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Tower House Netting

Tower House Netting

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

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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