New Elephant House at Cologne Zoo
The design for the Cologne Elephant House is the light-weight, membrane construction of a transparent "roof cloud" over a free plan geometry.
This was made possible through the use of a new form-optimisation method for structural calculations and the use of ETFE Fluoropolymer sheeting for the roof material.
Designed for:
Invited European Competition
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Design:
1999
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Project Team:
- Edgar Stach
- Steve Bringman
- Peter Hillermann
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Structural Consultants:
Professor Dr. Bucher, Dr. Dirk Roos
Bauhaus University Weimar, Germany
Ove Arup and Partner, Düsseldorf
Identity
On the site was a hill, water, some trees.
The hill turns into a series of walls.
The trees turn into columns.
The clouds turn into a transparent roof.
On the site was a hill, water, some trees.
The hill turns into a series of walls.
The trees turn into columns.
The clouds turn into a transparent roof.
Transparency
The Cologne Zoo wanted to conduct an experiment:
30 elephants, removed from their natural habitat, should be kept in an environment as similar to their own as possible. Rather than building a new elephant house, the zoo would like to build a new environment.
The Material
Triple-layered pneumatic membrane:
ETFE Foil, 100% crystal clear, self cleaning, weight is only 150 gram per square meter, very flexible, perfect for this soft steal structure.
Design Parameters
long span roof structure, light weight structure, unusually shaped, no grid, maximum transparency, maximum UV-transmission
Steps in the development:
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Mechanical analysis of a volumetric finite element model
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Spatial stress analysis and visualisation of stress trajectories (force paths) within the volumetric model using Finite-Element-Method
Secondary Structure:
Fluoropolymer Sheeting Pillow
The energy concept is designed to incorporate the natural resources of wind and sun, minimising the need for complicated technical systems through natural means.
The triple-layered membrane roof is an active component in this system, acting as an adaptable collector surface that can react to the changing parameters of light and temperature.
