Working Out The Details

Continuing with the design of a nature observatory I have begun to finalize the building form and think about the structural steel elements that will make it work.

The manipulation of points within a hexagonal frame became the logical steps which helped me realize one of my earlier sketches. 

From here I began to think about what type of structural systems I would use and quickly sketched out some possibilities. 

Taking this general idea of what I wanted I further developed my digital model and roughly designing the elements I want to have. The model is nowhere near completion, but it's a start. 

The model allowed me to think more about the steel details I want to employ and possible ways of solving structural issues. I am still uncertain about how some of these will work out in the design, but a little more research and reading will get me there.

Some concerns this far with the design are mostly structural (will this thing even stand up with the structure iv imagined?) but also aesthetic. Although I wanted the building to look light and have a high level of porosity it looks like just a tectonic frame waiting for something else to be added. Even though there is a lot more detail to add to the model which could fix this problem, I also began to look at some examples of architectural projects that use steel mesh.

Looking at the work of Dominique Perrault, who I remembered as the designer of the Berlin velodrom, I stumbled upon his design of a pedestrian footbridge.

The bridge uses a series of steel cables which do not limit the visibility within the structure, but from the exterior provide what looks like a cohesive surface. This might be an element to consider in my design...