The Mall of Cyprus is the first shopping mall of its kind in Cyprus and has become a landmark since its first day of operation, September of 2007.

The building consists of two commercial levels – ground floor and 1st floor – with two extra supportive levels – basement and mezzanine floor.

HiSCS has been involved in the jacking and lifting operations to replace the seismic isolation bearings located on the columns supporting the building.

The existing bearings were elastomeric isolators, made of High Damping Rubber known as HDRB, shielding the superstructure from seismic forces.

Two specially designed steel temporary supports were installed, close to the columns, to place the jacking system (hydraulic jacks) since there was no area close to the bearings.

Five bearings were replaced, in total, by lifting the slab up to 15mm, removing the old bearings and replacing them with the new ones. The new anti-seismic devices are of the same type with the old ones and their isolation characteristics adhere to the relevant design.

MEP networks such as ventilations, electrical and firefighting systems were closely monitored during lifting to avoid any damages/malfunctions.

Hydraulic pressure vs lifting load, lifting elevations and jacks’ piston extraction were constantly monitored during the process, to ensure the proper execution and to observe the structural behaviour of the building.

Works were accomplished in line with the approved methodology, within a very tight schedule. The replacement of the seismic isolators had to be carried out one by one, with jacking system and temporary supports being moved to the next position at the earliest, avoiding any disturbance to the busy operation of the Mall.