surface scaling

i've been testing different cladding options for complex geometries, this is a simple hexagonal script applied to the base surface. the hexagon cell is lofted to a single point which creates a very nice scale effect on the surface.

DRL TEN Pavilion

following the DRL_TEN exhibition opening 22 February at the Architectural Association in London i'm revisiting my proposal for the pavilion. below are the submission sheets. [C]Space the winning entry, designed by alan dempsey and alvin huang, is on site and well under way. scheduled to open to the public 13 March.

honeycomb script

here are a few images of a rhino scripting exercise to create a gradient honeycomb pattern on a surface. the surface i used was that of my AADRL TEN proposal. the script essentially plots a honeycomb grid, scaling down the hexagons closest to the 'locators', in this case a randomly plotted point cloud. the gradience can be controlled by pre-defining the location of the locators.

DRL TEN Pavilion

The AADRL_TEN pavilion is a bio-morphic formal expression of the DRL’s growth, reflecting the foundation of the graduate programme to its current world-wide recognition and prestige. The aim of this proposal is to test the structural capabilities of fibre-c as a suitable material for non-standard forms.

The panels have been designed based on the structural principle of corrugation, folding a flat sheet of material to increase its structural properties. The edges of the panels are folded to create rigid modules. The modules are stacked and bolted together with steel plate connections to form ribs, and each rib is fastened together to create an overall rigid tubular system. The folded edges of the modules transfer vertical forces to the laminated timber support structure. The infill surface of the module serves for lateral bracing and can be milled with a pattern to reduce material weight in areas of larger spans, creating a play between solid and transparency.

The challenge was to create repetition in the modules while trying to follow the complex curvature of the pavilion’s form. By breaking apart the overall form into typical zones, five moulds can be used to fold the wet fibre-c sheets. Each mould can create between four and six variations resulting in a total of 22 unique panel types.

Looking at a rule based system of neighbour associations, a voronoi script was used to produce the tessellation pattern, maintaining the surface’s structural requirement through its triangulated apertures. Using variation in flat panel sizes and applying apertures in specific locations created a pixelization of the pavilion’s surface and was enhanced by using five shades of grey standard to the fibre-c collection.

DRL TEN Pavilion

The aim of this option is to test the structural capabilities of fibre-c while achieving a complex formal expression.

The pavilion is a formal expression of the growth of the DRL, starting from a small tail growing and engulfing everyone that comes to see it, reflecting the foundation of the graduate programme to the DRL’s current worldwide recognition and prestige.

The edges of the fibre-c panels are folded to create a rigid framed module. The modules are stacked and fastened together to form a structural rib, each rib is fastened together to create a rigid structural tubular system. In one direction the edges of the fibre-c modules behave as rings to transfer the weight down to the laminated timber support structure. In the other direction the edges act as lateral bracing. The infill pieces of the modules can then be milled with a pattern to create a global emergent effect as well as reducing material weight in areas of larger spans.

The challenge is to create repetition in the modules, by breaking apart the overall form into zones, each zone will use a unique module type. The module types range from square (at both ends of the pavilion) to diamond shaped (at the center of the pavilion), and infill pattern curvature goes from single (both ends of pavilion) to conical (at the center of the pavilion).

DRL TEN Pavilion

more progress images

DRL TEN Pavilion

here are some progress images of my submission for the DRL Ten Pavilion competition. developing as an animalistic form, the process involved rationalizing the surface to increase the amount of repetition in the cladding panelization.