The construction industry has typically been a slow adopter of new technologies. However, firms like Zaha Hadid Architecture have pushed the design boundaries to the limit on what is possible. The Morpheus hotel is one such example. These revolutionary designs have required engineers and fabricators alike to adopt a tool-set that was once only seen in the advanced manufacturing sector.
The Altair Hyperworks Finite Element Analysis (FEA) package is one such product that started life in the Aerospace industry. However, it is now used extensively by engineers delivering complex geometry designs for the construction industry. AM-A director Adam Mitchell first started using Altair products back in 2004 when working on the F-35 Fighter Jet. Adam now uses the same tool-set to enable great architectural design.
“Morpheus is a newly built, contemporary style hotel in the City of Dreams in Cotai, Macau, that was commissioned to be built by world-renown architectural firm Zaha Hadid Architects in 2012. With exquisitely designed futuristic living spaces offering remarkable views, salons, rooftop pool, gaming room, restaurants, lobby atrium, civic and meeting spaces, the Morpheus experience combines ultra-luxury with innovation to promise a singular vision of the future.” -Altair
The Altair Hyper-works package not only allows the engineer to analyse the stress and deflection it has inbuilt optimisation algorithms that allow the engineering to generate optimal load-paths. This is especially relevant given the architectural trends towards organic geometry. Rather than just cladding a traditional frame with a fancy cladding, using the intrinsic strength of the shape allows a more honest and efficient design. In this example below provided by Altair. The engineer has use a load path optimisation for a given design space.
Load-path optimisation out put is the structurally most efficient layout for the given constraints. Further detailed design and analysis is required from this point.
“In determining the structural layout, the Altair software helped us in the identification of the main structural members,” says Henry Louth, Senior Designer, Zaha Hadid Architects
Read more about the Morpheus Hotel project and Altair Hyper-works here
Whilst Zaha and Morpheus are massive budget large scale projects. These techniques can still be affordable for smaller scale projects in the residential and public art space.
Thinking of challenging your design boundaries? Get in contact with AM-A to start collaborating on your next design.