Power and process facilities
A power plant structure is governed by the equipment it carries. Loads are concentrated and dynamic rather than distributed and static, and none of that is covered by an occupancy-driven design approach.
We build the structures that carry plant. Biomass power generation, waste treatment, bioethanol, refrigeration and process facilities. Buildings where the machinery came first and the frame exists to serve it.
These projects fail in a specific way. A structure designed as a building, then asked to carry a process, ends up with support positions in the wrong place, vibration transmitted where it should have been interrupted, and thermal movement nobody allowed for.
What makes these difficult
Loads that move
Rotating and reciprocating plant produces dynamic loads and vibration paths that have to be interrupted rather than absorbed. That is a design decision made at the start, not a detail resolved later.
Thermal movement measured in tens of millimetres
Across a process building, thermal movement is large enough to govern connection design and cladding detailing. Standard building tolerances do not apply.
Seismic performance with operational continuity
Where a facility has to keep operating through seismic action, isolation and structural strategy are set by that requirement rather than by life-safety code alone.
Where we have done it
Ishikari Biomass Power Plant
A frame designed for equipment loads, vibration and thermal movement rather than occupancy. Structure serving process plant, not people.
Yamasho Refrigeration Works
A manufacturing facility for refrigeration equipment.
Narita Cattle Farm and Compost Facilities
Composting produces heat, moisture and ammonia continuously. The internal environment is corrosive by design and never stops for maintenance.
Also in this area:North–South Commuter Railway, Cho Ray Vietnam–Japan Friendship Hospital, Himonya Park Nursery, Yasugi Hakuai Clinic, Light Motor Vehicle Association Building, Sakyu Dunes Visitor Center.
Where this is available
Built in Japan under national contractors. Taken on internationally either as builder or on the owner’s side.