Future workshop Arch_Tec_Lab HIB
The ETH campus at Hönggerberg is expanding. A steel construction on the eastern edge of the site, that has been growing for several weeks, announces the imminent completion of another new construction project. With the Arch_Tec_Lab HIB, a teaching and research building for the Institute of Technology in Architecture (ITA) with the Robotic Fabrication Laboratory is to be handed over for operation this year. The four-storey building, erected on the existing HIG underground car park, will provide space for work and seminar rooms, model workshops and a cafeteria.
The most conspicuous feature of the building is its curved roof, whose design and development process are based on a research project by Gramazio Kohler Research. To demonstrate the activities of the ITA Institute, all design, dimensioning and production processes of the wooden roof construction consistently follow the principles of the digital chain. Each sub-area affects the processes of the partners. Special challenges characterize the structural design. The design of the 168 differently shaped truss girders with a total of over 100,000 nail joints makes digital automation of the calculation methods unavoidable. Production is carried out using robot technology. In order to record the non-standardised boundary conditions of the construction, load tests were carried out on original-sized truss girders.
