01.07.2023, Augsburg: A new research demonstrator was just completed for our computationally designed and fabricated, material-saving lightweight timber gridshell system. The new prototype was made possible by Stadtsparkasse Augsburg, who invited us to design a structure for their annual #stadtgewaechs summer event. This event promotes sustainability in the heart of the city of Augsburg, which allowed us to present our structure in this unique location at Moritzplatz.

The innovative geometry of our gridshell does not require typical steel nodes and allows for a structurally efficient catenary cross-section or other freeform shapes, which was not possible with previous geodesic domes.

Compared to our previous Reciprocalshell I demonstrator, the span has been increased from 7 meters to 15 meters. At this larger scale, the timber fabrication and assembly have been carried out professionally by the experts of CLTech GmbH in Kaiserslautern, with only two days of on-site assembly. After the #stadtgewaechs summer event throughout June, the pavilion will move from Moritzplatz to another location in the city of Augsburg in July, where it will remain as a permanent structure. A translucent roof will be added for this purpose.

With an intense timeline of only eight weeks from first discussions to the project completion, the project would have been impossible without the incredible support from our amazing team, special thanks to Michael Wimmer, Marcus Hupfauer, Hanna Heckemann, Jürgen Gottschall, Michael Bauer, their entire CLTech Team, Hans Hundegger AG, Dlubal Software, Max Lauter, Michael Mikoscheck, Michael Spieler, Agentur Sportbrain, Technisches Hilfswerk THW, Feuerwehr Lechhausen, Ordnungsamt, Bauordnungsamt and Sozialreferat Augsburg.

Design and Engineering Team:
Digital Timber Construction DTC
University of Applied Sciences Augsburg
Prof. Dr. Christopher Robeller
Dr. Hamed Karimian A., Amin Adelzadeh, M.Sc.

Research Funding:
Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
.TSI – Timber Structure Interface
Grant ID 2220HV001X

Production and Construction: CLTech GmbH Kaiserslautern, https://cltech.de
Structural approval: IngPunkt, Markus Bernhard, http://www.ingpunkt.com
Concrete slabs: Lauter Beton, Bobingen, https://www.lauter-beton.de

First Demonstrator developed in collaboration with Chalmers University: https://www.hs-augsburg.de/Architektur-und-Bauwesen/Projekte/Reciprocal-Shell-2022.html