Adapt the building for a new use.
An existing metal building was being adapted for café use, with a more open glazed frontage and a covered outdoor area in the architectural brief. Crafted’s structural work addressed roof framing, reinforcement of retained steel, and new foundation and slab details.
New construction had to connect to established framing and foundations while supporting the revised architectural layout. The design began with the building already in place.
Work through the meeting of new and existing.
Adding roof members was only one part of the engineering task. Their supports, attachments and relationship to the retained steel frames also needed to be defined. At ground level, the new slab required a detailed connection at the existing foundation.
The roof scheme combined engineered timber with existing steel. Those different materials and support conditions required specific connection details, rather than a framing plan alone. The covered outdoor area introduced a separate interface: the structural drawings identified the canopy as designed by others.
Retain the frames. Detail the new work.
The roof design retained the existing steel frames and introduced laminated veneer lumber, or LVL, purlins. These engineered timber members formed the new secondary roof framing, supporting plywood sheathing above.
Where the purlins met the steel frames, the drawings specified top-flange hangers and their attachment to the existing beams. Where they passed over timber bearing walls, the details addressed blocking, double top plates and metal connectors. Each support condition had its own defined arrangement.
The design also included local strengthening of existing steel through a plate welded to the bottom flange of a beam. The reinforced section brought the steel plate, timber blocking and roof-framing connection together in one detail. This was a targeted intervention at the member identified on the plan.
Resolve the interfaces from roof to slab.
The construction documents included fastening arrangements for built-up timber members, top-plate splice details, and framing for a new roof overhang. These details described how the individual components were to be assembled.
The foundation design included reinforced concrete walls and footings, a slab-on-grade build-up, and control-joint details. At the existing foundation, a thickened slab edge and reinforcing dowels drilled and epoxy-grouted into the retained concrete defined the junction. Existing conditions there were marked for field verification.
Roof finishes, insulation and dimensional information were referenced to the architectural drawings, while the structural sheets defined framing, supports and connections. The canopy remained a separate design responsibility.
A considered approach to reuse.
This completed renovation demonstrates an approach to adapting an existing building through new framing and focused reinforcement. Crafted’s contribution was a documented structural scheme connecting engineered timber roof members to retained steel frames, alongside concrete and connection details for the new work.
The project illustrates how the less-visible parts of a renovation, including hangers, reinforcement, blocking and slab tie-ins, support the larger architectural change.
Client and project details are withheld for privacy. This narrative describes the structural design; it is not a construction record or a specification for another building.