Webs, nets and tensile

structures in architecture
Professor John Chilton
School of Architecture, Design and Built Environment
Nottingham Trent University
john.chilton@ntu.ac.uk

11 May 2009

Understanding Complex Structures

Introduction

Content:

structure and pattern in nature

grids and gridshells
cable nets
tensile fabric structures

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Understanding Complex Structures

Venus flower basket (Euplectella aspergillum)

Siliceous glass sponge, 30cm
(courtesy Ture Wester)

Courtesy Ture Wester

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Understanding Complex Structures

Complex spatial grids (nets) can

be assembled from steel
components such as the Mero bar
and node system developed
specifically for the new Milan Fair
canopy (2005).
(Architect: Massimiliano Fuksas
Engineer: Schlaich Bergermann &
Partners)

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Understanding Complex Structures

Courtesy Ture Wester

Examples of Radiolaria from Hckel, Art Forms in Nature, 1974

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Geodesic dome
Dali Museum, Figueras, Spain

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Sometimes emulating a birds

nest is more difficult.
Beijing Olympic Stadium (2006)
Architect: Herzog & de Meuron
Engineer: Arup

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Woven tensegrity structure

Final Examination Project, DTU 2002: C. Lundstrm & A.P. Galsgaard
Photo: Ture Wester

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Understanding Complex Structures

Spiders web
Spiral or orb web - filigree net of
tensile threads

Photo: John Chilton

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Kibble Palace, Glasgow (original

Coulport, Loch Long early 1860s,
on present site 1872/3)
Filigree net of glazing bars, stabilised
by the glass

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Timber gridshells at the Earth Centre

Deformed square grids stabilised in
double-curved form by diagonal cables

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Millenniium Dome (O2 Arena),

London (1999)
Suspended cable net on domed form
covered with tensile fabric (PTFE/glass)
Architect: Richard Rogers; Engineer:
Buro Happold

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Sony Centre
Berlin, Germany, 2000
Architects: Murphy & Jahn
Engineers: Arup

Generally for stability architectural

tensile cable net and membrane
structures have anticlastic double
curvature. However, curvature can be
synclastic for inflated membranes.
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Basic shapes
Anticlastic tensile structures

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Olympic Games stadium, Munich, Germany, 1972

Architects: G. Behnisch & F. Otto; Engineers: F. Leonhardt & Jrg Schlaich
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For tensile membrane structures a

woven fabric (e.g. polyester; glass) is
substituted for the cable net and this
receives an impermeable coating (e.g.
PVC, PTFE, silicone, PVDF) which is
usually translucent.
Typical formation

Coated woven membranes

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Design process for architectural

membrane structures

Select boundary conditions

Form-finding of surface shape using e.g.

Determine stresses in membrane under service conditions (e.g.

snow, wind loads) using structural finite element analysis software

support locations
edge details
pre-stress to be applied
dynamic relaxation
force-density

Select appropriate material

Fabrication and installation

Patterning
Cutting of fabric
Radio-frequency or heated bar welding (usually)
assembly into fields
tensioning between boundaries

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SOUTH ELEVATION

PLAN VIEW

Boundary Conditions support for membrane

Inland Revenue Amenity Building, Nottingham
( Architect: Hopkins Architects; Engineer: Arup)

WEST ELEVATION

Form-finding (Technet Easy)

Patterning (Technet Easy)

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Structural analysis (Technet Easy)

Cutting pattern (Tensys)

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Form-finding with physical models

Used for early cable nets and can also
be used (following inversion) for pure
compression structures (e.g.
reinforced concrete shells)

Photograph: John Chilton

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Petrol station canopy, Deitingen, Switzerland , 1968

31.6m Span/thickness ratio ~400:1

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Photograph: Heinz Isler

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PVC coated polyester fabrics

PTFE coated glass fibre fabrics

+ Cheaper
+ Flexible

+ Chemically inert
+ Lifespan >25 years

- Tend to discolour with time

- lifespan 10-15 years

- Very stiff (more difficult to handle/detail)

- More expensive
- Not suitable for deployable structures

Typical materials
Coated woven Membranes
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Cutting Pattern
Stadium roof in Abuja, Nigeria showing patterning of
membrane surface (Form TL). This has an impact on
the aesthetic of the architectural envelope

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Cutting
Welding
Assembly into field

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Tensile membranes
By their nature tensile
membrane structures are
designed to cover large areas
with lightweight material
(commonly around 1 kg/m2).
They are also designed for
ease of dismantling, as the
surface has a design life of
typically 15 to 25 years after
which it needs to be replaced.

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Tensile membranes
During installation the prefabricated
membrane is suspended and pre-tensioned
using (normally) steel components (such as
edge cables, bolts, plates etc) attached to
steel masts and tie-downs.
Dismantling directly reverses the erection
process. PVC/polyester membranes can be
fully recycled.
http://www.texyloop.com/internet/gb/

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More information on tensile fabric architecture:

www.tensinet.com
www.architen.com
www.formfinder.at
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