AkiboyeConollyArch

Structural explorations

Caroline Akiboye — Mon, 17 Jul 2017 15:55:47 +0000

We have been fortunate to have been able to work with engineers such as Peter Rice, John Thornton, Bruce Gibbons, Rob Kinch, Jane Wernick, Sean Clarke (Arup), Atelier One (Neil Thomas, Carolina Bartram), Elliott Wood (Gary Elliott, George Georgiou), Horgan Lynch (Karel Murphy), to push the boundaries of conventional construction and structural design. Some of this work is included in the projects illustrated.

Early work in tensile membrane structures, supported with a research grant at the Architectural Association, led to founding the design and experimental consultancy Air Structures Design, and developing programmable cellular self-articulating, and self-propelling mobile and walking inflatables (and an IASS conference paper ”Experiments and observations on the use of pressure-tensioned membrane systems for locomotion and flight”) special effects structures for stage and screen, and later to the first UK contract for a 36m Ø “Bini” concrete shell dome formed on an air-supported membrane.

Eleven years as an associate with Ian Ritchie Architects included responsibility for much of the development of innovative structural glazing end responsive external envelope solutions whilst running a number of major projects throughout Europe. This work has continued as consultants to other architects on glazing and building skins, and in our own project work. It has led to editorial contributions to a number of publications (Institution of Structural Engineers, ”Structural use of glass in Buildings”; Steel Construction Today (No 6 Vol 6); BD 15.4.1994 Review of smart materials and structures, Japan; (Well) Connected Architecture 1994, Ian Ritchie; AJ 15.6.95 Toward the Transparent Envelope; The Structural Engineer 18.7.95 Glass in structural Engineering; Architects’ Guide to Stainless Steel SCI 1997; The Biggest Glass Palace in the World, Ellipsis 1997).

Our work has also included competition-winning designs for bridges in Cork and London (The Architecture of Bridge Design, Bennett/Telford 1997).

We have over many years run live structures-building projects at a number of schools of architecture and engineering in the UK and Ireland, from first through to final year students. A recent paper presented to the AIARG 2016 conference is included here AIARGpaper2016LiveStr.pdf, along with representative poster illustrations of recent projects run with final year engineering students at University College Cork. LiveStructPosterUCC2016bridges , UNHCRshelters4

tensegrity tower

Studio Annexe

Caroline Akiboye — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 14:13:45 +0000

We are building, with our own hands, a studio annexe in west Cork, using a timber frame sitting on galvanized steel beams on concrete drain pipe foundations. It includes triple glazing, natural (hemp) and recycled paper (Ecocel) insulation to passivehaus standards, with roof-mounted pv panels giving a peak output of around 4KW, and is intended to be zero nett energy in use. Preliminary analysis shows a Building Energy Rating of A1, with a negative nett energy demand (surplus electrical energy is exported to the grid) and a reduction of 28 Tonnes CO2 emissions p.a.

Self-Build Workshop

Oisin Conolly — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:46:03 +0000

We have been developing simple, economical forms of timber framed construction for highly-insulated buildings to passive standards, and in order to test the buildability, we are constructing a prototype to be used as a workshop.

Tottenham Green Sports, Recreation and Cultural Centre

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:53:23 +0000

New building area: 11 000 sq m. Construction: 1985-88
The centre includes a library, multi-purpose sports hall and swimming pools, together with supporting facilities such as crèche, café, restaurant, squash courts, sauna and so on. This new building is part of a larger complex including dance/drama studios education centre, adult training centre, public reception suite and council offices, in a converted Town Hall, swimming baths, fire station and school buildings.

Low Cost Earth-Sheltered Solar House, Fethard, Co Wexford

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:53:03 +0000

Builder: Patrick Butler. Floor area ~85 sq m.
The house is sited between the road and the sea, on a north-facing slope, with the only view effectively to the north. The design aims to enjoy the view, to admit the sun, take advantage of passive solar heating, and provide privacy on a small site, with frequent passing traffic. The solution treats the grassed slope of the hill as a slice of turf, lifted up to allow the house to be inserted under its protecting surface.
From the road the house is seen as a sloping lawn topped by a line of glass; from the sea or across the bay, as a traditional cottage. The walls are highly insulated, and the south-facing glazing acts as a passive solar collector. Underfloor heating runs through a sand base, laid over floor insulation and damp-proof membrane – no slab was required. The floor is finished in concrete garden paving slabs with a smooth, steel-moulded surface. The house was completed in 1987, within the allotted budget of £20 000.

Reina Sofia Museum of Modern Art, Madrid

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:52:18 +0000

(Project director with IRA) Three glass towers provide public and service access to the restored 18th century building. The entire glass envelope is suspended from roof level, and the stainless steel suspension system gives a legible articulation to the otherwise smooth glass skin. The spring-tensioned suspension system allows for accumulated seasonal thermal movements in the 36m height.

Trades Union Congress Building, London

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:51:56 +0000

(Project director with IRA) The Grade II* listed TUC Headquarters was built in 1959 and its conference hall at the foot of the courtyard had leaked for many years; a new glass roof preserved the original form and geometry; a temporary air-supported cover was used to prevent leaks while listed building consents were being approved. Restoration works included repairs to mosaic cladding.

Greenhouse Exhibition Space and Cafe, Terrasson, SW France

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:51:36 +0000

(Project director with IRA) Set in a landscaped park on a north-facing slope, the exhibition space is top lit and wrapped in a breathing stone wall lined with citrus trees, with mist irrigation providing summer cooling.

Ecology Gallery, Natural History Museum, London

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:51:08 +0000

(Project director with IRA) The installation is treated as a piece of furniture inserted into the Grade I listed building without touching the historic fabric. Glass display walls are suspended with structural bonding, and a series of skeletal steel bridges link upper level displays.

Leipzig Glass Hall

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:50:45 +0000

(Project director with IRA) The central hall of the new Leipzig trade fair buildings, 240m x 80m x 30m high, links all the exhibition halls via glass bridges and fulfils multiple functions. Glazing is suspended from an external steel gridshell stabilized by arched trusses and connections allow for large movements between steel and glass. The space is simply conditioned by natural ventilation and underfloor coils, with recycled rainwater providing additional evaporative cooling in summer.

Crystal Palace Concert Stage

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:50:26 +0000

(Project director with IRA) Summer concerts in Crystal Palace Park are housed in a robust steel structure set in a lake; a history of vandalism to previous concert buildings has been resisted partly by setting the building in the lake, and also by the use of Corten steel which develops a stable rust patina to discourage graffiti. The stage door forms a radio-controlled drawbridge.

Experimental Timber “Tree House”, West Cork

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:50:09 +0000

Built by us as a temporary home for ourselves and our children in 1991, the “tree house” continued in use for 20 years. Constructed like an upturned curragh, it uses locally-grown timber – hemlock thinnings for the main frames, exploiting their intrinsic flexibility, and sprung to shape while green – and is covered in light timber lathing and tarred fabric, subsequently renewed with a marine ply shiplap roof finish. End walls are filled in with glazing and ply panels. The sides incorporate glue-laminated arched frames, laminated in situ.

Experimental Solar House and Studio, West Cork

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:49:46 +0000

The house is conceived as two glass boxes, one suspended on legs via a spine and ribs over a very lightweight ground-based living area. Entry is across a bridge to the upper level, exploiting the change of levels in the south-facing slope of the site. This element is aligned north-south and connects through a double-height void to the lower level which is aligned to midsummer sunrise/midwinter sunset.
The enclosure is almost entirely single glazed, with highly insulated wall panels in selected areas, mostly to the north, and insulated stressed-skin roof panels. The performance of the glazing is enhanced by movable light-transmitting insulation which can be opened to admit useful heat gains when the sun shines in winter. In cold conditions without sun, closing the insulating screens will reduce the level of heat loss to that of a typical solid wall construction – a very simple intelligent building which uses the natural responses of its inhabitants. The building continues as a test bed for a number of related energy-saving experiments.

Ove Arup and Partners Reconfiguration, Cork

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:49:24 +0000

Ove Arup and Partners Cork occupy two upper floors of a city centre building with a ground floor entrance, and had experienced rapid growth from less than 50, up to 72 staff, with immediate requirements to accommodate 90 staff. The layout and provision of furniture, services and equipment had been ad hoc, and severe overcrowding was being experienced, coupled with inefficient layout, poor workstation furnishing and ergonomics, poor environmental conditions in terms of acoustics, ventilation, natural and artificial lighting, and view. The public entrance was confusing and uninviting for visitors, and the reception area was inefficient and space-consuming.

Studio Office Annexe to House On Glengarriff Bay, West Cork

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:49:04 +0000

Our clients for the original house came back to us (after a further project for their London residence) to design a studio-office annexe for their house on Glengarriff Bay. Given the increasing sensitivity of the site in its scenic and protected landscape, and our clients’ desire to be close to the water’s edge, the building was conceived as an upturned boat hull, covered in black rubber, with a fully glazed end wall looking out across the bay. The shell is highly insulated and the annexe is raised on legs to give long-term protection against spring tides and rising sea levels

House on Glengarriff Bay, West Cork

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:48:45 +0000

Situated in a sensitive, unspoilt landscape, the form and materials of the house reflect the local topography, alongside a large rock outcrop. The roof is in patinated copper; a laminated larch spine beam, fabricated to digitised profile in a double curve, runs along the central axis, and lifts one side, slicing the roof at the ridge to admit sunlight (and echoing the local geological fault lines); walls are in limestone. The plan form of the house is fan-shaped, focussing its outlook on the principal panoramic view east across the bay, and this face is fully glazed. The entrance to the west forms a screen to the more private spaces, and a floating canopy in the form of a copper leaf shelters the entrance.

Solar House in Dunmanway, West Cork

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:48:10 +0000

The house consists of two highly-glazed pavilions linked at the point of entry. The south walls are fully glazed while the north face is solid, generally used as a storage wall, and highly insulated; this gives the building an effective passive solar form, with top-up heating from a ground source heat pump.

Solar Wood-Drying Stores and Workshop

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:47:54 +0000

Our client required a workshop, storage, and the ability to dry logs to very low moisture content for use in a purpose-built “Kacheloven” stove. The drying sheds are orientated with variable wind-catching cowls to maximize prevailing winds for drying, together with direct solar input. The workshop also houses solar water heating panels. Construction was by a local steelworker, using construction and materials typical of agricultural buildings.

Museum of World Culture, Gothenburg

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:47:36 +0000

Working with Brisac Gonzalez Architects, we developed the design of the glazed part of this building, co-ordinating services and structure with unusually large glazed wall panels and 6m high glass fins, avoiding the conventional splice plates normally used in this size of glass fin. This involved innovative use of bonded toughened glass connectors between specially-designed transoms to transfer wind loads into annealed laminated glass fins.

Solar House, East Cork

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:47:11 +0000

This timber framed house provides four bedrooms, children’s playroom, home office and a double height living space for a growing family. Solar water heating, highly-insulated walls and efficient south-facing glazing contribute to keeping the running costs with heat pump to a minimum.

House at Tivoli, Cork City

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:46:49 +0000

The listed early 19th century house required major reorganization and had been compromised by earlier alterations in the mid 19th century. Approval was obtained to demolish and rebuild two wings in a contemporary design, using construction and energy-saving technologies and materials of the 21st century.

Extension to Fastnet Lighthouse-Keeper’s Cottage, West Cork

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:46:30 +0000

The cottage attached to the lighthouse on Rock Island, the original shore base for Fastnet lighthouse, included a range of outhouses and storage buildings. Our brief was to provide additional bedrooms, bathroom and “a room with a view”. Given the sensitivity of the historic buildings, and the need to retain the navigation “daymark” wall of the original enclosure, consultations were held with the County Architect and historic buildings staff of Cork County Council. The proposals were approved, and retain the base shell of the original buildings, adding a glass box living space with panoramic views across Roaring Water Bay and out to Fastnet Rock. A ground source heat pump and heat reclamation ventilation system keep energy use to a low level.

Chateau St Maximin – Glass Roof and Stairs

Oisin Conolly — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:45:38 +0000

Chateau St Maximin in the south of France dates from the twelfth to 19th centuries, and is a scheduled monument. Our client wished to link an inaccessible early wing of the chateau to all levels of the rest of the chateau, and to rooftop views, whilst admitting natural light into an unused tower space. The proposed glazed roof enclosure and glass stairs have been granted historic buildings approval and the works are currently under construction.