Arch 653_Project 1_30 St Mary Axe_Zepeng Jia

Arch 653_Project 1_30 St Mary Axe

1. Introduction

Location: UK, London

Architect: Foster and Partners

Structural Engineer: Arup 

Construction Cost: €138 million

Floor Count: 41

Construction Date: 2001-2003

Figure 1

London’s first ecological tall building and an instantly recognizable addition to the city’s skyline, this headquarters designed for Swiss Re is rooted in a radical approach − technically, architecturally, socially and spatially. Forty-one stores high, it provides 46,400 square meters net of office space together with an arcade of shops and cafes accessed from a newly created piazza. At the summit is a club room that offers a spectacular 360-degree panorama across the capital.

2. Parametric Modeling Process

2.1 General Modeling Process:

1. Create a conceptual mass with parameters

2. Create a curtain wall panel system with parameters

3. Load the curtain wall system into the massing family

4. Load the massing family into the project which the floors and furniture are created

2.2 Creating Massing

After several attempts, I found out that it's better to separate the mass into two parts, one the the main mass, another one is the dome above the main massing.

Figure 2

Three reference circles have been create in the 1st floor, 17 floor and 40 floors with radius parameter on each circle which control the shape of the building.

Figure 3

The dome is formed by one vertical reference line, a half ellipse curve and the radius of 39th floor.

Figure 4

Dome radius and 39th floor radius shared a same parameter. As the result,  as soon as the R changes, the dome and main massing are changed as well.

2.3 Creating Curtain Wall System

figure 5

Create curtain wall grid with the "divide surface" command

Figure 6

Figure 7

I created two adaptive panels and load into the main mass (figure 6) and the dome (figure 7).  The main mass panel consists three parameters, the thickness of the glass, the width of the degrid and the height of the degrid. I load the panel into the massing family.

2.4 The result and Conclusion

Figure 8

All the parameters have been tested and it works well.  However, the project have room for further development on the inner part of building.

3. Renderings

Figure 9

Figure 10