The BUGA Wood Pavilion celebrates a new approach to digital timber construction. Its segmented wood shell is based on biological principles found in the plate skeleton of sea urchins, which have been studied by the Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and the Institute for Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) at the University of Stuttgart for almost a decade.
As part of the project, a robotic manufacturing platform was developed for the automated assembly and milling of the pavilion’s 376 bespoke hollow wood segments. This fabrication process ensures that all segments fit together with sub-millimetre precision like a big, three-dimensional puzzle. The stunning wooden roof spans 30 meters over one of BUGA’s main event and concert venues, using a minimum amount of material while also generating a unique architectural space.
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 BUGA Wood Pavillon - (c) ICD ITKE |
(c) ICD ITKE
(c) ICD ITKE
(c) ICD ITKE
(c) ICD ITKE
The prefabricated shell segments were assembled in only 10 working days by a team of two craftsmen, without the usually required extensive scaffolding or formwork. After connecting all segments with removable bolts, a layer of EPDM foil was rolled over the pavilion in 8 strips to provide waterproofing. Untreated larch facade plates provide the external cladding of the pavilion.
The HERTALAN® EPDM roofing is produced at the CARLISLE® factory in Kaufbeuren, Germany and delivered directly to the construction site.
All building elements are designed for disassembly and reuse on a different site. The pavilion’s loadbearing wood shell achieves a column-free span of 30 meters, but weighs only 38kg/m². This is less than the LAGA exhibition hall benchmark, despite a threefold increase in span and a fivefold increase in size. Drawing a line from traditional carpentry to high-tech robotic fabrication methods, the BUGA Wood Pavilion showcases the possibilities for efficient, economical, ecological and expressive wood architecture that arises at the intersection of master craft, digital innovation and scientific research.
Dimensions:
32 x 25 x 7 m (LxWxH), Coverd Area: 500m², Shell Area: 600m², Weight of loadbearing wood structure: 36,8kg/m²
Construction System:
Structural Shell: robotically fabricated hollow, polygonal wood case segments of spruce laminated veneer lumber with UV-protection coating, Cladding: EPDM-water proofing, 3-Axis CNC-cut natural larch 3-ply wood plates
