Downland Gridshell
The Downland Gridshell (Edward
Cullinan Architects) is an innovative modern timber gridshell structure
intended to become the national centre for the conservation and study
of traditional timber-frame buildings.
The organic form is due primarily to the stiffness requirement for the
shape of a gridshell, composed of a series of continuous curves. The complete
form is a triple bulb hour glass, 12-15m wide, with 5m deep open ends
to allow access to the building’s interior. Although two storeys
high, from the outside the 1800 m2 building appears to be a single storey
structure.
Internally the building is a single cell space enclosing two sealed workshop
units. The gridshell is clad with a loose system of hanging plates of
hardwood and glazing, while the difficult to drain upper pitches of the
building vault is clad in a curving ribbon of watertight monolithic roof.
The building runs on minimal supplies of energy. Heat and power are used
as necessary and only in rooms where required. Controlled natural light
makes artificial lighting during daylight hours redundant. Direct solar
collection pre-heats water, to be pumped through an underfloor heating
system in the lower level. This floor heating strategy enables a direct
thermal connection between the floor slab and the ground which will act
as a heat sink, keeping the archival spaces thermally stable throughout
the year. The only insulation materials used are at the upper zones of
the external walls and the encasing ground.
Edward
Cullinan Architects
Buro
Happold
Weald
& Downland Museum
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