Segmented timber shells offer the possibility of constructing long span, double curved shell structures efficiently and economically. This was demonstrated with the Landesgartenschau Exhibition Hall 2014 in Schwäbisch Gmünd [1], a prefabricated segmented timber shell made of planar beech plywood plates. However, the application of this construction method for larger spans and more general shell geometries requires further technical development of the construction system, of its associated fabrication methods, and of the methods for form finding and optimisation. This paper presents the development and construction of the wood pavilion for the Bundesgartenschau (Federal garden exhibition, BUGA) 2019 in Heilbronn, which translates these technical developments into practice. Solid timber panels were replaced by a recently developed multi-layer cassette system. The 376 geometrically unique elements of the multi-layer segmented shell were produced of spruce laminated veneer lumber plates, which were assembled, glued, and milled in a fully automated process by two collaborative industrial robots. The shell segments are connected using a combination of the previously established CNC-milled finger-joints [2] as well as regularly spaced steel bolts. Custom design and analysis tools were developed, in order to manage varying material thicknesses, spacing of fasteners and geometric details of the connections between adjacent segments.
%0 Conference Paper
%1 Sonntag2019
%A Sonntag, Daniel
%A Aldinger, Lotte
%A Bechert, Simon
%A Alvarez, Martin
%A Groenewolt, Abel
%A Krieg, Oliver-David
%A Wagner, Hans Jakob
%A Knippers, Jan
%A Menges, Achim
%B Form and Force: Proceedings of the International Association for Spactial Structures Annual Symposia 2019 Barcelona
%D 2019
%K 2019 BUGA Bundesgartenschau Heilbronn Lightweight aldinger alvarez bechert engineering groenevolt itke knippers krieg menges segmented shell sonntag timber wagner
%N October
%P 1--8
%T Lightweight segmented timber shell for the Bundesgartenschau 2019 in Heilbronn
%X Segmented timber shells offer the possibility of constructing long span, double curved shell structures efficiently and economically. This was demonstrated with the Landesgartenschau Exhibition Hall 2014 in Schwäbisch Gmünd [1], a prefabricated segmented timber shell made of planar beech plywood plates. However, the application of this construction method for larger spans and more general shell geometries requires further technical development of the construction system, of its associated fabrication methods, and of the methods for form finding and optimisation. This paper presents the development and construction of the wood pavilion for the Bundesgartenschau (Federal garden exhibition, BUGA) 2019 in Heilbronn, which translates these technical developments into practice. Solid timber panels were replaced by a recently developed multi-layer cassette system. The 376 geometrically unique elements of the multi-layer segmented shell were produced of spruce laminated veneer lumber plates, which were assembled, glued, and milled in a fully automated process by two collaborative industrial robots. The shell segments are connected using a combination of the previously established CNC-milled finger-joints [2] as well as regularly spaced steel bolts. Custom design and analysis tools were developed, in order to manage varying material thicknesses, spacing of fasteners and geometric details of the connections between adjacent segments.
@inproceedings{Sonntag2019,
abstract = {Segmented timber shells offer the possibility of constructing long span, double curved shell structures efficiently and economically. This was demonstrated with the Landesgartenschau Exhibition Hall 2014 in Schwäbisch Gmünd [1], a prefabricated segmented timber shell made of planar beech plywood plates. However, the application of this construction method for larger spans and more general shell geometries requires further technical development of the construction system, of its associated fabrication methods, and of the methods for form finding and optimisation. This paper presents the development and construction of the wood pavilion for the Bundesgartenschau (Federal garden exhibition, BUGA) 2019 in Heilbronn, which translates these technical developments into practice. Solid timber panels were replaced by a recently developed multi-layer cassette system. The 376 geometrically unique elements of the multi-layer segmented shell were produced of spruce laminated veneer lumber plates, which were assembled, glued, and milled in a fully automated process by two collaborative industrial robots. The shell segments are connected using a combination of the previously established CNC-milled finger-joints [2] as well as regularly spaced steel bolts. Custom design and analysis tools were developed, in order to manage varying material thicknesses, spacing of fasteners and geometric details of the connections between adjacent segments.},
added-at = {2025-06-11T13:17:47.000+0200},
author = {Sonntag, Daniel and Aldinger, Lotte and Bechert, Simon and Alvarez, Martin and Groenewolt, Abel and Krieg, Oliver-David and Wagner, Hans Jakob and Knippers, Jan and Menges, Achim},
biburl = {https://puma.ub.uni-stuttgart.de/bibtex/267e8404fbc10f975ea15471aa7afa70e/petraheim},
booktitle = {Form and Force: Proceedings of the International Association for Spactial Structures Annual Symposia 2019 Barcelona},
eventdate = {7.-10.10.2019},
eventtitle = {IASS Annual Symposium 2019 – Structural Membranes 2019},
file = {:C\:/Users/ac128044/Google Drive/ICD_Wagner/01_Publikationen/PUBLICATION_COLLECTION/2019_IASS.pdf:pdf},
interhash = {f286722941aaf120f329a8b37a694087},
intrahash = {67e8404fbc10f975ea15471aa7afa70e},
keywords = {2019 BUGA Bundesgartenschau Heilbronn Lightweight aldinger alvarez bechert engineering groenevolt itke knippers krieg menges segmented shell sonntag timber wagner},
number = {October},
pages = {1--8},
timestamp = {2025-06-11T13:17:47.000+0200},
title = {Lightweight segmented timber shell for the Bundesgartenschau 2019 in Heilbronn},
venue = {Barcelona},
year = 2019
}
