Building Information Modeling

From An Engineers View

Dipl.-Ing. Christof Lorenz I Nemetschek AG I November 15, 2012

Photo: marcwinkel.de
Company Portrait

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 Company Portrait

Nemetschek Allplan GmbH

member of the Nemetschek group, Europes largest vendor for A/E/C
software (Architecture, Engineering, Construction)
subsidiary with the highest revenue
worldwide operating software vendor for architects, structural and civil
engineers, contractors and authorities
more than 25 years experience in software development for the A/E/C
industry
Allplan product family with solutions for CAD, building costs management,
CAE and Facility Management, with more than 60.000 users, available in 20
languages
3 development centers in Munich, Bratislava and Sofia
sales channel with worldwide network of qualified sales partners

Headquarters in Munich

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 What is BIM?

BIM Building Information Modeling

term has been coined by Jerry Laiserin, an A/E/C industry analyst and
editor of the LaiserinLetter, see www.laiserin.com

definition
Building information modeling is a process of representation, which
creates and maintains multidimensional, data-rich views throughout a
project lifecycle.

Jerry Laiserin
objectives
communication (sharing data)
collaboration (acting on data)
simulation (using data for prediction)
optimization (using feedback to improve design, documentation and
delivery)

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Allplan Product Family

Facility
Architecture
Management

Building
Contractors
Costs

Allplan
platform

Precast Structural
Plants Engineering

Building Building
Systems Physics
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 Levels of Application of CAD Software

Level 1 Digital Drawing Board

traditional approach, still used by some existing customers
ceiling plans, elevations and sections are manually drawn, bending
schedules are managed manually
2D objects / 2D reinforcement

Level 2 Hybrid Approach

pragmatic approach, based on 2D general arrangement drawings a 3D
reinforcement model is created
elevations, sections and bending schedules are automatically derived
especially beneficial, if no 3D building model is available
2D objects / 3D reinforcement

Level 3 Building Information Modeling

recommended approach for highest productivity and quality
ceiling plans, elevations, sections and bending schedules are automatically
derived
especially beneficial for projects with complex geometrical shape and
frequent design modifications
3D objects / 3D reinforcement 5
 Comparison of Productivity 2D versus 3D

Reinforcement Design and Detailing in 3D

ceiling views, elevations, sections, quantities and bending schedules are
derived from an intelligent building model
collisions and other issues can be detected during the design process
Reinforcement Design and Detailing in 2D modifications of building objects and reinforcement are automatically and
Wall corner consistently updated in all drawings and schedules
Allplan Engineering
30:45 min
Traditional Approach
ceiling views, elevations and sections are manually produced and
completely independent from each other
bending schedule is managed manually
risk of inconsistent design documents, especially if modifications occur

Reinforcement Design and Detailing in 3D

Wall corner
Benefits
Allplan Engineering considerable time savings through optimized work processes
8:45 min clear and consistent design documents
improved comfort
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 From the 3D Model to 2D Drawings

How to derive Drawings according to local Practice from a 3D Model?

3D Model Approval Drawing GA Drawing Reinforcement Drawing

drawing types enable completely different content and presentation

required are different views on the same model
solution with so called line and face styles for 3D and 2D approach

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 Reinforcement Design and Detailing in 3D

Free, interactive Reinforcement Design and Detailing in 3D

Individually shaped members can be
reinforced rapidly
software philosophy perfectly suitable for highly individual construction
projects
unique automatic formwork finder technology (FF reinforcement)
predefined reinforcement groups (FF components)
reinforcement can be adapted by grips
enormous efficiency and flexibility compared with other solutions

Traditional Approach
time-consuming definition of bar shape and manual placement

Benefits
Free reinforcement of individual
components from the beginning on high productivity, even for individually shaped
Socket foundation members
Foundation for wind turbine
Digestion tower working consequently in 3D ensures high quality standards by avoiding
Bridge abutment
inconsistencies, collisions and other design faults
Allplan Engineering
2:35 min or 10:13 min
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 Round-Trip Engineering
A complete building model can be
transfered to Scia Engineer
Integrated CAD solution with structural
analysis
Office building made from cast-in-
place concrete
Allplan Engineering
Scia Engineer
6:18 min or 21:49 min
Integrated Design: CAD and CAE
transfer of the structural model from the CAD system Allplan to the CAE
software Scia Engineer
analytical model derived from the structural model
tracking of design changes
required reinforcement and steel sections can be transferred back to Allplan
Traditional Approach
cumbersome reentry of the geometry in the CAE software
manual creation of the analytical model
time-consuming search and incorporation of design modifications
Benefits
considerable time-savings through avoiding double entries
better clarity and quality through update mechanism
improved comfort
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Round-Trip Engineering: Working with different Models

Architectural Model
architects view (Allplan Architecture)
contains all visible objects
(walls, curtain walls, windows, doors, railings, shading elements)

Structural Model
structural draftsmen's view (Allplan Engineering, Scia Engineer)
contains all load-bearing members (walls, slabs, beams, columns,
foundations, )
non-bearing objects are hidden
(thermal insulation, curtain walls, windows, doors, railings, shading
elements)

Analytical Model
structural engineers view (Scia Engineer)
3D members are simplified to lines (1D) and planes (2D) and transferred
into a valid structural system
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 Round-Trip Engineering: Data Transfer

Data Transfer from Allplan to Scia Engineer

structural model is transferred from the CAD system Allplan to the structural
analysis software Scia Engineer

The structural model is exported from Traditional Approach

Allplan to
cumbersome reentry of the geometry in the CAE software

Benefits
considerable time-savings through avoiding double entries
improved comfort
to Scia Engineer

where the analytical model is

derived
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 Round-Trip Engineering: Derivation of the Analytical System

Deriving the Analytical System

automatically derived from the structural model
3D members are simplified to lines (1D) and planes (2D)
system lines and planes are connected to a valid structural system

Traditional Approach
Analytical model for a steel structure
manual specification of the analytical system from the scratch
alternatively connecting elements manually

Benefits
considerable time-savings through avoiding double entries
improved comfort

Analytical model for a concrete structure

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 Round-Trip Engineering: Model Comparison

Update Mechanism
modified model is transferred again from Allplan to Scia Engineer
changes between old and new model are detected and highlighted
changes can be individually accepted or rejected
Changes are detected and graphically structural analysis can be performed again immediately, since all necessary
highlighted
information is already available

Traditional Approach
search for design changes
manual adaption of the analytical model
alternatively complete reentry of geometry, support conditions, material
properties and loads

Benefits
repeated time-savings through preserving the model
better clarity and quality
improved comfort
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 Round-Trip Engineering: Optimization
Structural model with reinforcement in
Allplan
to Scia Engineer
Structural model with
reinforcement in Scia Engineer
Bidirectional Exchange of Reinforcement
particularity of reinforced concrete structure: optimization usually happens
not by modifying sections, but by adjusting the amount of reinforcement
design in the ultimate limit state is performed with Scia Engineer
reinforcement detailing is carried out with Allplan
transfer of the reinforcement model from Allplan to Scia Engineer
verifications in the serviceability limit state (deflections, cracks) with Scia
Engineer based on the detailed reinforcement model
Traditional Approach
simplified verification of the serviceability may lead to unnecessarily large
member dimensions and reinforcement quantities
Benefits
highly accurate results
more efficient structures
improved comfort
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 Round-Trip Engineering: Workflow in the Engineering Office

Structural Engineer Architectural Model

Architect, Draftsmen
Structural Model
Structural Draftsmen
Analytical Model
Structural Engineer

defines structural system

defines loads
performs structural analysis
and design
masters structural analysis Architectural CAD Structural CAD
Architect, Draftsmen Structural Draftsmen
software

Structural Analysis Structural Analysis

Structural Draftsmen Structural Engineer Structural Engineer

creates general arrangement and reinforcement drawings

performs structural detailing
masters CAD software

Conclusion
definition of the structural system and loads not should happen in the CAD software, but in the structural
analysis software

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 Round-Trip Engineering: Workflow in the Engineering Office

Nemetschek Integration Architectural Model

Architect, Draftsmen
Structural Model
Structural Draftsmen
Analytical Model
Structural Engineer

analytical model is defined in

structural analysis software

Benefits
respects established workflow Allplan Architecture Allplan Engineering
Architect, Draftsmen Structural Draftsmen
structural engineer continues to work in the
structural analysis software and is responsible
Scia Engineer Scia Engineer
for the definition of structural system, loads, etc. Structural Engineer Structural Engineer

functionality of the structural analysis software is fully available

Drawback
less attractive for vendors of structural analysis software, due to higher development effort
on the first glance less attractive for the customer, as integration is less obvious

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 Round-Trip Engineering: Workflow in the Engineering Office

Classic Integration Architectural Model

Architect, Draftsmen
Structural Model
Structural Draftsmen
Analytical Model
Structural Engineer

analytical model is defined in

the CAD software

Benefits
attractive for vendors of Architectural CAD Structural CAD Structural CAD
Architect, Draftsmen Structural Draftsmen Structural Draftsmen
structural analysis software,
due to lower development effort
Structural Analysis
attractive for customers, since only one program must be mastered Structural Engineer

Drawbacks
unfamiliar workflow, structural engineer must accustom himself to CAD software
structural system, loads etc. cannot be defined by structural draftsmen
functionality of the structural analysis software is usually not fully available (e.g. wind and snow,
earthquakes, fire)

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 Design2Cost

Integrated Design: CAD and Building Costs

bill of materials is derived from the intelligent building model
every object is linked with one or several items in the bill of materials
prices are stored in database and can be easily adjusted
comparison of design variants supported

An object is linked with several items in

the BOM Traditional Approach
quantities are computed manually
manual compilation of the bill of materials
during many design stages no reliable price quotes possible

Integrated CAD solution with building Benefits

costs management
Hall in skeleton construction
huge time savings
Allplan Engineering comfortable, reliable and transparent building costs management
Allplan BCM
9:01 min or 15:47 min

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 Infrastructure

Civil Engineering Work: Bridges, Tunnels and Dams

Allplan Engineering and Allplan Terrain optimally complement each other
dedicated bridge and civil engineering modeler for elongated engineering
structures and earthworks
Engineering structure tunnel
Drilled and blasted tunnel
Traditional Approach
Allplan Engineering
Allplan Terrain design and detailing almost exclusively done in 2D
3:47 min or 8:28 min

Benefits
Engineering structure dam
Arch dam and surrounding terrain
Allplan Terrain
1:23 min
avoids time-consuming work with multiple systems
shortened training period
optimized interdisciplinary teamwork
consideration of real ground level and the surrounding road system
working consequently in 3D ensures high quality standards by avoiding
inconsistencies, collisions and other design faults
convincing design documents for professional presentations

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 Efficient Communication

Interactive 3D PDF Documents

illustration of designs with visualizations
illustration of complex details with isometric views or exploded drawings
providing documents with drawings, schedules and interactive 3D models
that can be viewed with the free Adobe Reader to design partners, clients
and site managers
A 3D model can be viewed interactively in
the free Adobe Reader

Traditional Approach
time-consuming production of visualizations from fixed points of view
time-consuming production of numerous 2D details

Benefits
Communication with 3D PDF documents
better mutual understanding
Highly reinforced precast column
Allplan Engineering fewer inquiries
Adobe Acrobat Extended Pro time-savings through reduced effort to create visualizations und details
1:37 min

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 What hampers the transition to BIM?

output

building information
modeling

investment

return

Does the new approach turn out to be

profitable?
digital drawing board

time

Digital Drawing Board

first results are visible immediately after project start

Building Information Modeling

high effort for creation of 3D model, without immediately visible results
(e.g. drawings)
benefits become visible on a later stage of the design process 21
User Projects Building

Orchidea Tower, Bukarest (201x - 201x)

BEHF Ebner Hasenauer Ferenczy ZT, Wien (A)
Inginerie Structurala, Bukarest (RO)
Allplan Engineering, Scia Engineer

butterfly-shaped office building with 23 stories

and 77.000 m gross building area
frequent earthquakes necessitated a spatial
composite structure out of steel and concrete
integrated design, building model has been
used for structural analysis and general
arrangement and reinforcement drawings

Most important was checking the structure

against earthquake. The entire behavior of the
building was taken into consideration, including
the soil-structure interaction.
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User Projects Buildings

Office Building, Vilnius (2009 - 2011)

HKT Architekten, Hamburg (D)
Conserela, Vilnius (LT)
Allplan Engineering, Scia Engineer

office complex with 8 stories and 6.500 m

gross building area
geometrically challenging situation between
existing buildings
to save space, slabs of the parking level are
sloped and a load-bearing faade is used

Using Allplan helped to reduce the amount of

errors. Some details were provided as 3D PDF
documents to the construction site. It was
extremely helpful to automatically produce the
bending schedules.
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User Projects Buildings

Residential and Commercial Buildings, Druten

(2008 - )
Adams Bouwadviesbureau, Druten (NL)
Allplan Engineering, Scia Engineer

integrated BIM approach of architects and

engineers
3D model has been used for structural analysis,
the automated derivation of drawings and for
quantity take-off

From the 3D model, architectural drawings and

engineering drawings (general arrangement
and reinforcement drawings) have been
derived. Any changes in one discipline are
automatically considered in the other discipline.
Through additional effort at the beginning, time
could be saved over the entire project.
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User Projects Buildings

Showroom, Hapert (2011 - 2012)

van der Sande, Bladel (NL)
J. H. de Kwaadsteniet, Bladel (NL)
Allplan Engineering, Scia Engineer

show room for a furniture plant

structure made of steel beams and columns,
hollow-core slabs and reinforced concrete walls
3D model was created in Allplan and has been
used for structural analysis and design as well
as for drawing generation

The combination of two programs made it

possible to base structural analysis and drawing
production on the same model. With this
approach, all aspects of a building project can
be considered.
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User Projects Buildings

University Campus, Trnava (2010 - 2012)

PROMA, ilina (SK)
HESCON, Trenn (SK)
Allplan Engineering, Scia Engineer

5 story campus building 119 m long, 20 m wide,

18 m high
semi-prefabricated reinforced concrete
structure, faade supported by steel purlin,
foundation on piles
main challenge was to find an optimal structural
arrangement for coping with the heavy load-
bearing structure

One of the greatest benefits is the automatic

adaption of reinforcement when modifying
structural elements. This leads to reduced
design costs.
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User Projects Buildings

Branch Rabobank, Roermond (2010 - 2011)

Engelman Architecten, Roermond (NL)
van der Werf en Nass, Maastricht (NL)
Allplan Engineering

shape of the building resembles a snake raising

its head and was inspired by a sculpture of the
artist Isamu Noguchi
load-bearing structure was very challenging,
due to a highly unconventional load-transfer
made of precast concrete elements, only the
sub-structure uses cast-in place concrete

From the building model, not only the drawings

were generated. It was also the optimal mean
to determine the appropriate assembly order.

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User Projects Buildings

Extension of Ferihegy Airport, Budapest

(2008 - 2010)
KZTI, Budapest (H)
KSZ Building and Construction, Budapest (H)
Allplan Engineering

extensive refurbishment of 2 existing terminals,

construction of commercial area Sky Court
70 m wide steel roof structure, sub-structure
made of 7.000 m of reinforced concrete
challenging details, e.g. to connect heavily
reinforced beams (with 46 32) and columns

Allplan Engineering made our work a lot easier.

We checked for clashes between reinforced
concrete and steel structures. All structures
have been build without serious issues.
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User Projects Buildings

College for Television and Film, Munich (2008

- 2011)
Peter Bhm Architekten, Cologne (D)
Sailer Stepan und Partner, Munich (D)
Allplan Engineering

8-story, 150 m long movie and lecture hall with

multi-colored fair-faced concrete and curtain
walls
joint-less reinforced-concrete and steel
structure with spans up to 30 m
load-transfer through two three-story trusses
inside the corridor walls

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User Projects Buildings

Kamppi Chapel of Silence, Helsinki

(2011 - 2012)
Arkkitehtitoimisto K2S, Helsinki (FIN)
Vahanen, Helsinki (FIN)
Allplan Engineering

wooden curved faade and inner walls, glulam

columns and reinforced concrete structure
extremely strict acoustic demands heavily
influenced structural design
floor plans, sections, details, rebar schedules
and CNC files derived from a one Allplan model

Allplan Engineering is a powerful program for

this kind of complex free-shape constructions.
Its hard to imagine to make construction
drawings without a program like Allplan.
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User Projects Buildings

Anchor Plaza Office Building, Bucharest

(201x - 201x)
B-Design, Istanbul (TR)
Z Group_Birou de Structuri, Bucharest (RO)
Allplan Engineering

office building with 27 stories and 75.000 m

gross building area and a height of 99 m
poor soil required a raft foundation supported
by 30 m long and 1,2 m diameter piles
frequent earthquakes necessitated a composite
structure out of steel tubes filled with reinforced
concrete

It is really helpful to see connection joints in

Allplan, especially in mixed steel and concrete
structures, and to realize potential problems
that could occur during execution works. 31
User Projects Civil Structures

Gotthard Base Tunnel, Erstfeld - Bodio (1996

- 2016)
Ghler und Partner, Ennetbaden (CH)
Allplan Engineering

longest railway tunnel in the world (57 km), 20

years of construction, cost about 9 billion
up to 2.400 m of overlying rock resulted in
extreme pressure in disturbance zones
hybrid approach with 2D formwork/3D
reinforcement in standard situations , full 3D
design and visualizations at complex points

Despite standardization, about 120 blocks

plans and more than 1.000 plans have been
produced. This is a huge amount of data, but
Allplan dealt with it effortlessly.
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User Projects Civil Structures

Fly-Over Haarlem (2010 - 2011)

Royal Haskoning Architecten, Amsterdam (NL)
Iv-Infra, Nieuwegein (NL)
Allplan Engineering

fly-over at freeway A200 and railway, 200 m

long, 20 m wide, 4 pillars, 5 spans
beams on top of pillars are precast and pre-
stressed elements with CFRP edges
pillar shapes have been modeled with Allplans
Bridge and Civil Engineering modeler, then
exported to mechanical engineering software
SolidEdge for CNC formwork production

The rebar supplier was extremely pleased with

the supplied bending schedules, which can be
generated with Allplan almost automatically.
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User Projects Civil Structures

Railroad Junction Riekerpolder

(2010 - 2016)
Railinfra Solutions, Amsterdam (NL)
Allplan Engineering

railroad junction and numerous railroad bridges

crossing a freeway, urban roads and waterways
complete structure available as 3D model in
Allplan, from which general arrangement and
reinforcement drawings were derived
investigation of the best placements of supports
to achieve technically and economically feasible
spans

One of the advantages of modeling with Allplan

in 3D was, that execution conflicts could
already be identified during the design.
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User Projects Civil Structures

Offshore Island Drilling Center,

Caspian Sea (2010 - 2011)
Witteveen + Bos Kasakhstan, Aktau (KZ)
Allplan Engineering

artificial island for oil and gas exploration in the

largest oilfield of the Northern Caspian Sea
strict environmental regulation requires strong
protection against major ice build-ups.
construction with sheet piles, rock-filled sub-
structure, concrete foundations for installations
clashes must be avoided by any means, harsh
conditions limit construction to 7-8 months

Using Allplan we can provide a 3D model for

our client (e.g. for the piping design) and
identify conflicts in an early stage.
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User Projects Industrial Buildings

Covered storage facility, Gurain

(2010 - 2011)
Adem, Mons (B)
Allplan Engineering, Scia Engineer

construction of covered storage facilities for

CCB Italcementi
140 m length, 48 m span, 23 m useable height
extremely tight schedule, tendering based on
preliminary design, execution documents
produced during construction
construction on schedule and without conflicts

A challenging experience that has been

profitable thanks to a 3D model, that has been
used for the calculation with Scia Engineer and
for the drawing production with Allplan
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User Projects Industrialized Planning

Fly-Over Kerensheide (2011 - 2012)

Movares, Utrecht (NL)
Allplan Engineering, Scia Engineer

fly-over at freeways A2 and A76, 600 m long,

17 m wide, 11 sections with a span of up 57 m
engineering consultancy, contractor and rebar
supplier have been working together from the
preliminary design to the construction
full 3D model of ordinary and pre-stressed
reinforcement to avoid collisions

During the design process, the BIM concept

was applied to gain savings in costs and time in
the building phase. In practice this resulted in
reusing design information, speeding up the
process and saving in costs.

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User Projects Industrialized Planning

Harrer Chocolate Factory, Sopron

(2007 - 2009)

Christoph Huber, Vienna (A)

Bthory Tibor Gbor, Sopron (HU)
Allplan Engineering, Allplan Precast

3-story chocolate factory with office and sales

facilities
challenging were the raft foundation with piles
and very slender, partially cantilevering slabs
short construction could be achieved by using
hollow core walls and slabs, as well as pre-
stressed slab elements

Allplan made it possible to solve intricate

details of the structure.
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User Projects Industrialized Planning

Branch Rabobank, Sint-Oedenrode

(2010 - 2011)
Roos en Ros, Nieuw-Beijerland (NL)
Hoco-Beton, Weert (NL)
Allplan Engineering

office building made of precast concrete walls,

hollow core slabs supported by a steel structure
and cast-in-place foundations
engineering work included detailed production
and assembly drawings
steel structure has been imported as IFC file
the complete structure could be assembled
without complications in only 5 weeks

Because Allplan allows to visually inspect all

details, design errors can be detected and
resolved at an early stage. 40
User Projects Special Projects

Info Tower Berlin Airport (2006 - 2007)

Kusus + Kusus Architekten, Berlin (D)
Sailer Stepan und Partner, Munich (D)
Allplan Engineering

32 m tall viewing tower with triangular, story-

wise rotated curtain wall
reinforced concrete core, steel slabs and a pre-
stressed fabric membrane mounted on the steel
structure
especially challenging was to limit the wind-
induced deformations of the curtain-wall and
the susceptibility to vibrations

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User Projects Special Projects

Canopy Roof, Munich (2009)

Reichert Pranschke Maluche, Munich (D)
Sailer Stepan und Partner, Munich (D)
Allplan Engineering

73 by 32 m canopy roof of a bus and streetcar

stop
highly optimized, double curved grid shell made
of 10 mm thick sheet steel
execution of roof and columns as welded steel
structure
reinforced concrete foundation for load-transfer
into the underlying subway structure

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 Thank you for your attention!
Dipl.-Ing. Christof Lorenz I CSO Engineering @Nemetschek Allplan
Email: clorenz@nemetschek.com
Phone: +49 (0)172 7688149

Photo: marcwinkel.de