Frame and Form

The recently opened Metz Pompidou Centre opened in May last culminating almost 7 years of development and construction of this ambitious project. Studies Shigeru Ban and John Gastine joined forces with the structural designers Arup in order to make possible the joint vision of most important cultural center Northern France.

With an area of 8 000 m2, The building features innovative structural deck that protects the interior spaces and exhibition halls. This cover is composed of three families of continuous linear elements that interlock to form a mosaic of hexagons and triangles. Inspired by the geometry of a traditional Chinese hat, the architect Shigeru Ban plasma geometric freedom consists of laminated wood deck covered with a waterproof membrane PTFE, Teflon composite material that resists very well the weather and allows a step screening of light into the building.

This unique home light cover distances between supports up 40 meters and its free form is adapted to the rigid geometry of the three rooms that form longitudinal exhibition spaces.

In order to allow a structure like this, high doses were required to study and structural modeling, making the project a kind of test bed that extends the use of structural plywood architecture. One of the more intensive studies conducted in the project focused on determining the wind loads and snow on the roof of the museum. To determine the extreme weather conditions in a complex geometry as a public competition was held which was attended by the most prestigious universities and technology centers. Finally CSTB was the institution responsible for carrying out the studies that characterized the actions on the structure weather, and comfort conditions in and around the building.

One of the key pieces of this cover is the flexibility it provides strong plywood in both service and when to be 'shaped' in its construction phase. A clear example of the extent to which this material can be adapted to a given geometry, seen in the incredible media in the form of vortices that embody the roof contact with the ground. Under this line a collection of images of the construction phase of the structure to illustrate the complexity and beauty of the work.

Although the type of cover can remind structural works such as Fiera Milano, worth noting that in this case the continuity of the linear elements and their 'twisted' space give it a deserved breakthrough innovation in the use of structural timber.

Credits:

• 5 design studios and engineering worked together to design the cover
• Construction company: Demathieu & Bard
• More 50 specialist firms joined the building
• Were used 750 tons of scaffolding, 3 cranes with 67 meters, 650 tons of wood 18 km of beams and 8000m2 PTFE membrane

Meta-Information:

All graphic material belongs to the institution Centre Pompidou Metz

Video on the shingling work done by the prestigious design magazine Wallpaper