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APPENDIX

II

BIRTH

OF A CYBERNETIC FACTORY

As with the Hong Kong Bank, some of the greatest challenges and most advanced technologies in the construction of the Swiss Re and GLA involved the production of the cladding systems. Like Cupples, the fabricators for the banks cladding, Schmidlin (Fig. AII.1), the Swiss-based company who made the cladding for both the London buildings, also had to upgrade their methods and technology to match Fosters own methods and requirements. A well-established leader in the field, Schmidlin already had a solid reputation for custom-made cladding systems, and were used to working closely with their architect clients. As a progressive company, they also used CNC machines in their production lines. However, like most manufacturers in the construction industry, prior to the Foster commissions, their operation was still based on the production of detailed drawings for every component in the traditional manner. In the same way, the CNC machines were manually programmed for each job, a laborious process requiring someone to translate the information from a drawing into appropriate data for the machine. Also like Cupples, Schmidlin invested in new machinery at their Basel factory to cope with the Foster projects, including additional CNC machines. However, by far the greater investment went into software development. Uwe Bremen, Schmidlins Head of Technology, soon recognized that the geometrical complexity of the cladding systems and huge number of variations ruled out conventional drawings, whether drawn by human hand or by computer. A single cladding element, i.e. a glazed frame in the GLA building, for example, is composed of over 200 components, including screws, etc., which all have to be
In his prescient paper, Towards the cybernetic factory, 1962, the British cybernetician Stafford Beer1 described how computer-based production lines of the future would resemble responsive organisms, swiftly adapting to the needs of changing markets and individual customers. Following developments in other industries, flexible manufacturing systems are also now appearing in advanced sectors of the construction industry. The following unedited passage is abstracted from C. Abel, From hard to soft machines, 2004.2

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AII.1 Schmidlin AG Headquarters, Aesch/Basel, Switzerland. Photo: Author.

accounted for (Fig. AII.2). Half of these components, such as corner plates or glazing panels only the profile is constant also vary in some way from one element to the next. Often, the variations are too small to be noticed by eye, making it impossible to keep track of them with conventional methods. Multiply all those variations by 650 times for the whole cladding system every single panel on the GLA is different by some degree and you have potential chaos. The transparency of both cladding and structure in each building a defining characteristic of most of Fosters work with all their highly visible connections, further complicated matters, since nothing could be hidden or fudged; everything had to be designed and made to the same high standards (Fig. AII.3). The helical structure and the cladding pattern of the Swiss Re also presented special problems of their own, since both offsets and diagonal crossing points as well as other details arising from the peculiar geometry had to be carefully worked out: the steel cladding of the helical frame, for example, also has a diagonal kink in it to accommodate the twisting of the structure around the circular plan (Fig. AII.4). The consultative process between Schmidlins designers and Fosters project architects on the Swiss Re cladding alone lasted a whole year.

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AII.2 GLA Headquarters, London. Installation of cladding. Norman Foster, 19982002. Photo: Foster and Partners.

Although the Swiss Re was designed first, differences in the scale and programming of the two projects meant that the cladding contract for the GLA preceded that for the former building. The sequence was fortuitous, since it gave Schmidlin the opportunity to develop and refine their approach on the smaller contract before tackling the larger and more complex Swiss Re project. As it turned out, there were significant changes between the way each contract was handled, reflecting major differences in the production technologies employed. Taking the architects initial surface coordinates as supplied in the Geometry Method Statement as their starting points, Schmidlins cladding designers were able to translate their own designs for the GLA cladding into more detailed numerical data on the same spreadsheets (Figs. AII.5ad). The same data were in turn fed directly from the spreadsheets into the programmes for the CNC machines without the need for any intermediary drawings. While the use of the spreadsheets had the great advantage of eliminating the need for detailed drawings, the only way to check the accuracy of the final product for the GLA was to preassemble each element on an adjustable rig at the factory before delivery to the site an effective but costly and time-consuming process in itself. Special dies also had to be made for testing the accuracy of some components, which could not otherwise be measured. While such methods were acceptable for the smaller GLA contract, the same approach would have resulted in unacceptable delays on the Swiss Re job.

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AII.3 Swiss Re, London, England. Installation of cladding. Foster and Partners, 19972004. Photo: Norman Childs.

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AII.4 Swiss Re, London, England. Diagonal kink in metal cladding of structure necessitated by twisting geometry is clearly visible from interior. Foster and Partners, 19972004. Photo: Norman Childs.

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(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

AII.5 GLA Headquarters, London, England. Variations in size and geometry of cladding were precisely documented on spreadsheets: XYZ coordinates marked on corners of preassembled cladding units (a), 3D diagram of cladding (b), part of spreedsheet showing XYZ coordinates for four corners of each unit shown in photo (c), diagram showing variations of cladding units on main levels as laid out flat (d). Norman Foster, 19982002. Source: Foster and Partners.

Schmidlins solution, as anticipated in the SMG template, was to create their own detailed 3D computer model of the cladding system, bridging spreadsheets and production line. Adapting existing software systems to the firms needs, Schmidlins computer staff built up a complete 3D model of the Swiss Re

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(a) (b)

(c)

(d)

AII.6 Swiss Re, London, England. Cladding systems for Swiss Re were designed and manufactured with customized 3D software: complete two-storey section of Swiss Re includes all cladding components including triangular floor edges around stepped skycourts (a), detail showing structure before cladding (b), detail showing partly clad structure (c), detail showing glazed unit in place (d). Norman Foster, 19972004. Source: Schmidlin AG.

cladding in two-storey sections, including every nut and bolt, enabling both architects and cladding designers to examine every facet of the system for accuracy or potential clashes, or any other problems in complete confidence, prior to actual production (Fig. AII.6). Like the spreadsheets, the 3D model also incorporated parametric features, enabling both Fosters and Schmidlins people to make changes right up till the last moment, automatically updating the project data as needed. Finally and crucially for speeding up production with the help of additional computer expertise, Schmidlin wrote their own special software linking the 3D model directly to the CNC machines on the production line, so doing away with conventional programming. From numerical spreadsheets, to 3D modelling, to the CNC machines on the factory floor, the entire process of production for the Swiss Re cladding was computer controlled in one form or another, each step being directly linked to the next (Fig. AII.7).

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AII.7 Swiss Re, London, England. Glazed cladding unit being hoisted into place. Norman Foster, 19972004. Photo: Norman Childs.

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The implications of Fosters and Schmidlins joint achievements for the future of architectural production, and for the way we regard mechanized production in general, can hardly be overestimated. No longer the province of abstract theory or futurist speculation, the operational characteristics of Beers cybernetic factory are clearly discernable in the computer-based design studios and production lines at Schmidlin.

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