London Metropolitan MA LAB

Last week the MA LAB was finally completed. After almost 2 years, the design having been updated multiple times and the go ahead obtained to cut the MDF sheets at Met Works; the cut pieces were assembled over two days by a group of MA students. The design was to provide 10 PC work stations for the MA students and ample storage space for models, materials and portfolios. Design limitations included the sole use of friction joints and the lack of fixings to the floor and walls of the room.

collecting the cnc milled panels from MetWorks

laser cut model of initial design

arranging the components and fitting the friction joints together

Smart Geometry Conference 2010

Principle studio attended the Smart Geometry Workshop and Conference in Barcelona to further the exploration into tensioned surfaces. The 'Building Prototypes' workshop served as an opportunity to develop through fabrication, the creative possibilities shared by digital design and the most up to date numerically controlled construction techniques.

The stage within the IAAC building in Barcelona

The tensioned fabric surface and cable net to be stretched across the IAAC hall, was calculated and stressed through Processing and imported in G.C to be developed into flat elements.

surface in G.C and Processing

This revealed to be the trickiest part of the exploration as no accurate method for the description of the fabric's elastic behaviour could be produced. A series of approximations involving the discretization of the mesh geometry were used to create flattened fabric templates

  

Cutting and stitching process

tensioned element within cable net

Despite the availability of a cutting machine, the fragility of the fabric made it impossible to use the cutter, which required for each profile to be hand cut. This and approximations in the unfolding script were perceivable once the 26 fabric tubes were connected to the net frame. For such a reason it was chosen to keep the 3 which appeared to describe the geometry more closely.

26 tubes failing to connect to each other and the supporting net

3 fabric tubes connected to the cable net

Easter break

Open living room (left) and kitchen (right) with plastered walls

25mm thick double glazed 2.2 U-value units

Plastered corridor walls with finished lowered ceiling.

Ceiling trap doors conceal the service points and the boiler

The boiler concealed in ceiling of corridor

The bedroom

Entering main bathroom from corridor

Fittings are ready to accept sanitary ware

The shower and in the lower image showing the pan area with a separating ledge