Innovative Gridshell Node Design Technique to be Patented
A patent has been applied for the innovative Gridshell Node Clamp, in a joint venture for Buro Happold, The Weald and Downland Open Air Museum, Edward Cullinan Architects Ltd and the Green Oak Carpentry Company. The Node Clamp is the innovative design solution, which will enable the timber gridshell roof at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum to be raised this autumn.
The Gridshell is a timber structure based on straight lines, criss-crossed to form a rotating grid plane. The Node Clamp, a fundamental part of the design, enables the green oak wood to rotate and distort, by bending and lifting, to form a three dimensional structure. The Node Clamp locates the geometry of the grid without weakening it. Once the structure has reached its final shape, the bolts of each coupling are used to connect timber bracing and are then tightened to compress the wood together.
Richard Harris, Senior Associate at Buro Happold comments: “The patent process marks the end of an exciting research initiative which enabled us to develop a particular joint for a specific structure. We have worked closely with our colleagues to produce a simple yet innovative product using computer-aided technology. The node design will allow us to take our research findings forward to new building projects. It is a solution allowing sustainable timber structures to be constructed quickly and cost effectively, but with minimum environmental impact.”
The Gridshell will form part of a new centre for the conservation and study of timber-framed building at the Weald and Dowland Open Air Museum in Sussex, one of the UK's first major gridshell buildings. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the building is practical in operation and innovative in design, and reflects the theme of the craft of timber using traditional and locally available materials.
