The glazing of
complex 3D surfaces relies heavily on the understanding of the
limitations of
manufacture and construction techniques.
From very
early
on in the design stages it was obvious that the site profile, dictated
by the
track alignment, would influence all geometric decisions. Geometry,
flexibility
and buildability were the key to success through a thorough
understanding of
fabrication, manufacturing and building processes.
Standardization
was critical for success and the key problem was to reconcile this to a
very
irregular morphology. A solution was reached that enabled 230
‘standard’
rectangular glass panels out of a total of 1680. Each panel overlapped
each
vertically adjacent panel much like snake scales. The key to
eliminating
geometric twist was the incorporation of a standard neoprene concertina
gasket,
which could accommodate out of plane variances of approx. +/- 80mm.
Each panel
was fixed to the external steelwork via a series of standard
interconnecting
stainless steel castings. These connections were assembled from four
independently rotating components allowing a variance in position of +/- 180mm
in each axis. This high degree of managed flexibility ensured that the
very
tight construction time of 6 months could be achieved despite numerous
occasions of incorrect tolerances.
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