The Downland Gridshell
Conservation Store and Workshop

[Back to Gridshell Construction Index] [Index of Buildings] [Home]

Fixing the Gridshell

June 2001  - 

The following pictures were taken on June 5th 2001

Prior to the assembly of the gridshell, marine ply fascias were attached to the floor and the ends of the Glulam beams.  Angle brackets were then attached to either side of the Glulam beam ends and five holes drilled through the fascias aligned with holes in the brackets.  The following picture shows the position of the brackets and the holes.  

Where the laths of the grid overlap the fascia, the gaps between the laths have been filled with additional sections of lath giving a solid section four times the depth of the individual laths.

Blocks have been laminated at each point on the fascia where a bracket exists inside the fascia.  A further layer of marine ply matching the inner fascia is added to form a sandwich consisting of two layers of marine ply and four thicknesses of lath.  The sandwich will be secured with bolts through the ply and laths and the whole sandwich will be bolted to the brackets at the end of the Glulam beam forming a fully rigid fixing at the base of the structure.

The next picture shows how this process has been completed for the end frames, the small bolt heads fix the sandwich and the large bolts will be driven through the sandwich and the end frame and secured on the inside.

The following picture shows the view from the outside of the frame.

The following picture taken 22nd June shows the process completed.

The final picture in this series taken on 22nd June shows the additional laths that have been introduced at half metre centres where the areas of maximum stress will occur in the gridshell; horizontal or vertical laths have been fixed at each grid intersection point to lock the triangulation into its current position so that when the jacking system is removed the gridshell will retain its current shape.

The wooden cladding will be attached to the horizontal laths and the vertical laths will support the polycarbonate glazing.  The first vertical panels of cladding can be seen together with the first frame of the structure to support the ribbon roof

September 2001

Ply cover plates are inserted to tidy up the junction of the gridshell and the deck.

[Next: Constructing the Ribbon Roof]