Structure as Architecture - School of Architecture

In the progression towards examples of visually heavier detailing two

buildings are visited that incorporate instances of both light and heavy

detailing. The Learning Resource Centre, Slough, consists of three

forms – a main rectilinear concrete-framed block housing bookcases,

seminar rooms and offices; a light-weight curved roof enclosing a three-

storey volume; and within it, a single-storey concrete structure whose

upper floor accommodates computing and study areas (Fig. 7.58).

Detailing for lightness is most evident in the curved roof structure,

although vertical posts at each end of the light-weight structure are

STRUCTURAL DETAILING 159

▲ 7.56 Charles de Gaulle Airport: Terminal 2F, Paris, France,
Aéroports de Paris, 1999. Light-weight ‘peninsula’ roof.

▲ 7.57 Tension-spokes allow frames to wrap around the

floor slab.

▲ 7.58 Learning Resource Centre, Thames Valley University, Slough, England, Richard

Rogers Partnership, 1996. The two exterior forms.