advanced building skins 14 | 15 June 2012 - lamp.tugraz.at - Graz ...

Prof. Dr.nat.techn. Oliver Englhardt
Institute of Building Construction
Graz University of Technology
Copyright © with the authors. All rights reserved.
Modern Steel and Glass Constructions –
A Review of Current Projects
Summary
Thomas Lorenz, FH-Prof. DI Dr.
Thomas Lorenz ZT GmbH, FH Joanneum Graz, Austria, office@tlorenz.at,
www.tlorenz.at
For a number of years now, Thomas Lorenz ZT GmbH has been heavily involved in national and
international projects in structural engineering for steel and glass constructions and façades. By
taking the leading role through the drafting process with these projects, the author has gained large
amounts of first-hand experience in this field. This paper will introduce the most recent projects,
explain the details, and describe the design process covering the calculation of the geometry to the
creation of the calculation models and the detailed planning of the glass, junctions and supporting
points. Special particularities and creative solutions are described as well. The topics covered
range from complete glass shells where the glass has the primary load-bearing function, to glass
used as free-formed grid shells for steel and glass constructions, as well as modern façade
constructions.
Keywords: building skins, steel-glass constructions, façades, glass shell
1 Introduction
As a transparent building material that can be used to define spatial boundaries, glass is becoming
increasingly significant. It is being used more and more for self-supporting roof constructions on the
one hand, and as panelised façades on high-ride buildings on the other. This brings new challenges,
especially for structural support engineers who have been tasked with combining a functional
supporting structure with the bold visual forms of modern architecture.
The realisation of demanding structures made of glass and steel can only work when there is close
cooperation between architects, structural support engineers and the construction managers. It is often
the case today that the basis of a construction tender is only a sketch of the structural support or central
construction objects. In such cases, the complete detailed planning and development of the details,
including any assisted prototyping occurs only after the awarding of the tender. While this way of
doing things has established itself, it ultimately leads to difficulties in the calculations and eventually
can impact the construction timelines of the structure.
In recent years Thomas Lorenz ZT GmbH has been engaged multiple times by leading companies as
structural support planners and have been required to provide system and detailed development as well
assisted prototyping within a short time frame. Thomas Lorenz GmbH were able to meet these
challenges to the satisfaction of all involved and were able to gain a wide range of experience in doing
so.
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