Urban Rail-Link Station in Stuttgart

Situated near the Stuttgart Television Tower in a relatively undeveloped area with various sporting facilities, this open station for the city rail link is covered by a lightweight tent roof construction. The arched form of the structure was a response to the sunken site area. The roof is spanned between the upper edge of the rear retaining wall to the road and a row of piers at the lower level. The supporting structure comprises four triangular stainless-steel arched trusses at 7.5 m centres. The trusses are based on the principle of a Vierendeel girder. The geometry of the trusses – a polygonally resolved segment of a circle elongated in a straight leg at one end – reflects the loading to which they are subject. The roof membrane, which is curved in two directions and has a surface area of 360 m2, consists of glass-fibre fabric coated with a synthetic resin. It is supported by ridge cables on the axes of the arches and braced by cables at the edges. The membrane is firmly fixed to the concrete upstand at the top by means of clamping strips. Along the lower edge, the ridge and peripheral cables are fixed to cable stays via node connecting pieces and forked fittings. The structural calculations were based on an ideal system, comprising a combination of latticework (membrane and cables) and flexural elements (arched trusses). The geometric form and the shape of the fabric covering prior to tensioning were determined in the same process.