all of the components beforehand, and allow for more accurate cost estimating as there was no need to factor in modifications or additional expenses. Incorporating cultural values into the building design Scion and the design team were also interested in incorporating the local Maori tribe’s cultural values into the building’s design to help minimize the impact on local surroundings, while also protecting and championing the spaces sacred to the Maori. The Maori view the forest as a sacred space that provides protection. With the tribe's input, shades of green reminiscent of the diverse hues found in a tree’s leaves adorn the building’s glass envelope. "We often find architecture is like nature. A tree is just trying to hold its leaves off the ground, but it becomes the most beautiful-looking thing as it grows. When you come into the three-story atrium, all these divergent wood beams are holding up the structure like the limbs of a tree,” said Naish. Technology at play Trimble’s SketchUp, a 3D modeling software, was used from the initial concept design through the preliminary design phase. SketchUp’s geometric modeling capabilities aligned perfectly with the repetitive timber components, facilitating rapid design iterations. “We use SketchUp because it’s quick and easy. We created groups and components, so changing one component could be easily reelected across the entire design,” said Naish. The model was shared with the client and the engineering team, and as the project advanced, Revit was used alongside SketchUp so that two parallel models could be built. While the Revit model contained intricate details, the SketchUp model was used for presenting
Would a building made entirely of wood be possible? In addition to an open layout that enhanced the transparency of the Scion’s work, the design team also proposed that the building be made entirely of wood, which had never been done in New Zealand before. At first glance, engineer Alistair Cattanach said it was impossible. However, a week later, he presented a solution that mimicked how one would finger joint timber for furniture—only at a much larger scale. This was accomplished by joining two pieces of wood together with six to eight 100mm fingers, with the interlocking elements glued together—making the bond so strong that it creates one structural element out of two pieces of timber. Understanding how to engineer the joinery was the “eureka” moment that spurred the revolutionary construction technique applied throughout the timber structure. Luckily, Scion’s stakeholders are timber scientists who understand the unique properties of wood, and they knew that an all-wood structure was the way of the future—and, more importantly, possible. “Typically, mass timber buildings, particularly hybrid buildings, might have concrete floors on the upper levels. This places a lot of heavy mass above ground level that would require significant seismic restraint. At Scion, all the upper-level floors are mass timber, making them lighter and able to be restrained by the diagrid structure,” said Naish. The wood structure’s lightweight footprint and repetitive design elements cut design time and construction costs. That’s because there were only six different components for most of the structure–a diamond cut vertically, then in half, a diamond cut horizontally, and corner pieces. Having fewer components reduced manufacturing and construction waste since predictable shapes reduce leftover timber cuttings. With such simple building blocks, the team could purposefully specify
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csengineermag.com
Spring 2024
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