Submitting Institution
University of DerbyUnit of Assessment
Art and Design: History, Practice and TheorySummary Impact Type
TechnologicalResearch Subject Area(s)
Engineering: Civil Engineering
Built Environment and Design: Architecture, Design Practice and Management
Summary of the impact
The underpinning research was rooted in surface patterning technologies
of the textiles industry — from traditional precepts of structuring
seamless repeats to the deployment and hybridisation of advanced digital
imaging processes to create control data for output devices — from looms
to lasers.
The research investigated digital methods for the realisation of
high-definition relief formliners for precast and glass reinforced
concrete. Bespoke methods were later translated to develop workable low
relief moulds.
This research built on earlier investigative research in 2009 into a
method for the digital realisation of the high definition photorealistic
form liners.
Underpinning research
Research Insights
Against a backdrop of long-term textiles-oriented research that focussed
on the adoption of digital methods for the fabrication, construction and
modification of both flexible and resistant materials, researchers were
drawn into a radically different medium — concrete.
The research and the innovation of creating the first High Definition
(1200dpi), photorealistic, low relief form liner mould for pre-cast
concrete, for use at an industrial scale, has had several impacts. Of
these, the full realisation of the vision of the award-winning architects,
Caruso St John, is prime. Without the invention and delivery of a true
means of relief replication of the rich detail of Valenciennes lace in
concrete, the Nottingham Contemporary Arts Centre would have been deprived
of a level of finesse that has established its credentials: "...might
be the first masterpiece of British architecture of the twenty-first
century". Owen Hatherley, A guide to the New Ruins of Great
Britain, Verso 2010.
The later (2011) project in Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) also adopted
the concept of using patterned architectural surfaces to reflect residual
locational narratives in animating the urban environment. This developed
from the previous research to make a strong societal impact, which in this
instance was economic in the creation and retailing of 185 premium
apartments, totalling approximately £80million. It added to the economic
buoyancy both in London and in Yorkshire, where the GRC panels were
manufactured.
Key Researchers:
Professor John Goto, Professor of Fine Art, Head of Digital & Material
Arts Research Centre, University of Derby (2008 - present).
John Angus, Senior Lecturer Textiles, Digital Form Liner research,
University of Derby (1990-present).
Louise West, Textiles Student Researcher, Lace Consultant, University of
Derby. Research Centre researchers — D-Marc.
The collaborating architects at Caruso St John, Stephanie Webs, Bernd
Schmutz and Peter King, Production Director at Trent Concrete Ltd.
Industry Collaborators:
Commissioning architects at Caruso St John, Stephanie Webs, Bernd
Schmutz. Manufacturing: Peter King, Production Director at Trent Concrete
Ltd.
Glenn Howells and Hawkins Brown Architects to Barratt East London, Canada
Water. Mr. Bob Faulding, Managing Director GRCUK Ltd.
References to the research
The following materials are evidence of the profile of the research and
of the reach of the impact:
2) http://www.carusostjohn.com/projects/nottingham-contemporary/
3) Nottingham Contemporary, Weekday Cross, Nottingham, Architecture 10,
RIBA buildings of the year, 2010.
4) http://www.nottinghamcontemporary.org/our-building
Summary of external reviews.
5) GRC2011 Istanbul Congress of the Glass Reinforced Concrete Association
(GRCA).
http://www.grca.org.uk/congress/default.asp
http://www.grca.org.uk/congress/downloads/32%20Project%20in%20the%20UK%20with%20Patterned%20GRC%20Panels.pdf
Item 32: Project in the UK with Patterned GRC panels, Bob Faulding, GRC UK
Ltd.
Details of the impact
Process
Caruso St John Architects won the commission for the £20m Nottingham
Contemporary Arts Centre. Their facia design specified the use of a
Victorian lace pattern, at an enlargement of 1000%, to be embossed in a
seamless vertical repeat into concrete panels around the building. A
bobbin lace expert replicated the real — if oversized — lace for the
pattern. The research team provided digital `pricking patterns' at the new
scale, together with 3D visualisations — machined in resistant materials —
of the required enlarged detail, and bespoke `giant' yarn to effect the
master sample.
The architects intended producing this physical textile artefact for the
master repeat formliner in the magnified yarn, aiming to use this
scaled-up sample as a `traditional' direct master mould for the production
of the negative silicone `formliner' mats, that are required in the
concrete casting process. These derivative mats were eventually to be
produced by Reckli GmbH in Germany. However, it became evident that this
approach would be problematic, as silicone poured on the `positive'
textile master would become trapped below the `equator' of the round
profile yarns used, preventing release of the `negative' formliner. As a
hypothetical alternative solution, a digital method of fabricating the
lace master was posited by the researchers and developed to output a
high-definition mould without undercut regions.
Experimentation was undertaken using a range of software applications,
digital prototyping devices & a diverse range of materials to arrive
at the lasering method. The research was underpinned by a heritage of
`desk-top manufacturing' methodology that had been sustained through
decades of advanced CAD/CAM implementation in innovative prototyping for
manufacture, evidenced by Design Residencies and PhD supervision. Bespoke
methods were developed to translate the digital imaging, applied and
constructed textile repeat systems and the `rules' of machine wrought
Valenciennes Lace into a workable low relief mould.
Subsequent media coverage prompted the external request for a second
architectural collaboration, with new partner companies. Glen Howells
Architects who had specified hundreds of large decorative relief panels,
depicting fallen layers of stylised maple leaves, in glass reinforced
concrete for Barratt East London's Maple Quays Development at Canada
Water. Consequently GRCUK Ltd. — a leading GRC manufacturer — required the
invention of a digital method to create the high resolution master
formliner with the addition of two additional criteria. Firstly, as GRC is
sprayed into the mould, the formliner must have a specific angled `draw'
or bevel between each level of pattern. The second challenge was to
conceive a method of digitally engineering an irregular tessellating
shuttering, around the core repeat, of the same level of detailing as the
relief pattern. This demand arose from the obligation to extend the
pattern repeat over large panels — up to 5.25 m2.
This Maple Quays project enabled the exploration of new materials and
novel methods to arrive at the sculptural requirements in GRC specified by
Barratt and the architects at Glenn Howells and Hawkins Brown. The success
of this relied on collaboration with GRCUK and their technologists to
dovetail the methods effected at the University of Derby and the
replication system carried out in-house at GRCUK Ltd. The Maple Quays
project was realised over the course of 2010 - 11.
Beneficiaries
The new digital procedures proved effective at the initial prototype stage
and were used to secure a major contract for GRCUK Ltd. with Barratt East
London. From this, twenty GRCUK employees were engaged for 6 months on
production and Barratt East London sold all 180+ apartments, clad in maple
leaf concrete. The research focused on a different range of master
formliner materials and on the means of subsequently creating large scale
(max. 3mtrs x 1.5mtrs) latex formliner matts in endless & seamless
repeat for a variety of signature architectural components, such as
balcony cladding, ingress facades and roofline headers.
Evidence of Impact
The physical outcome of the research and its impact is evidenced in the
public spaces and built environment of the London Docklands regeneration
project and on the façade of Nottingham Contemporary Arts Centre, which
has attracted international attention since opening in 2009. The lace
embossed, fluted facade of 1100 tonnes of green, structural, pre-cast
concrete is part of the national visitor attraction, securing a yearly
footfall in excess of 300,000 - 40% beyond projections.
The University of Derby and Trent Concrete Ltd. were shortlisted in the
Lord Stafford Awards for Innovation Achieved, 2009.
The employment impact lay primarily in the engagement of 200+ workforce
of Trent Concrete Ltd over a 6 - 8 month production period.
Sources to corroborate the impact
Corroboration
The assertions of this impact statement can be corroborated by the
following external contacts and/or by the content of their websites:
1) Managing Director, GRCUK Ltd. of Dinnington, Sheffield and Chair of
the Glass Reinforced Concrete Association (GRCA), which represents the
global industry and formulates its trading standards.
See: http://www.grcuk.com/grc_trade_associations.htm
2) Barratt London: http://www.barrattlondon.com
: any approach should be mediated only through our prime collaborator —
GRCUK Ltd.
3) The architects: Glenn Howells and Hawkins Brown — again any approach
should be mediated only through our prime collaborator — GRCUK Ltd.
Evidence of Impact
The impact claimed can be corroborated through the following channels:
1) The project was a shortlist winner in 2010 Lord Stafford Award for
Innovation Achieved
2) See Project Team listing: http://www.carusostjohn.com/projects/nottingham-contemporary/
3) East Midlands Knowledge Network:
http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/www.sustainability.net/emkn/case_study/search/trent_concrete/index.html
4) BBC East Midlands Today footage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7250000/newsid_7257400/7257422.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=6&ms_javascript=true&bbcws=2
Media
The work was extensively reviewed in the broad press and also in
specialised architectural publications in UK, Germany and France for
example `de Architect', `D'Architectures', `Deutsche Bauzeitung',
`Architectural Digest', `Artforum International' and `Arkitekten'
are indicative examples.
The research was presented as invitations to address symposia and
conferences: Making Architecture series at the University of
Nottingham, 2010; Cutting Edge: Lasers and Creativity,
University of Loughborough 2011; Materiality of the Digital, East
Midlands Universities Association, hosted at the University of
Loughborough 2011.