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Cyprus

Eleftheria Square

Project description

The Eleftheria Square in Cyprus‘ capital Nicosia constitutes a dramatic and historically significant ‘architectural intervention’ – an aspiration to reconnect the ancient city‘s massive fortified Venetian walls and moat with the modern city beyond – a bold vision of coherence and continuity which can become a catalyst to unify the last divided capital of Europe.

As the city expanded out of the medieval walls wooden bridges were constructed to facilitate transport. The original wooden bridge known as the Hajisavvas Opening was then replaced with a solid concrete one, which survives to date. In 2005 an architectural competition was announced to redesign the square. This was won by a group led by Zaha Hadid Architects.

mageba scope

mageba received an order of 19 RESTON-POT bearings as per EN1337 and CE-labelled. All bearings are multidirectional (free) and the maximum vertical load (ULS) is 11,207 kN. Friction was not considered for the transmission of the horizontal loads since Cyprus is a seismic area.

Due to the special geometry of the columns, space for the bearings was limited. In close cooperation with the structural engineer and the architect, mageba has worked out a proper solution that meets the requirements of this exceptional design.

Finally, and due to the fact that the bearings would be visible, the bearings had to be white coloured including the EPDM dusk skirts.

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A pot bearing featuring white coloured dusk skirt, made of EPDM

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The construction site in June 2015, showing the triangle-shaped columns with ellipsoid edges

Key Data

Products:

RESTON-POT bearings

Features:

EPDM dusk skirts, white coloured

Installed:

2015

City:

Nicosia

Structure:

Roof structure

Construction:

2005–TBC

Interior area:

7,175 m2

Open area:

35,300 m2

Architect:

Zaha Hadid Architects

Engineer:

Hyperstatic

Constructor:

LOIS Builders Ltd

Owner:

Nicosia Municipality