Page 51 - 건축구조 Vol. 28 / No. 04

Feature
Innovation in structural engineering - the art of the possible
thestructuralengineer.org Innovation in practice

be incurred for testing and certification of of innovation, as well as the time and financial to further innovation. It was not acceptable for

performance. costs which can arise during an innovative the design team to come up with something
From our own experiences and from project, we now explore these attributes in that only one contractor or company could
observing other projects, successful the context of the SNFCC. deliver. This ruled out specialist single-source
innovation projects combine a carefully proprietary solutions. It also meant that every
considered balance of all three categories of Case study: innovation for the SNFCC contract bidder needed to understand the
evidence; rarely is it possible with just one. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural areas of novelty in the project before bidding,
Centre (SNFCC) is the new Athens home of to allow them to competitively bid for the
Enablers of innovation the National Library of Greece and the Greek project and not inflate their bid to cover their

The adoption itself may also lead to additional National Opera. The project has created a perceived risk.
time and cost burdens for a project. These much-needed new 170 000m park, which Other constraints were imposed by the
2
could arise from three main areas: the need doubles as a green landscaped roof for the functional requirements of the project.
to develop new evidence and skills; the need opera house, library and carpark beneath. For example, the complex performance
to use a relatively new product that hasn’t yet The project was funded by the Stavros requirements for the opera house became
had the opportunity to develop economies Niarchos Foundation, with the aim to provide constraining once the design had been
of scale to match those of dominant Greece with new institutional foundations developed, limiting the opportunities for

solutions; and any costs of post-completion which the country needs for the future. refinements and changes later in the project

monitoring and remediation. Clearly, in the The project was announced in 2006. without causing significant re-work.
face of these pressures, time, money and After an international design competition, The brief developed by the design team,
professional trust are key enablers of the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) was including Expedition, therefore required the
process of innovation. Accordingly, a project appointed to deliver its scheme. Expedition structural engineers to assist in delivering
which requires or desires innovation will Engineering was asked to join the project the client’s and architect’s aspirations for the

require a degree of investment, flexibility team, having previously worked with RPBW.
and personal commitment (sometimes in
the face of opposition) from the project Key drivers of innovation "SUCCESSFUL
team. Investments might come in the form of The vision that RPBW presented to the client INNOVATIONS
project contingency provided by the client, was of a landmark building, designed to
an investment of relationship capital, an survive for generations, and creating a new OFTEN INVOLVE
allowance for innovation in the fees of the cultural and social hub for the benefit of the HIGH DEGREES OF

project team, or from the supply chain itself. city and people of Athens. It was important COLLABORATION"
An increase in project duration or budget for the client that the architect’s vision was
is likely to be undesirable. If there are set delivered as comprehensively as possible.
constraints on the project either in terms of This architectural vision established many of project. The team committed to work with this
time or money, the scope for exploration, the constraints and aspirations which drove brief and associated innovations. However,
for testing and for novelty is limited. The innovation in the project. the delivery process was by no means linear.
project team must then either accept the The project being located within a seismic Many innovative solutions were required
uncertainty – presumably at the client’s risk – region was a secondary driver of innovation. to deliver these project aspirations. This
or adopt alternative, known, but compromised This led to the client requesting that the article focuses on the innovation processes
solutions to address the project brief. Further, project be a European exemplar of seismic relating to construction of one of the most
given the complexity and multidisciplinary design. Further constraints were introduced visible elements of innovation – the 10 000m 2

nature of the construction project, successful by the need for cost-effectiveness and ferrocement solar canopy. The canopy not
innovations often involve high degrees of timeliness. only provides shade to the public, but also
collaboration among the design and delivery The fact that the client required any provides a visual sign of the building from afar,
teams, in particular when the innovation proposed innovative solutions to be capable and supports the project’s photovoltaic array,
impacts on multiple systems in the project. of being tendered competitively led, in itself, providing energy for the buildings on site. The
To identify and implement new final structure consisted of two thin structural

technologies, engineers need both an ferrocement skins separated by steel bracing
awareness of the possibility of innovation, (Figure 2).
and also an understanding of how it might Ferrocement is ultra-thin reinforced
be used on projects. Innovators need to be concrete; a typical section comprises several
alert to new opportunities, to keep up to date layers of mesh reinforcement with 3mm
on the latest techniques and technologies in cover on both faces to create a section with a
construction and other markets. Developing thickness of around 25mm (Figure 3).
and maintaining such a knowledge base
takes time. However, when constraints on a Enablers of innovation
project present the opportunity for innovation, Knowledge, collaboration and funding
an ongoing commitment to knowledge At Expedition, funds are set aside each year

development increases the efficiency of the for research and innovation to enhance the

future search process. This means that the practice’s knowledge base. We believe that
Having described the drivers and enablers N Figure 3 skills facilitates creativity and makes the
expected costs of innovation delivery may fall. this investment in training, knowledge and
Sample of ferrocement
TheStructuralEngineer | January 2017 17
한국건축구조기술사회지 Journal of The Korea Structural Engineers Association 49

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