166
Category 4: Special Projects
4
Canopy - Shenzhen, China
SE
Contact
Katrien Vandermarliere
Address TerHulpsesteenweg 181
1170 Brussels, Belgium
Website
Ney & Partners is a structural engineering consultancy and architectural
office. An active vision of civil engineering that integrates different
disciplines is what motivates us. The foundation of a successful project
is the synthesis of all contextual elements. We do not view the boundary
conditions as obstacles but as fuel for our creativity. Our motto is ‘high
engineering’ instead of ‘high tech’: effective engineering that adds value
by eliminating the non-essential.
Owner
Gemdale Dabaihui
Architect
Ney & Partners
Engineering Office
Ney & Partners
Construction Period 01/2016 - 04/2016
The Futian District in downtown Shenzhen, South China, is undergoing a
process of complete transformation. In the central plaza, the canopy has to
temper the climate during hot summers, be a medium of communication,
and become an iconic symbol of the new district. The structure integrates
3 technical chimneys as columns. From their 15 m high top, it develops
into a continuous surface of over 1,800 m
2
. The geometry is induced by a
form-finding computation in order to optimize the stress distribution across
the steel network. These structural elements are organized into a set of
Fermat’s spirals, divided into ladders, to be prefabricated in the workshop
and connected on site. 5,000 steel leaves play with the lights.
SCIA Engineer has been used to create a 3D analytical model made
out of beam elements for the entire canopy. The structure is divided into
3 parts: the columns, the cores and the roof. The geometry has been
created through the use of the ‘import dxf/dwg” function. The steel plates
of the roof have been optimized using the “Productivity toolbox” to export
the results to a custom Excel file and then the “Table input” functionality
to update the geometry (cross-sections). Stability and dynamic analyzes
have been performed to check the good holding of the structure.
The efficiency of the computation process allowed us to compare different
geometries and explore different structural solutions to reach an efficient
and iconic design.
Ney & Partners
