Report: Modular Load-Bearing Construction - A System for Corporate Architecture
Corporate architecture has long established itself in business culture as an emblematic form of identity. It is not surprising, therefore, to find the same steel canopy construction system used for car showrooms in places as far apart as Wolfsburg and Sarajevo. The system, developed for a German automobile manufacturer, can be extended in any direction. It comprises a 7 ≈ 7 m grid of lattice girders supported by columns at 14 ≈ 14 m centres. The individual canopy elements consist of a central column from which four diagonal arms are cantilevered. The arms, supported by four raking struts, are constructed from slender steel hollow sections, secured against overturning at the head of each column by bolted fixings between pairs of lugs. Both the arms and the columns have a tapered form, which reflects the distribution of the loading to which they are subject. The column shaft consists of 10 -12 mm thick welded sheet steel. 80 m deep canopy head is constructed of lightweight tubular lattice girders bolted to node elements at the ends of the cantilevered arms. A peripheral strip canti / levered from the edges of the canopy serves to support the facade and the sunshading louvres. In view of the repeated use foreseen for this system, a typical structural calculation was made for a standard situation. In the meantime, more than 40 showrooms of this type have been built around the world.
