4680x
000480
2012-01-09

Metropol Parasol in Seville, Spain

The Metropol Parasol is a hybrid structure consisting of timber, concrete, steel, and composite steel.

The most interesting and impressive part of the building is the accessible timber roof structure consisting of multi-layer glued timber panels of LVL type Kerto‑Q.

Under its roof, the building combines an archeological excavation, market hall, urban open-air venue, and extraordinary shadow structure made of timber, with an integrated restaurant and walks offering wonderful views over the town.

The structural system is a hybrid structure consisting of timber, concrete, steel, and composite steel.

Timber Structure with Panels Made of Laminated Veneer Lumber

The most interesting and impressive part of the Metropol Parasol is the accessible timber structure, which is 492 ft long and up to 91.8 ft high. It consists of multi-layer glued timber panels of LVL type Kerto‑Q (produced by the Finnforest company).

Some structural innovations had to be made for the implementation. For example, the polyurethane coating, which is 0.07 to 0.11 inches thick; the connection details optimized for mounting; and the annealing of the epoxy resin used for gluing threaded bars in place, which was a world first in timber construction. The annealing became necessary to raise the safety level because temperatures of more than 140°F occur inside the timber structure in summer.

Both the structural engineer and the timber construction company decided to use a connection system with glued-in tension bars representing a method of connecting elements appropriate for achieving a high load-bearing capacity but having relatively low weight.

The timber structure consists of approximately 3,400 individual parts with a total of 88,286 ft3 of panels made of laminated veneer lumber used for the construction work.

Stress Analysis with RFEM in Timber Panels

As the panels are connected with releases in the intersection points around the vertical axis, the internal forces from the bearing capacity of the plates are almost always negligible.

Normally, the stress design is reduced to the stresses occurring within the plane of the timber sheet. The timber cross‑sections in the branching points where the timber gridshell is divided into a top and a bottom section were designed by Finnforest using RFEM and FE sheet models.

Timber Structure Holzbau Layh GmbH
layh.de
Timber Structure: Marlegno Srl
Via delle Industrie,14
Bolgare (BG), Italy
www.marlegno.it
Investor Statutory City of Most
Architectural Design Arquitectos Asociados


Project Specifications

Model data

Number of Nodes 225
Number of Lines 81
Number of Surfaces 1
Number of Load Cases 64
Number of Result Combinations 9
Total Weight 1.893 tons
Dimensions 14.1 x 0 x 20.05 feet
Program Version 5.23.00

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