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Metropol Parasol - Digital Timber Design

Chapter · January 2012

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-23435-4_28

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4 authors, including:

Jan-Peter Koppitz Gregory Charles Quinn

Arup Swinburne University of Technology
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)LJPlaza Mayor inSeville with the Metropol Parasol

Metropol Parasol – Digital Timber Design

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The redevelopment of the Plaza de la Encarnación and the design of the unique
free formed timber mega structure “Metropol Parasol” (Fig. 1.1) started with a
design competition in 2004. The aim was to provide a new underground museum
for the newly excavated roman mosaics, space for shops and the original market
stands at ground floor level and a public plaza at 5 m above ground, including bars
and a restaurant. The Berlin architect Jürgen Mayer H. together with the engineers
of Arup submitted the winning scheme. Most visible is the huge timber structure
resembling six merging mushrooms of up to 28 m in height and 150 m in total
length, which provide the shading for the new centre point of urban live.
Meandering walkways on top of the parasols and a restaurant at 21,5 m above
ground invite tourists to enjoy the view on the old town. 

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The geometry for the structure is based on a free-form, outlining the tree-shaped
shading structures. The individual laminated wood plates (LVL) are generated by
cutting vertically in an orthogonal 1.5x1.5 meter pattern through the free-form .

)LJ Outline of the Parasols

)LJ Rhino-Model of the wooden structure for the Metropol Parasol

 Jan-Peter Koppitz, Gregory Quinn, Volker Schmid, Anja Thurik

)LJ Section profiles for a selection of the wooden elements

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Different materials are employed in the structure depending on the various archi-
tectural and structural demands. The foundation and the cylindrical elevator shafts
below the platform restaurant are made of concrete. The museum area was
spanned with composite trusses of steel and reinforced concrete held together be-
neath by tie rods. A composite steel structure bears the weight of the restaurant
and is supported by various slanted struts made of hollow steel sections, which
follow the path of the outside stairs and are connected to two concrete cores.
The timber plates are 1.5 to 16.5 meters long; the width of the Kerto-Q LVL-
plates varies from 68 to 311 millimeters. The parasol elements reach a maximum
height of about 3 meters, while the largest construction piece, in the “trunk,”
measures 16.5 x 3.5 x 0.14 meters. Overall, there are about 3,400 elements, with a
total volume of about 3,500 cubic meters of laminated veneer lumber.

)LJ Cross section of the hybrid structure for the Metropol Parasol
Metropol Parasol – Digital Timber Design

)LJ FE-model showing the steel diagonals and the observation walkways

Since the shading structure does not have a closed, stiffening roof, but rather one
that is open at the top and exposed to the elements, additional steel diagonals were
necessary to stabilize the wooden structure so that it could bear weight. A clever,
well-defined arrangement of the diagonals made it possible to achieve bi-
directional shell action in the wooden grillage.

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The parasols’ wooden structure is at the mercy of

the elements. In order to protect the wood, the
laminated veneer lumber was sprayed with a two to
three millimeter thick layer of 2K polyurethane
(Fig. 4.1). Thanks to its outstanding flexibility and
its excellent adherence to wood surfaces, this layer
can help to prevent possible fissures in the wood.
At the same time, the 3mm thick PUR layer is
sufficiently vapor permeable. Together with the
light ivory-colored topcoat of paint that serves as
UV protection, the polyurethane coating lends the
wood an entirely new surface quality. This new
combination of PUR and wood provides the
engineers and architects completely new ways to
treat wooden structures.
)LJ 2-3mm thick 2K polyurethane coating
sprayed onto Kerto-Q with glued-in threaded rods
 Jan-Peter Koppitz, Gregory Quinn, Volker Schmid, Anja Thurik

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In accordance with the original cutting pattern of the structure, all of the joints in
the ground plan are at right angles. In elevation, however, all of the 2700 joints are
at different angles. The wooden joints have to bear forces of up to 1.3 MN. Be-
cause the foundations load-bearing capacity is limited, the lightest possible con-
necting detail is required. Since each joint is different, a flexible, modular system
has to be developed. The connection has to accommodate tolerances on site and be
easy to assemble. Since every connection is visible, their dimensions have to be as
minimal as possible.
The answer to these requirements is connections that use bonded rods: a mod-
ern concept featuring great load-bearing capacity, but relatively lightweight. For
the moment connections on the top and bottom sides of the elements, a special,
standardized clevis connector was developed; it can be rotated and quickly bolted
on at the construction site, as in steel construction. The two steel plates are inter-
locked via a saw-toothed connection and connected by pre-stressed, high-tension
bolts to the flange. The high forces are transferred between the steel and wood via
the threaded rods glued into the wood.

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)LJ Principle of moment connections using glued-in threaded rods (a) and pre-stressed bolts
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In Seville temperatures can reach well over 40 °C in the shade. This causes prob-
lems to the epoxy resin used to glue in the threaded rods, because the resin is only
approved for up to 60 °C. Arup’s thermal simulations showed that temperatures of
at least 60 °C or more could be reached inside the wooden structure. For this rea-
son Arup’s suggested to raise the glass transition temperature of the epoxy
resin by tempering it: Working with
WEVO Chemicals, Finnforest Merk de-
veloped a controlled process for heating
the timber elements, including the bond
lines of the rods, to about 55 °C, making
it possible to increase the glass transi-
tion temperature, to well over 80 °C.

)LJ Temperature simulation per-

formed on 68mm thick Kerto-Q boards

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7.1 Continuous Electronic Data Transfer

The Metropol Parasol project was only conceivable by means of an integrated de-
sign development among all team members; architect, structural, services and fire
engineers as well as the timber contractor. A prerequisite for such a design process
is the seamless transfer of electronic data between all team members including the
general contractor both in Germany and Spain. Collaboration in the team begins at
the very first design phase. Virtual 3D models from the architects provide geome-
try that is directly modified or optimised by the engineers according to analysis re-
sults.

7.2 Generating Input Values for Structural Calculations

The structural analysis of the Metropol Parasol requires highly complex three di-
mensional calculations. The starting point for the analysis is the architect’s 3D
model which provides the height and profile of the wooden elements as well as
their orientation in space. With the help of a custom made computer program, the
structural engineers automatically import the relevant geometric data from the
model and generate an analysis model. The analysis model assigns a mass to each
 Jan-Peter Koppitz, Gregory Quinn, Volker Schmid, Anja Thurik

individual wooden element and steel connector in the system depending on the
element’s width. A key issue with the structural analysis of the Metropol Parasol
is the sheer number of structural elements which results in a serious computational
challenge, i.e. how do I obtain results if my input values are constantly changing?
The final geometry of the structure depends on the forces acting at each node in
the structure and these forces depend on the width and subsequent weight of the
structural elements as well as the necessary connector sizes. This cycle of interde-
pendence can only be broken if the whole structure is solved iteratively. For each
iterative step the input values are extracted from the results of the previous step.
Convergence of the iteration is reached when all geometric and load bearing crite-
ria have been met. Due to the complexity of the geometry, this convergence can
take up to several days to compute.

7.3 Automated Iteration Routines

The structural engineers at Arup developed a software routine in order to automate

the iteration. This takes into account the thickness and weight of the wooden ele-
ments and of the connection details at each node in the structure. The thickness
and subsequent weight of the wooden elements are redefined at each step of the it-
eration process depending on the loads in the system.
Similarly, the weight of the connectors is redefined at each step of the iteration.
The various connector types which differ in weight and load-bearing capacity are
defined according to the thickness, height and geometric orientation of fibres in
the wooden elements with the help of a large custom-made data matrix.
Metropol Parasol – Digital Timber Design

)LJ Screenshot from the matrix that assigns connector types according to size and loading
categories of the wooden elements.

Once the iteration process is complete, the results are collected and forwarded
electronically to the wood contractor and the architects. This same data is then
used directly for the fabrication and detail checks.
After completion of detail design, the real weight of the timber structure including
the connection details was compared with results from the last iteration of the FE
model.

)LJ Various widths of LVL, matched to the given forces in the timber beams

7.4 Computer Aided Manufacture

Data from the architectural model (JMH) is combined with data from the struc-
tural engineers (Arup) in order to generate a virtual object model for the timber
 Jan-Peter Koppitz, Gregory Quinn, Volker Schmid, Anja Thurik

contractor (FFM) to which further production-specific data is added. The output

from this is information that can be used for remaining detail checks by specialist
engineers (IB Harrer) and to produce final working drawings.

)LJ Isometric view including connections, 3D-construction model by FFM

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The vacuum treated raw panels, 24 and 33 millimeters thick, were bonded together
into large panels, from 68 to 311 millimeters thick, in a vacuum process. A CAD
team using macro programming constructed semi-automatic processes for the ap-
proximately 3,400 individual wood elements and connections. After being ap-
proved, timber elements of the same thickness were optimally nested in the
slabs—taking into account the grain direction —in a process similar to cutting
cookies out of dough. The elements were precisely cut down to the millimeter by a
CNC-controlled trimming robot, and were milled and notched at the same time.
The 35,000 longitudinal bores (65–70 cm deep) for the glued-in threaded rods
were drilled manually.
 Metropol Parasol – Digital Timber Design

)LJ Cutting pattern of the individual Kerto panels © FFM

The fundamental idea behind the montage of the parasol structures was to keep
element assembly as flexible as possible and to use simple, steel connection de-
tails to transfer the axial forces and bending moments, and also accommodate the
construction tolerances. The assembly was carried out with the help of a complex
scaffolding system, which was coordinated with the geometry of the parasol and
its corresponding loads. In addition, assembly baskets were specially made to fit
one person, matching the dimensions of the parasol grillage.

)LJ Views of the platform and scaffolding, carpenters in custom built baskets

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