|
contents | news | |||||||||
| Octatube Gives Wings To Yitzhak Rabin Center The five overwhelming, white wings on the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv are a Dutch coup de main, realized under direction of company Octatube in Delft. These free formed roof shells, which symbolize two peace doves, cover the Great Hall and the Library. Next Monday, 14th of November, this Center will be opened in memory of the Israeli prime minister who was murdered 10 years ago. The international tendering procedure for the roofs with the accompanying steel construction and glass facades was won, due to an innovative concept, by Octatube, the design & build company of professor Mick Eekhout, and an project syndicate of co-makers. As the roofs were approached as free spanning shells a lightweight construction could be proposed and developed. For the shells a glassfiber reinforced composite material is used, combined with a production technique known from aircraft and yachting industries. The submitted solution was the answer to the architects wish to make the free formed roofs as thin, smooth and seamless as possible. The composite shells are a world innovation for the construc-tion sector, of which especially ‘liquid design’ schemes in architecture can make further use of. The glass facades as well as the double curved steel construction were produced in Delft at Octatube, also coordination of engineering, transport and assembly was done there. The production of the shell roofs was done by a cluster of Dutch companies. At Holland Composites Industrials from Lelystad the shells from glass fiber reinforced polyester, also known as GRP, were made. To make transport possible they were made in 70 segments. The structural calculations and the structural detailing of the GRP parts are done by Solico from Oosterhout. The necessary moulds for the production of the GRP panels were milled by Nedcam in Ede. In Israel the construction activities were limited to the structural connection of the shell segments on ground level, also the finishing layers were applied here. After this the shells were lifted into place one after each other. The GRP shells, with a thickness between 200 and 300 millimeters, are made using a vacuum injection method, a specialty from Holland Composites. The core of the shells made from PIR foam is covered by glass fiber cloth, which is then injected with polyester resin under a vacuum condition. The moulds from polystyrene foam used for the production of the different segments describe the exact negative form of each segment and had to be produced for each segment separately, as no repetition can be found in the whole geometry. To achieve a structural connection between the upper and lower shell skin GRP stringers are put into place in the shells. With steel inserts inside the shell, connected to the stringers, the shells are connected to the outside steel construction. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Construction News :: home page |