Tower House Netting
Entrant: Tensys Engineers Pty Ltd (Engineer)
Location: Fitzroy, Victoria. Completed: 2014 Client: Philip & Sophia Ross
Team: Áustin Maynard Architects, Maurice Farrugia & Assoc, Tensys – net design & details, Oxley Nets (net) McDonald Marine (ropes), Overend Constructions Pty Ltd
Project entered in the LSAA 2016 Design Awards (Internal & Sculptures, #407)
Application: The use of a tensile net to create a mezzanine level floor that is fun and functional
Description
Australia is wide and flat. As a result our homes are wide and flat. Tower House project explored the idea of creating a vertical home, in contrast to the typical Australian home. The boys studio pushes this idea further. It is a wholly vertical space with a bookshelf running from floor to ceiling. The boys desks are at the base of the studio, where they can studiously work. Hanging within this tall space is a net where the boys can read, and contemplate with a view to the street and a view to the backyard. The boys study is designed to inspire the boys as they grow and learn.
Design Brief
The net to be used for this project is one that you would see behind the goal post (at a soccer match). The element that we needed to understand was the material properties – stiffness, stretch characteristics, creep etc (to be used in a tensile application) of both the net and the ropes
Structural Systems
Structural system is to create a tension net but using the net and rope properties and make allowances for creep.
Materials
Dyneema ropes. Polypropylene nets
Fabrication
The net was prestretch on site and marked off (full template)
This was taken back to the factory to be trimmed (to allow for creep and stretch) before tensioning on site.
There was a fair amount of collaboration in working through the different knots to be used for the ropes and nets (on site) with fabricator, builder and engineer.
Collaboration
As mentioned fair amount of collaboration in working through the different knots to be used for the ropes and nets (on site) with fabricator, installer, builder and engineer
Total project cost in the order of $30,000
