Structural Redesign of the Royal Arena Roof, Denmark.

The original structure of the Royal Arena in Copenhagen consisted of an in-situ concrete multilevel oval covered by a steel roof. The bowl initially included radial frames along the perimeter, interconnected in every floor by continuous slabs with the capacity to distribute lateral forces to four concrete cores with high lateral capacity. This lateral performance allowed the structure to withstand large lateral loads from the roof. Once the construction was ongoing, structural elements which had been planned as cast-in-situ concrete were substituted with precast elements, where possible, to prioritise costs and schedule. This caused a considerable loss of lateral capacity in the bowl, motivating an innovative redesign of the roof to meet the new requirements. This paper reveals the engineering challenges faced in the redesign of the steel roof in order to reduce lateral forces transmitted from the roof to the concrete structure. It introduces the concept of lateral bracing with free expansion. The roof shape, construction sequencing, and interactions between columns/frames and supports/cores were strictly analysed and optimised to achieve the required criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]