Umbrellas for Chamber of Commerce, Würzburg
General information
-
Location country
Germany
-
Year of construction
2003
-
Name of the client/building owner
Chamber of Commerce, Würzburg-Schweinfurt
-
Function of building
Office buildings & congress centres
-
Degree of enclosure
Open structure
-
Climatic zone
Temperate - cold winters and mild summers
-
Number of layers
mono-layer
-
Type of application of the membrane
attached
-
Primary function of the tensile structure
- Daylight gains
- Wind protection
Description
In the inner courtyard of the Chamber of Commerce at Würzburg three extraordinary umbrellas were installed, offering an impressing sight. Each umbrella has a height of approximately 13 m and the total covered area is approximately 475 m². The biggest umbrella has an edge length of 14 m x 14 m. The funnel shape, which often is used in desert areas to collect rain, also has the advantage that it can drain the surface rain via the posts. Thus, costly drainage systems are avoided.
The main sub-structure of the roof consists of clamped steel posts and a fine frame fixed on the posts by horizontal and sloped struts. The extremely demanding tensioning process of the posts was carried out via the top plate into the ceiling of the underground parking directly beneath.
Due to the use of ETFE-foil for these umbrellas their appearance is very filigree and light. A cable net integrated in the ETFE-foils transmits the external loading to the frame and post.
Description of the environmental conditions
Material of the cover
-
Cable-net/Fabric/Hybrid/Foil
Foil
-
Material Fabric/Foil
ETFE-foil
Main dimensions and form
-
Covered surface (m2)
475
-
Maximum height (m)
13
-
Total length (m)
14
-
Total width (m)
14
-
Form single element
Anticlastic
-
Form entire structure
Anticlastic
Duration of use
-
Temporary or permanent structure
Permanent
Involved companies
-
Architects
Architekten BDA, Prof. Franz Göger/Georg Redelbach
-
Contractors
Covertex GmbH
Editor
-
Editor
Marijke M. Mollaert
