2012/04/12 By rcd
The D_pod Pavilion is nearing completion in time for construction at the Greenwich Peninsula site. The structure uses a Kebony timber frame in the form of a shell structure. The project itself is an exercise in constrained but creative design. We were presented with a limited budget, an untried form of timber, the size, a
2012/03/30 By rcd
The D_pod pavilion took a step closer to reality recently with the completion of the joint testing at Cambridge University. The pavilion has changed a great deal since the first iteration back in 2010. The mesh is hexagonal rather than quadrilateral meaning a different approach has been needed to the engineering of the joints in order
2012/01/31 By rcd
As part of his role as a part time Structural Engineering tutor at Oxford Brookes School of Architecture, Stephen Melville will be giving a lecture on Thursday 2nd February on the subject ‘Structuring Architecture’. This is a great opportunity to help convey the principles of collaboration and critical thought in the overlapping space of Architectural Design
2012/01/18 By rcd
Stephen Melville recently gave a lecture to the Architectural faculty of the Technical University of Delft on Computational Design and the practical application of the RCD team’s on-going research to live projects and future directions such as urbanism. The lecture was at the invitation of the high rise unit of the school.
2012/01/05 By rcd
With Texere Studios, this was the first time we applied the research into digital urbanism and the science of emergent behaviour. taking the free roaming ponies in the new Forest as a inspiration for a traffic calming measure in a london site we helped with a design which created an inner city farm with sheep
2012/01/05 By rcd
Working with Foster + Partners we developed an in-house routine to automatically determine the optimum three dimensional roof form giving the right degree of internal solar shading in the new villa structures on the coastline of Montenegro. The application automatically shapes the roofs of villas in relation to the solar shading needed. We were
2012/01/05 By rcd
A least energy structure the form being determined by rcd’s own routines together with principle curvature mapping to form efficient framing The timber members were set out in relation to the lines of principle curvature on the efficient surface. we developed the routines to do this and it enables a simple orthogonal structure to
2012/01/04 By rcd
Computational analysis of caternaries enhances 3D modelling capability On a competition submission for Riga Airport, the RCD group used computerised analysis to model the undulating roof structure which was inspired by the catenary form. In the 19th century Gaudi defined the form of his iconic La Sagrada Família by making scale physical models using
2012/01/04 By rcd
An algorithm inspired by electrical behaviour of sub-atomic particles rationalises a complex facade Both archive and museum, the National Library will be a place for work and study, as well as education and tourism. A place for progress and a place for pleasure. As a national concentration of knowledge about the Kazakh culture and
2011/12/30 By rcd
Using digital intelligence to identify lines of principle stress in a structure. For the competition-winning design of the new Greenland National Gallery the RCD group developed a reinforced concrete slab solution that looked original and striking while also being more energy efficient than a conventional reinforced concrete flat slab. The engineering design was based on
