Structure as Architecture - School of Architecture

hall is also walled-off to avoid any structural protrusions into the hall. As

well as its functional suitability, this structure-and-skin combination has

won over critics by its elegance of detail and sheer transparency. The

nightly drama of printing is now highly visible from a nearby road.

By their very nature, shell structures are supported at their perimeters.

Although any associated structural elements, such as the ribs that might

increase the strength of a shell are usually constructed inside the exterior

skin, their structural depths are so shallow as to not reduce space usage

significantly. The Toscana Thermal Pools, Bad Sulza, enclosed by glue-

laminated timber ribbed-shells, benefit from planning freedom uncon-

strained by structure (Figs 5.4 and 5.5). Free-flowing interior spaces

surround the main pools. As well as providing openness in plan, the shells’

ribbed interior surfaces contribute to the attractive interior ambience.

The interior portal frames of the Timber Showroom, Hergatz, are repre-

sentative of most interior perimeter structures whose vertical members

intrude into the building plan (Fig. 5.6). Sometimes, floor plan edge-

zones whose widths equal the structural depths can be incorporated

unobtrusively into the overall building function. Take Gothic churches, for

example, where numerous side chapels slot between deep internal but-

tresses adjacent to the aisles. At Hergatz, it is of little consequence that

structure does not integrate with an edge-zone function. The glue-

laminated timber columns are quite shallow, and the exposed frames pos-

sess an unusual attractiveness. Here, a conventional engineering system,

often relegated to light-industrial buildings, is transformed into one with

intrinsic beauty by virtue of its detailing quality. Curves soften the appear-

ance of the frames and invite new architectural interpretations of their

BUILDING FUNCTION 83

▲5.4 Toscana Thermal Pools, Bad Sulza, Germany, Ollertz &
Ollertz, 1999. Timber shell structures.

▲5.5 Open structure-free space under the shell roofs.

▲5.6 Timber Showroom, Hergatz,
Germany, Baumschlager-Eberle, 1995.
Timber columns project into the showroom.