Gridshell as Formwork: Proof of Concept for a New Technique for Constructing Thin Concrete Shells Supported by Gridshell as Formwork
Publication: Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 26, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper documents an empirical experiment conducted in August 2014 as proof of concept for a new method of constructing concrete shells. An idea initially presented by the first author in 2012, it uses redeployable gridshells onto which fabric is midstressed and concrete applied. Primarily, this system addresses key issues that led to their decline in use: construction methods/formwork systems were not reusable, nor were they easily customizable to create different shapes. Employing 27 man-hours over seven days, two concrete shells were achieved using the same reusable and reconfigurable formwork. Lightweight (0.6 kg) PVC gridshell formwork supported 106.92 kg of concrete to create a concrete shell that covered 1.11 m2 (floor area). The construction verifies a low-cost (£6.06/m2) efficiency and material utilization in the construction of very strong wide-spanning thin concrete structures. Detailed analysis of formwork behavior during construction and detailed measurements of resultant shell results prove this new method of deployable gridshells as a reusable and reconfigurable formwork to construct very strong concrete shells very quickly. Whilst the emphasis of the research focused on the construction process, the vaults were tested and sustained a failure load of 4.2 kN (4.32 times their deadweight), applied as a point load at the crown.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge and thank MEng students Marcin Dawydzik and Marta Walejewska for their thoroughness and diligence in analyzing the concrete shells. For the construction of the concrete shells, Ken Smith, Keith Milne, and Alex Lavrinec, as well as the technical team at Chambers Street workshop (University of Edinburgh), Malcolm Cruickshank, Paul Diamond, Rachel Collie, and Lucas Nightingale, for preparing, facilitating, and recording the stages during construction.
References
Addis, W. 2007. Building: 3000 years of design engineering and construction. London: Phaidon.
Anon. 1960. “Building in the Tropics.” New Scientist, August 25, 1960.
Bechthold, M. 2008. Innovative surface structures: Technology and applications. Abingdon, UK: Taylor & Francis Group.
Billington, D. P. 1983. The tower and the bridge. New York: Basic Books.
Brennan, J., R. Pedreschi, P. Walker, and M. Ansell. 2013. “The potential of advanced textiles for fabric formwork.” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. 166 (4): 229–237. https://doi.org/10.1680/coma.12.00052.
Chilton, J. 2000. Heinz Isler (The engineer’s contribution to contemporary architecture). London: Thomas Telford.
Chilton, J., and G. Tang. 2017. Timber gridshells: Architecture, structure and craft. London: Routledge.
Douthe, C., J. F. Caron, and O. Baverel. 2010. “Gridshell structures in glass fibre reinforced polymers.” Constr. Build. Mater. 24 (9): 1580–1589. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2010.02.037.
Faber, C. 1963. Candela, the shell builder. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation.
Garlock, M. E. M., D. P. Billington, and N. Burger. 2008. Félix candela: Engineer, builder, structural artist. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Art Museum.
Hawkins, W. J., et al. 2016. “Flexible formwork technologies–A state of the art review.” Struct. Concr. 17 (6): 911–935. https://doi.org/10.1002/suco.201600117.
Hennicke, J., and E. Schaur. 1974. IL 10 Gitterschalen–Gridshells. Stuttgart, Germany: Institute for Lightweight Structures.
Huijben, F., F. van Herwijnen, and R. Nijsse. 2012. “14 structural morphology of VACUUMATICS 3D formwork systems: Constructing thin concrete shells with “nothing”.” In Proc., 2nd Int. Conf. on Flexible Formwork, 154–163. Bath, UK: Univ. of Bath.
Kolarevic, B. 2001. “Digital fabrication manufacturing architecture in the information age.” In Proc., 21st Annual Conf. of the Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture, 268–277. Buffalo, New York: SUNY Buffalo.
Kromoser, B., and J. Kollegger. 2015. “Pneumatic forming of hardened concrete - building shells in the 21st century.” Struct. Concr. 16 (2): 161–171. https://doi.org/10.1002/suco.201400057.
Motro, R., and B. Maurin. 2011. “Bernard Laffaille, Nicolas Esquillan, Two French pioneers.” In Proc., IASS/IABSE Symp.: Taller, Longer, Lighter, 1–8. London, UK: IABSE/IASS.
Naidu, M. K. S. 1963. “Research in materials and construction.” J. Inst.Eng. (India) 44: 211.
Pedreschi, R. 2008. “Form, force and structure: A brief history.” Archit. Des. 78 (2): 12–19. https://doi.org/10.1002/ad.636.
Rippmann, M., L. Lachauer, and P. Block. 2012. “Interactive vault design.” Int. J. Space Struct. 27 (4): 219–230. https://doi.org/10.1260/0266-3511.27.4.219.
Scheurer, F. 2010. “Materialising complexity.” Archit. Des. 80 (4): 86–93. https://doi.org/10.1002/ad.1111.
Tang, G. 2012a. “Deployable gridshells and their application as temporary, re-usable and flexible concrete formwork.” In In Proc., 2nd Int. Conf. on Flexible Formwork, 324–333. Bath, UK: Univ. of Bath.
Tang, G. 2012b. “The rise and fall of the thin concrete shell.” In Proc., 2nd Int. Conf. on Flexible Formwork, 334–344. Bath, UK: Univ. of Bath.
Tang, G. 2012c. “Deployable gridshells and their application as a physical form finding tool: Constructing an innovative life-size strained timber gridshell.” In Proc., Int. Association of Shells and Spatial Structures Conf. From Spatial Structures to Space Structures, 684–692. Seoul, Korea: Korean Association of Spatial Structures.
Tang, G. 2018. “RE-SURFACE: The novel use of deployable and actively-bent gridshells as resuable, reconfigurable and intuitive concrete shell formwork.” Ph.D. thesis, Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (ESALA), Univ. of Edinburgh.
Tayeb, F., O. Baverel, J. F. Caron, and L. Du Peloux. 2013. “Construction of gridshells composed of elastically bended elements and covered by a stretched three-dimensional membrane.” In Structural Membranes 2013. Munich, Germany: International Association for Computational Mechanics (IACM).
Veenendaal, D., J. Bakker, and P. Block. 2015. “Structural design of the cable-net and fabric formed, ferrocement sandwich shell roof of NEST HiLo.” In Proc., Int. Association for Shell and Spatial Structures Annual Symp., 1–12. Madrid, Spain: International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures.
Veenendaal, D., and P. Block. 2014. “Design process for prototype concrete shells using a hybrid cable-net and fabric formwork.” Eng. Struct. 75: 39–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2014.05.036.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 26 • Issue 4 • December 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 25, 2019
Accepted: May 5, 2020
Published online: Aug 20, 2020
Published in print: Dec 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Jan 20, 2021
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.