MacDonald of Newcastle. It was immediately apparent that while the end result must blend with the surrounding naturally sloping terrain, the creation of artificial terraces would require soil reinforcement and support.

“We invited a number of specialist contractors to put forward initial concepts for turning the architect’s vision into practical reality,” said Richard Cram, Mott MacDonald Project Manager. “Combining bio-engineering with soil reinforcement and design facilities, Maccaferri could offer expertise in every aspect of the project. In fact, the company’s in-house botanist, Hugh Ellis, was consulted at an early stage by the landscape architects.”

Maccaferri’s proposal was based on using Terramesh Large® to form the slopes and terraces. Only recently available, this new addition to the Terramesh range of products is custom built on-site to meet individual specifications. Unlike the standard units offered in heights of 0.45 and 0.6 metre, Terramesh Large® has a maximum height of one metre, permitting faster, and therefore more cost efficient, installation with no reduction in the quality of the finished job.

Commenting on this aspect of Terramesh Largeâ, Tom Edwards, Maccaferri’s Regional Director, said. “Normally, although large units are quicker to construct, there are practical and aesthetic constraints relating to bulging on the front face”. We invested significant amounts of money in eliminating unattractive and potentially unstable bulging when developing Terramesh Large®. The result is a one-metre high structure with a smooth facing which does not require external formwork.”

Terramesh Large® units are formed from a single sheet of hexagonal, triple-twist woven steel mesh forming the front face and soil reinforcement elements. When installed, it is formed into three sections, a horizontal soil reinforcement section, a facing section and a horizontal return top section. Triangular steel formers provide added rigidity and allow easy installation of the mesh.

The exposed mesh sections forming the slopes and terraces are lined with a coir loopmat. This stabilises the topsoil and creates an excellent medium for the planting scheme at Gateshead, which will include a wide variety of shrubs. In addition, tree pits have been incorporated in the works to facilitate the planting of semi-mature trees.

The UK arm of the Maccaferri Industrial Group, headquartered in Italy, Maccaferri Ltd specialises in gabions, geotextiles, geogrids and geomats. In addition to a full range of products for retaining structures, slope reinforcement and erosion protection, the company offers an in-house design and consulting service.

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