New Structure of Bus Station in Aarau, Switzerland
Customer Project
A unique roof structure covering the bus station was built in the Swiss town of Aarau at the end of 2013. The canopy has a cloud-like shape and contains the largest single-chamber cushion in the world. It has a volume of 63,920 ft3 and a roofed area of 11,517 ft2.
| Structural Engineering |
Structural Engineering, Workshop Planning Steel, Foil, Cables, Construction Management + Quality Control formTL Ingenieure für Tragwerk und Leichtbau GmbH, Radolfzell, Germany www.form-tl.de |
| Construction |
Project Planning and Solid Construction suisseplan Ingenieure AG Aarau, Switzerland www.suisseplan.ch Construction Work Arge Foliendach mit Ruch AG Altdorf, Switzerland ruch.ag Vector Foiltec GmbH, Bremen, Germany www.vector-foiltec.com |
| Architect |
Vehovar & Jauslin AG Zürich, Switzerland www.vja.ch |
| Investor |
City of Aarau, Switzerland www.aarau.ch |
Model
Structure
The external dimensions of the roof are l x w = ~ 138 ft x ~ 128 ft. The eave height is 23 ft. In the center of the canopy there is an organically shaped opening. The air cushion is inflated and reaches a height between 4.3 ft and 10.5 ft. Furthermore, a clear and blue‑dyed foil with a finely balanced print was used.
The cushion is enveloped and spanned by an irregular mesh of stainless steel cables that are fixed to the curved pipes on the edge. The edge beams are supported by a load-bearing system consisting of steel girders lying within the cushion.
The entire technical infrastructure for water, air, electronics, and sensor technology has been integrated into the inner steel structure.
The roof is supported by a total of 11 filigree columns made of round pipes with a diameter of d = 11 3/4 inches that are slightly inclined in an axis. The "cloud" seems to float. The ETFE cushion has such an airtight and energy‑saving design that only 15% of the forecast air power needed to sustain the structure is required.
Immediately after the bus station was put into service, it became an exhibit in the Swiss architectural trade show "architektur 0.13" in Zürich.
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Programs Used for Structural Analysis
RSTAB 8
Main Program
Structural engineering software for designing frame, beam, and truss structures, as well as performing linear and nonlinear calculations of internal forces, deformations, and support reactions
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- I received an error message “Surface of incompatible type... (Surface in upper plane of building story must be of ‘Load transfer’ type)” when running the calculation. What is the reason?
