BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 2 (BLD 60703/ARC 2513)

Project 2: Understanding Forces in Building

Construction

The Savill Building ONG HUEY CHYI 0326649

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| SIM LI MEI 0328623 | CHONG MIN 0333339 | NG JING YUAN 0331472
Tutor: Dr. Sujatavani Gunasagaran

Timber Grid Shell: Roof components

Introduction Load Distribution
Aesthetic consideration was taken into account which resulted in roof sit on the larch gridshell to
Designed by the Glen Howells Architect, the Savill Building is a visitor
blend well into the site.
centre that is placed at the entrance to the Savill Garden in Windsor Great
Park, Surrey, England, built in 2006.
Load stresses in the laths and plywood
bracing are very small if no other loads
are applied. More critical conditions of
load forces are mostly induced by severe
wind and snow. Snow collected on the
roof can cause compression force in the
dome’s larch laths and brings tension to Silver-grey oak boards (100mm x
the plywood. These forces are then 20mm)
transferred through the domes and -placed at 135mm ctrs as cladding
valleys of the roof, to the steelwork and
foundations.
Oak bearers (75mm x 35mm)
-fixed to aluminium seam roof using
modified seam clips
Roof Layers

Aluminium standing seam panels

From uppermost layer gridshell to supporting layer structure to the glass facade. -acts as waterproof layer and support
for the oak rainscreen

The Gridshell
The Savill Building’s main feature is it’s three-domed, double curved
structure of Gridshell roof. With 90 metres long by 25 metres wide timber 160mm insulation layer
gridshell, the roof is made up of mainly 80x50mm larch laths in a regular -made up of rockwool
1 meter grid.

Aluminium seam clip

The roof is constructed mainly of locally grown -support seam panels with insulation in
high quality larch. Larch is a softwood that is Timber between
harder, tougher and moderately durable, gridshell
making it suitable to be used for the supports roof
as grid structure
structure 12mm birch plywood
- triangulated and laid diagonally to each
Birch Plywood mainly supports the roof layer and butt-jointed with steel strips
insulation and cladding of outer skin and
provide shear strength and stiffness to the
curved shell.Plywood is used in the roof 12mm birch plywood
mainly as the ceiling of the building due to its Structural steel tubular - cross-laid pattern over the larch grid
durability and strength to with hold screw well. ring beam & quadropods as structural skin which provide
stiffness and internal finish to the
ceiling
Oak is used as roof cladding due to its high
durability. The skin will weather naturally to a
silvery-grey finish and provide aesthetic. Gridshell
-acts as the main roof structure
Steel is used to enclose the roof gridshell
edges and it functions well as the boundary Glass facade
due to its stiffness and rigidity, Steel is used
as supporting legs as it has high strength to
withstand the load forces of gridshell roof.

2. Construction of 2D 8. Weather-proofing 9. Cladding

1. Wood Preparation grid
The 6m lengths, 80mm x After the steel
50mm larches were perimeter is set, the
joined using scarf joints lower lath and wooden
with a slope 1 in 7 into block are laid on the
36 metre lengths for the scaffold onto the flat
gridshell. lattice and fixed to it.
3. Final 3D shape 7.Skin construction Rockwool insulation, Oak was specified for
4.Final Form Construction 5. Ring Beam Installation 6. Upper Lath Construction
Lower lath and 12mm birch covered by aluminium its natural resistance
Pull-down, lift up and Steel ring beam and By using bolts and
wooden block were plywood placed roof system and a to the elements and
push-up to make it more wooden shell is attached adhesive, another two
manipulated into the over the larch grid profiled standing-seam for the silvery-grey
compatible to the stiff test together to support roof layers of larch lattice were
form. to form 1600 square waterproof skin and look it will assume as
and increased flexibility. structure. attached to the ring beam.
metres triangulated rainscreens. it weathers.
shell.
 Timber Grid Shell: Structural System

Connection Details Joints

Short larch are used as gap filler to the top Screw is used to screw the shear block to
two layers for plywood to laid above. bottom lath layer and the gap filler which
functions as non structural elements to the
top layer lath. Top layer lath and bottom layer
lath is then bolted.
Screw
Gap filler
The top two layers placed to build up the full
gridshell depth.
The timber was sawn to 80 x
50mm, knots and defects were
removed and then finger jointed
at into 6m lengths offsite and
strength graded to either medium
or high grade (C16 or C24). The
higher grade lathes then scarf
jointed with a gradient of 1:7 on
site to produce 36m continuous
lengths.

Nu
t Finger Joint
Shear blocks placed at 500mm ctrs placed Disc spring
above the bottom layers of larch resulted in
higher out-of-plane strength and stiffness Washer
and increase possibility of greater spacing
of the layers.
Shear blocks

Scarf Joint

The bottom two layers of larch laid out first

for ease of position. The grid of the gridshell Upper larch lath
roof were laid out on a 1 m x 1m grid
spacing. 80 x 50mm laths were used to form
the gridshell.
Wings

Kerto laminated
veneer lumber (LVL)
Roof Edge Connections
Galvanised steel
Steel quadropod structure connection detail
plates
Steel ring beam
The 400mm diameter tubular steel ring beam
Each steel quadrupod supporting leg of 300mm in
functions to enclose the roof edge, which is
diameter consisted of two “V” shapes. One pointing
Steel support prop welded to galvanised steel plates as connection
outwards and one pointing inwards. Steel edge plate
to the gridshell.
Steel base plate is welded and fix into the ground.
Kerto laminated veneer lumber (LVL) is then Plywood sheet
screwed and blocked into the lathe and bolted to
steel edge plate.
Steel pin connector

The steel edge plate is then connected to the Lower larch laths
galvanised steel plates.

2 layers of
Stick 2 layers of laths Paired shear blocks were Grid shell layers
plywood,insulation.
2 layers of together with printed added in between the grid Ring beam, added on the Quadropods
standing-seam
laths with out gridshell shell,plywood sheet, quadropd,steel polystyrene are added
paired shear aluminium roof rain
structure plan, stick steel edge plate, prop base mould to create to support
blocks resistant,oak bearer
it on a bottle to timber deck, added curved shape the roof
and oak board were
maintain curvy shape laminated veneer lumber coners.
added