Eden Project – Dome
Architect- Nicholas Grimshaw
Location- Cornwall, UK
Year- 2000
Materials- Steel Frame and Thermoplastic
The Eden Project is a phenomenal that consist of giant
multi-dome green house that contains many plants from around the globe. The site has become a tourist attraction and
the most impressive dome is the multi -domed structure that recreates the
natural environment of a tropical rainforest.
I recognized this dome structure through searches through environmental
blogs.
Since, the Eden project is a giant green house, the correct
site was essential and needed to receive sunlight. The site that was picked faces the south
sloping downward, which allows for the area to have plenty of sunlight. One of the first obstacles that occurred in
the building process was the pit contained mostly clay which is doesn’t contain
the nutrients for plant life. Before
construction, the crew had to make composting soil make from clay and green
waste to create the nutrients needed for plant growth. Another major obstacle occurred in the early
days of construction as well by having rainfall for two months the site was
flooded. This had the crew install a
sump pump and water catchment system to harvest almost half the water that is
used throughout the green house to water the plants.
Another interesting feature to the Eden project is that each
hexagon is enclosed in a “sturdy pillow” made from 3 layers ETFE material. Each layer is pumped with air to allow
increased insulation without decreasing the amount of sunlight coming into the
greenhouse. Most greenhouses use a vent to control the heat but the Eden project
thought of a more innovative and sustainable solution for this problem. The three main domes that occur at this green
house mansion are a humid tropics biome which, houses the tropical rainforest
and is the tallest and widest dome of them all at just 787 feet long, 180 ft
high and 360 ft wide. The warm
temperature dome is also housed in the same multi-dome as the humid tropics
biome, are similar to the tropical forest as they receive a lot of rain in a
year but experiences seasons unlike the tropical biome. Lastly is the roofless biome, which is an
open biome that spread 30 acres. The
open area contains plants from the Cornwall area as well as Argentina, Chile
and the Himalayas.
The Eden Project architecture gives a very light feel to the
building but once you enter inside you feel you have entered an environmental
sanctuary filled with many plants. The
project revels some aspects to the light and floating feel through its use of air
in between the clear layers as well as being exposed to the earth. The Eden plans to expand there facilities
more to the public to allow for children to learn more about the plants as well
as start to introduce animals in the most natural way.
Sources:
http://www.edenproject.com
Structure
Interior - Construction Phase
Interior - With Wildlife and Plants
London Gherkin – 30 St. Mary Axe – Space Form
Architect Firm- Foster and Partners
Architect- Norman Foster
Structural Engineer- Arup
Location- London, UK
Completed in 2003
When I visited London about 3 summers ago, I was drawn to
this building as I was riding a red double decker bus. The form of the elongated egg intrigued me. I never knew much about the structure and
only a little bit about the history of the building so I thought it would be a
prime example for this response.
The Gherkin sits in the financial district in London and is
a headquarters to many different companies such as Swiss Re and some offices of
Sky News. The original plans of the
building caused some controversy and fears to the city. The building could interfere with London
Heathrow’s airport as well as interfere with some views of the St. Paul Dome in
certain areas of the city. This
encouraged Norman Foster to create a scaled down version.
The Gherkin has a lens like dome at the top, which plays as
an observation deck. The Building is
heavily enriched in energy efficiency.
The open shafts built between each floor act as ventilation for the
building and require no energy to do so.
The shafts take the warm air out of the building in the summer and use
the sun to bring heat in during the winter months. The shape of the building was also taken into
account and was built as an elongated egg to become more aerodynamic with the
local wind that will surround the building.
The structure of the Gherkin consists of a diagrid, which responds to
the buildings curved shape and provides vertical support to the floors allowing
for an open office space. This diagrid
reminds me of the space form, which is similar to a truss. There is also a central core that only acts
under vertical load. The elements of the
façade include open glass screen, an internal sunscreen, a column casing of
aluminum and a façade frame of extruded aluminum.
The London Gherkin gives off a very powerful but light
feel. The powerful feel comes from the building
over towering the financial district but conveys a light feel by using glass as
the buildings façade. One day, I hope to
go back to England and make it to the top of the observatory dome.
Sources
Norman Foster's drawings about wind flow
Construction phase
Relationship of original buildings to Financial District Buildings.
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