Work on T-Mobile Arena in Brno is a privilege
About monolithic structures, building foundations on piles, but also about the pitfalls of transferring 3D information into 2D format. Skypaper magazine spoke with Ing. Vojtěch Petřík, Ph.D., director of the structural engineering division at the Obermeyer Helika design office, about his team's work on the currently growing multifunctional Arena Brno.
What was your division at Obermeyer Helika responsible for in such an important project?
For the Arch.Design and A PLUS architekti consortium, our structural engineering division prepared the construction documentation and provided author supervision, while for the general contractor HOCHTIEF CZ a. s., we prepared the production documentation for the reinforced concrete monolithic structures. Our team was also responsible for the pile foundation, securing the construction pit, and designing the handling area for the largest crane in Europe, which attracted a lot of media attention.
This is the Liebherr LR 1750, a unique European crane with a lifting capacity of 750 tons. Could you explain in more detail what the pile foundation of such a large multifunctional hall consists of?
Drilled piles support a 600 mm thick foundation slab on which the hall itself is built. Due to the local geological conditions and the fact that the building is located below the water table, we designed the piles to withstand not only compressive forces but also vertical tensile forces. The foundation slab itself and the basement perimeter walls are designed as a waterproof reinforced concrete structure, or "white bathtub”. The combination of monolithic and prefabricated structures also has its own specific characteristics. The basement part of the arena is monolithic, while the upper part consists of prefabricated structural elements combined with monolithic cores and stiffening elements. The stands, for example, are assembled from prefabricated sloping beams and benches made of lightweight concrete.
What if we focused on BIM (Building Information Modeling) and other modern technological processes related to the design of the hall?
Given the participation of three structural engineering firms, each of which is responsible for a part of the whole – monoliths, prefabricated structures, steel structures – careful mutual coordination is necessary. In this case, this was done using the IFC format, as each firm works with different BIM software. To coordinate the individual professions in the building model, we used BIM Collaborate Pro, where we gradually uploaded the individual professional models. If the 3D model of the supporting structure is constructed correctly, it can also be used for numerical analysis. However, the exchange of data between the 3D software used to create the structural model and the software used for numerical analysis is subject to thorough checking and is not a completely automatic process.
The building is constructed according to 2D plans. A certain pitfall is sometimes the necessary "degradation" of 3D information to 2D format so that the drawings of the shape and reinforcement show what they are supposed to show and the drawings are clearly legible for construction.
What work is currently underway at the Obermeyer Helika construction site?
The concrete structures are now complete and the project documentation is finished. Of course, we are still in contact with the construction site – during the construction of such a large project, a number of issues naturally arise that need to be resolved, such as the impact of modifications and changes to the load-bearing structure. In this regard, we are in regular contact with Hochtief. Otherwise, the steel roof of the hall is currently being built.
What significance do similar projects have for your division?
In our division, we consider working on such large-scale projects a privilege. Such work requires sufficient capacity and expertise, which our company can provide to the client. Personally, I am delighted that the multifunctional cultural and sports pavilion project in Brno will expand our interesting portfolio of significant buildings that our division has been able to participate in.
About Arena Brno
The multipurpose hall will boast a capacity of up to 13,300 spectators. Its roof is a spatial steel structure with struts, prestressed for greater strength and stability. The dimensions of the roof are approximately 137.5 × 95 meters—the shape is based on a combination of two halves of a spherical canopy and a cylinder. The dimensions of the oval floor plan of the hall itself, which copies a traditional hockey rink, are approximately 150 × 108 meters. The building has two underground and six above-ground floors, with a total height of 30 meters above the surrounding terrain. The entire building was completely modeled in Revit software. Work on the arena began in 2024, with completion scheduled for 2026.
Arena Brno in numbers:
Built-up area: 16,470 m²
Enclosed space: 465,000 m³
Floor plan dimensions of the roof: approx. 137.5 x 95 m
Capacity: 13,300 spectators
Interesting facts:
Height of the Liebherr LR 175 crane: up to 196 m
Total weight of all four parts of the hall roof: 240 tons
Photos: Arena Brno, Source: Arena Brno
