Renovation of Sky Hall roof

The original roof structure of the Sky Hall did no longer meet the fire safety standards but could not carry any additional weight. That is why, a few weeks ago, the entire roof of the Sky Hall was spanned by a gigantic steel construction. Three huge trusses were inserted, as it were, into the existing construction.

Brussels Airport colleague, Jurgen Sagaert, project manager at IRE, came up with an out-of-the-box solution, and that can be taken quite literally. The original roof of the Sky Hall now serves as a false ceiling with the new steel construction taking over the roof function. High-tech smoke and heat extraction guarantees fire safety.

The cranes that lifted the construction are among the largest in Belgium, so the whole operation was pretty spectacular. The renovation took place under the supervision of a heritage architect, since the iconic airport building is included on the heritage list. Certain elements in the architecture will be retained and the planned renovations will be undertaken in the spirit of the late 1950’s.

We are therefore taking a step back in time, but with all mod cons. The Sky Hall is being adapted to the needs of today, particularly in the areas of temperature control, accoustics, insulation and fire safety. All this adds up to a fine story of entrepreneurship within our airport, of which all those involved can be justifiably proud.

A few technical details:

• The trusses weigh 46 tons each and are 55m long, with a 35- m cantilever. The trusses were inserted in segments.
• The support pillars inside were be clad with steel and reinforced in order to be able to bear this heavy construction.
• The Sky Hall itself is 100m long by 55m wide