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Article from issue 6/2000 »Membran Construction«

Events Centre in Edinburgh

documentation p. 1024 - 1029
Architect Hopkins & Partner | Structural Engineer Ove Arup + Partners |

Drafts
Abutment between roof light and membrane 1:10
Cross-section through intermediate "coathanger" girder 1:10
Junction between glazed facade and roof 1:10
Plan of entrance level 1:500
Section 1:50
Site plan 1:5000
Vertical section through pylon 1:50

The Dynamic Earth Centre consists of three main sections: the amphitheatre, the membrane roof, and the exhibition structure in a solid form of construction. The amphitheatre will be used mainly during the Edinburgh Festival, but it also functions as a public forecourt and a grand staircase, via which visitors reach the museum entrance level and viewing platform. To establish a relationship with the attractive surroundings, this level – the uppermost storey – is covered by a light, curved membrane roof, which is visible from afar against the imposing background of hills. The side walls are in glass, so that one has the impression internally of being in a covered open space, amply daylighted via glass slits in the roof and around the edges of the membrane.
The solid structure at the base was built over the remains of a Victorian brewery and houses an exhibition thatdescribes the history of the earth. The lightweight form of the roof is contrasted with the solid sections of the complex and with the urban surroundings. Externally, the link withthesubject of the exhibition, “Earth and Nature”, isestablished by both natural and shaped rockformations. In contrast, the light, white roof skin and its minimal steel structure symbolize the artificial world created by man. The tent roof is supported by a system of eight reciprocally stayed pylons; four ladder girders suspended from them, which provide lateral bracing; and three tubular cross-girders that form the intermediate “ridges” in the PTFE-coated glass-fibre membrane.