Description

In order to create a new tourist attraction and at the same time new temporary jobs for the local unemployed people, the project’s client wanted to build a replica of a galley typical for Lake Geneva between the 13th and 17th century. Construction of the 55 m long hull required a temporary shipbuilding hall. As unemployed people, some of whom were not properly trained, were to erect the hall – and build the galley itself – a simple and economical structure had to be designed.

The vaulted volume of the 11 m high and 60 m long hall was conceived as a ribbed timber shell made of stacked timber boards. The building elements – round and square timbers and timber boards – were simply joined with nails and screws. The industrial prefabrication of the components follows the tradition of early Zollinger structures of the 1920s. The structure essentially consists of timber ribs crossing each other; these ribs are composed of four layers of boards that are screwed together. They are arranged in such a way that they form a rigid barrel-vaulted shell. For the construction of the ribbed shells a vault-shaped falsework is required. On this, the ribs are built up layer by layer. The layers of boards are set at right angles to each other thus providing longitudinal stiffening of the structure. Nine frames positioned on the outside of the vaulted shell resist the horizontal wind and snow loads. These trussed frames consist of straight top chords and an arched bottom chord that forms the connection between the frames and the barrel-vaulted roof. The chosen structure enables an optimal utilization of the column-free hall. With a view to the temporary character of the building, reinforced glass-fibre roofing felt was used as a roof covering.

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Originally published in: Jürgen Adam, Katharina Hausmann, Frank Jüttner, Industrial Buildings: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2004.