IASS 2021 (International Conference on Spatial Structures)
Robin Oval, Eduardo Costa, Mishael Nuh, Diana Thomas-McEwen, John Orr, Paul Shepherd
Concrete shells are a more sustainable alternative than plates as building slabs, thanks to their effective use of concrete in compression. Although the construction of these geometrically complex structures becomes more challenging, off-site automated fabrication offers solutions to efficiently produce a shell in segments before assembling them on site. The segmentation of the shell provides the opportunity for deconstruction, reuse and reconfiguration for a circular economy of construction. This paper presents a path towards the realisation of this vision, highlighting the dialogue between the structural objectives and the construction technologies, informing the development of the structural system and its production. Actuated reconfigurable moulds, robotic concrete spraying and robotic filament winding are explored to automate the prefabrication of segmented concrete shells. The production systems and some prototype samples are shown to present the current state of development.
Copyright notice: Copyright © 2021 by the author(s) as listed above. Published in the Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2020/21 and the 7th International Conference on Spatial Structures, with permission.