19.015.10
Libramont,
Belgium
The pavillon erected for the annual event “Foire de Libramont 2019 – Demo Forest” spotlight an innovative technique to bent cross laminated timber panels. The double revolution staircase enables visitors to access an elevated platform (+4.5 m) in order to have an overview of the exhibition area. The stair steps are maintained by a set of prefabricated CLT curved panels.
CLT panels are notched with “lattice hinge” pattern. The sawing process is done on flat panels. The curvature is obtained by a torsional setting of vertical strips and an overall loss of the notched panel stiffness. The parametric design enables to generate a variable length of notches according to the radius of curvature. As the radius decreases through the center of the pavillon, the pattern varies accordingly. The overall system is stable thanks to an interaction between the curved walls, which acts as a shell, and the steps, which acts as horizontal load transfer between the wall layers.