SuperHub

The SuperHub in Meerstad is a market hall with a fully timber structure with a green roof. The 10 m tall roof structure consists of a diagrid of glulam beams which are in turn carried by 22 ‘trees’ in a 10.8 x 10.8 grid. The ‘trees’ are comprised of four interconnected curved glulam columns.  
 
While the grid-like structure of the roof is symmetrical, the infill elements only span in 1 direction creating asymmetry in the loading of the grid. And since the structure plays a big part in the architectural design, no steel connection elements were allowed to be visible in the connections. Because of this, choosing which elements are continuous and which aren’t is a key aspect when designing timber structures. 
 
SCIA proved to be a valuable partner in this study. Dozens of iterations were tested in which hinge placement and the rotational stiffness of connections varied. Especially the cantilevering corners where discontinuities occur in the otherwise straightforward grid structure proved to be tricky to be solved in a traditional manner. SCIA Engineer helped us decipher the complex interplay of forces in these areas and come up with a feasible design.