11th CCC Congress HAINBURG 2015

Session poster

GLASS FIBER-REINFORCED CONCRETE AS A COMPONENT THE

NON-LINEAR SHAPED STRUCTURAL ENVELOP IN CURRENT
ARCHITECTURE
Krystyna Januszkiewicz

Summary
The paper is focusing on glass fiberreinforced concrete, used as a component of nonlinear
shaping of envelop in architecture. It is presented how glass fiberreinforced concrete is
used in the so-called non-linear shaped structural envelops of complex geometry forms,
which is easy to obtain using the NURBS-based digital design tools. Excellent examples
are, among others, objects such as the Bridge Pavilion EXPO'08 in Zaragoza, [C] SPACE
Pavilion in London (2008), The Melting Pot soccer stadium in Johannesburg (2009),
The Roca London Gallery in London (2011), The Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku (2012),
The Library and Learning Centre in Vienna (2013).

1 Introduction
At present glass fiber-reinforced concrete is an important component of structural envelop
for digitally designed curvilinear architecture. Architects today digitally create and
manipulate NURBS surfaces, producing building skins that results not only in new
expressive and aesthetic qualities, but also in new tectonic and geometric complexities. The
exterior surface of building its skin becomes necessarily emphasized due to the logics of
shape conception inherent in the NURBS-based software. The explorations in
constructability of geometrically complex envelopes in project of the digital avant-garde
have led to a rethinking of surface tectonics. Glass fiber-reinforced concrete was found at
the centre of interest of the architects specializing in the design non-linear shaped
buildings.

2 Flat-planar Fiber-C plates for free-form envelops

Glass fiberreinforced concrete consists basically of a cementitious matrix composed of
cement, sand, water, and aggregates and polymers, in which shortlength glass fibers are
dispersed. The effect of the fibers in this composite leads to an increase in the tension and
impact strength of the material. Concrete panels can be much thinner than traditional
concrete panels, making them lighter. Now the panels are an important component of
structural skin for digitally designed curvilinear architecture. Excellent examples are
objects such as the Bridge Pavilion EXPO'08 in Zaragoza (Fig.1) and The Melting Pot
soccer stadium in Johannesburg (Fig.2).

Fig. 1 Zaha Hadid Architects, Ove Arup Eng., Fig. 2 PDNA/Schlaich, Bergermann&Partners,
Bridge Pavilion EXPO'08, Zaragoza, 2008 The Melting Pot, Johannesburg, 2006-2010

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The form of the Bridge Pavilion EXPO'08 was created by digital generative tools that
mimic the natural shaping processes. Digital surfaces have been investigated when
designing the Pavilions exterior skin. Their pattern can easily wrap around complex
curvatures with a simple system of rectilinear ridges. This bridge, with a length of 275 m,
was also a pavilion of an Austrian company Rieder, producing concrete Fiber-C plates.
This bridge was in fact the main entrance to the EXPO'08 (Fig. 1). The outer skin is split
longitudinally into two elements: a lower deck made of structural metal plates, and on the
higher level, a cladding system of Fiber-C plates in various shades from white to black.
The curvature of the upper level has been rationalized into sections of cylinders that have
been subdivided into 26,500 rectangular panels of equal size. A pattern of triangles has
been inscribed into these panels, limiting the variation to 10 inscriptions which, when
combined with the chromatic variation to the panels, creates the array of optical patterns
visible on the Bridge Pavilions faade. The bridge promotes digital design and fabrication
techniques as those which allow to create eco-efficient forms saving energy and raw
materials [1].
Another example of skin with using Fiber-C plates is the The Melting Pot soccer
Stadium in Johannesburg. The geometry of the skin that spans over the entire stadium
(membrane roofing) was based on the torus with the outer radius of 300 m. This shape
allowed for the standardization of the faade panels (Fig. 2). The elevation of the stadium
is made up of plates with a thickness of 13 mm and dimensions of 120 x 180 cm, made of
glass fiber-reinforced concrete, in six colours (from dark at the bottom to light at the top)
and in three textures. The following catalogue colour items were applied: sandstone, terra,
mocha brown, terracotta, haima red, sahara. They were mounted on a steel frame. About
40,000 Fiber-C plates manufactured by Rieder Group were used [2].

Fig. 3 Alan Dempsey, Alvin Huang, [C] SPACE Pavilion, London, 2007-2008

Innovative use of flat Fiber-C plates, shows a design of the temporary, free-standing
architectural object, named [C] SPACE Pavilion which was erected in front of the
Architectural Association school in London in 2008 (Fig.3). The pavilion is formed by a
discontinuous shell structure spanning over 10 m made of thin panels which perform as
structure and skin, floor walls and furniture. The design of the pavilion takes the material
to new technical limits, which required extensive prototyping and material testing during
the design development process. The jointing of discrete concrete profiles exploits the
tensile strength of Fiber-C and a simple intersecting notch joint which is locked together
using a bespoke rubber gasket assembly. The angle of intersection at each joint
continuously varies across the structure. The design and construction of the pavilion made
radical use of 3Ddigital and physical modelling, and the design development was
completed using rigorous constraint modelling and scripting to control over 850
individually different profiles and 2000 joints of varying angles. Over a period of 6 weeks,
16 iterations of the design model were analysed before a working structural solution was
found. Finally, the elements were manufactured directly from digital models on CNC
cutting equipment using standard sized 13mm thick flat sheets of Fiber-C concrete and 15
mm thick mild steel plate. It was finally assembled by a dedicated team of DRL staff and
students with assistance from Rieder [3].

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 11th CCC Congress HAINBURG 2015
Session poster

3 Glass fibre-reinforced concrete for non-linear shaped panels

Digital design and manufacturing tools also opened up new possibilities in the
development of the internal space of buildings and their faades. The Roca London Gallery
and The Heydar Aliyev Center and The Library and Learning Centre are a manifestation of
the use of this potential (fig. 4-6).
The glass fiber-reinforced concrete panels made for Roca were composed of two layers of
concrete and a mesh with a honeycomb shape, whose strength was specified for different
stress in all directions. The Roca London Gallery by introducing curved wall and cladding
panels, the ruled interior was converted (a single floor measuring 1,100 m), giving it a
whole new character. Matrices for each of the panels, segments of the project, were made
by CNC robots. Faade panels, weighing about 800 kg each, were attached to steel sections
arranged longitudinally on the faade. The ceiling and wall panels were installed in a
similar manner

Fig. 4 Zaha Hadid Architects, Roca London Gallery, London, 2009-2011

For the London Roca showroom, 236 inner panels with a thickness of 6 cm and 36 faade
panels were prepared. The apertures in the faade are filled with huge panes of bent glass,
creating a temptation to look and come inside. Ceiling and wall decorations, reminiscent of
water drops, were made of glass fiber-reinforced gypsum, and their polished surface was
secured by transparent epoxy resin [4].

Fig. 5 Zaha Hadid Architects, The Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, 2007-2012

The Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre design achieves the ideas of a continuous architectural
landscape by using two primary elements that are profoundly interlinked: complex
geometry and materiality. The choice of the buildings materiality enabled further
development of the projects form. Glass fibre-reinforced concrete is the ideal material,
allowing the creation of the unique free form building design. A special extrusion process
incorporates layers of glass-fiber into a concrete matrix. In the top and bottom layers the
fibers are undirected and scattered; in the middle layer, they are set in fiber bundles that
take the form of the roof. The omission of steel reinforcement allows the construction of
slim concrete elements which can accommodate high stress loads despite having a very
thin section. The result is an extremely thin slab of 8-13 mm thickness that is very light-
weight yet has a high flexural strength. Besides extrusion methods, using moulds allows
panels to be created with complex geometries. Geometrically the panels are divided into
three categories: flat-planar, single curvature and double curvature [5].

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.

Fig. 6 Zaha Hadid Architects, Arup GMBH The Library and Learning Centre, Vienna, 2009-2013

The Library and Learning Centre is a building with an impressive large black volume that
cantilevers out over the roof and above the main entrance below. This part of the building
houses the main library and a cafe. The structures exterior is clad in glass fiber-reinforced
concrete panels from Austrian manufacturer Rieder. The rest of the building is finished in
white Fibre-C panels, contrasting the protruding black volume.

4 Conclusions
The presented examples clearly show how the NURBS-based software have changed
thinking about the construction and the structural and spatial aspects of building.
Architects are again resolving the problems of the relationship between geometric order,
materiality and structural complexity of forms. The glass fiberreinforced concrete up new
possibilities in the development of the new surface tectonics of free form buildings. This
concrete can lead to a revolution in structural and architectural design.

References

[1] Flaga K., Januszkiewicz K., Pikno konstrukcji mostowych, Wyd. PK, Krakow 2012.
[2] Johnson N., Soccer City Stadium, Johannesburg, Contractors World Magazine, 2010,
pp. 11-14, http://cwmags.com/cw-1-6/basic/page11.php (access: 10.03. 2015).
[3] Bruckerman O., Alberdi J., Structural Design of the DRL-10 Space Pavilion,
Journal of Architectural Engineering, Vol.16, No.3, 2010, pp. 112-118.
[4] Giedrowicz M., Roca London Gallery , AV, Vol. 59, No. 3, 2013, pp. 67-73.
[5] Winterstetter T., Alkan M., Berger R., Watanabe M., Toto A., Engineering complex
geometries the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku, Steel Construction,Vol.8, No.1,
2015, pp. 65-71.

Krystyna Januszkiewicz
(Prof., PhD DSc., Arch.)
West Pomeranian University
of Technology Szczecin
Al. Piastw 17 Szczecin 70310,
POLAND
+48 91 449 41 11
+48 694 538 812
info@fyfeco.com
URL www.zut.edu.pl

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11th CCC Congress HAINBURG 2015
Session poster