Lookout Tower with Treetop Walkway in Avondale Forest, Ireland

Moreover, the new tourist attraction should set an example for sustainability and disability inclusion. WIEHAG GmbH from Altheim, Austria, a long-time Dlubal customer, was responsible for the structural analysis of the tower. The structural calculations were performed in RSTAB.

The tower, with a height of about 125 feet, has the shape of a twelve-sided cylinder that opens upwards, intended to look like a glass of Guinness. Its diameter is approx. 77 feet at the ground and 100 feet at the tower top. The primary structural system consists of 12 glued-laminated timber columns, each set up in a rotationally symmetrical manner at an angle of 30°, forming a polygonal spatial structure. The columns are supported by means of steel columns on single foundations. The tree tower is stabilized by a close-meshed net of diagonal steel members as well as horizontally running ring structures. The construction consists of local Douglas fir and larch wood, which also makes the tower climate-friendly.

Connected to the lookout tower is a 1,575-yard-long walkway winding through the treetops at a height of up to 75 feet. A viewing platform at the tower top can be reached via a spiral ramp, which never exceeds a slope of 6%, in order to guarantee continuous accessibility. The platform consists of steel cantilevers protruding outwards that connect to the timber columns, and between them, longitudinal timber beams with planking. In addition, the tower has a 295-foot-long slide that visitors can use to return to the entrance from a height of 111 feet.