Friday06 June 2014

How RMJM does the twist in Russia

15 February 2008
A window assembly that accommodates flat glass in a twisting frame is the key to cladding RMJMs Moscow City Palace tower
The solution The solution The solution The solution - A window assembly that accommodates flat glass panes within the twisting frame
Architect Architect Architect Architect - RMJM London
Cladding consultant Cladding consultant Cladding consultant Cladding consultant - Newtecnic
Cladding contractor Cladding contractor Cladding contractor Cladding contractor - Schuco
The concept
Our City Palace scheme combines an office tower and retail development with a wedding register office at the base. A landscaped pedestrian plaza connects the building to the
Moscow International Business Centre, a commercial area of the city currently under development.
The inspiration for the tower reflects the function contained at the base: the ceremonial wedding halls. The form of the tower, reminiscent of the twisting domes of St Basils on Red
Square, is composed of two metaphorical parts one male and the other female that intertwine as they rise up the building.
We wanted to find the most appropriate yet cost-effective way to clad the twisting tower while achieving a continuous surface. Construction is expected to begin in April.
Scott Cahill is an associate at RMJM London.
Step 1 - Understanding the geometry
Although the formal expression of the tower is complex, creative solutions have allowed the geometry to be derived from a conventional office plan arrangement that is both simple
and repeatable. For example, although the four perimeter concrete columns rotate with every floor plate to assist in support at the slab cantilevers, the central concrete core and the
eight internal concrete columns are continuous in orientation to facilitate a conventional means of construction. In addition,
since the degree of twist within the tower is a constant three degrees, a redundancy of unitised cladding panels can be accommodated at every floor.
Given the three-degree twist, an offset of around one metre over the 40.5m slab length is created between two adjacent floor plates. This requires a cladding system to accommodate
this.
Step 2 Cladding options
We investigated three different cladding strategies in the early stages of the design.



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Stepping
Although this strategy would allow for almost total repeatability of a single cladding panel, it would unfortunately create ledges and undercuts at the exterior of the building. These
conditions would lead to snow mounds and the proliferation of icicles in winter.








Folding
This complicated strategy was technically feasible, but the extra joint at the fold line would have increased the overall U-value and the rate of air infiltration through the external wall
both undesirable side effects in the cold Moscow climate.







Twisting

This was the most practical way to achieve the aesthetic objectives of the project. It captured the essence of the smooth and continuous surface desired in the original concept
design.



Step 3 Angling the mullions
In order for panel geometries to be repeatable between adjacent floors over the height of the entire tower, the mullions must be angled in co-ordination with the twist on the external
surface.
By accommodating this condition, all mullions will be both angled in elevation and inclined in section to varying configurations. For a 40.5m-long floor plate, this results in 27
different unitised cladding panels at 1.5m spacing for each elevation. Because the plan is square, all four sides of the tower can use the same panel geometry.
Step 4 Accommodating the twist
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To permit the three-degree twist and 1m offset between floor plates, each panel needs to allow for about 70mm of rotation within the cladding assembly to ensure that stepping
between individual panels is negated.
An innovative detail for accommodating a flat plane of glass within this twisting frame was created to provide a wider glazing rebate within the mullion. This allows variable setback of
the glazing from the face of the twisting mullion assembly. The rebate is then filled with a variably dimensioned spacer to hold the triple-glazed units in place.
Step 5 Building the panels
We worked with a fabricator to develop a preliminary mock-up of the unitised panel.
A detailed 3D node-point model was provided by Newtecnic to assist in referencing our assumptions for the geometry and dimensions of the complete assembly.
The prototype was intended to test the geometry for the jointing of the mullion assembly and the visual appearance of the detail for the variable width glazing gasket.
The overall depth of the mullion assembly is about 350mm 70mm to accommodate the varying position of the glass and 280mm to structure the panel.
Step 6 Other design challenges
Creative solutions were also required for other areas of the design that needed to be co-ordinated with the rotating and twisting enclosure.
For internal partitions, the challenge required resolving the connection for a typical stud partition with a mullion face that is constantly varying in position and orientation for every
different cladding panel. Our solution was to terminate the conventional partition short of the cladding assembly and provide a module-specific prefabricated folded glass-reinforced
plastic panel infill component to connect the two elements.
This GRP component is filled with insulation to inhibit sound transfer and then sealed at the mullion to accommodate building tolerances and movement.
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