Multidisciplinary Design Solutions through Parametric Modelling
by Rudolf Le Roux Arup Façade Engineer
www . arup . com
Arup façade engineer , Rudolf le Roux , presented a paper on ‘ Multidisciplinary Design Solutions through Parametric Modelling ’ at the Sixth International Conference on Structural Engineering , Mechanics and Computation ( SEMC 2016 ) held in Cape Town and hosted by the University of Cape Town . Authors representing some 60 countries from all five continents presented 360 papers .
Le Roux ’ s paper highlighted the fascinating ways in which parametric modelling was used in various aspects of the design of the new PricewaterhouseCoopers ( PwC ) Tower , a 26- storey office tower with a dramatic spiralling form ( see Fig . 1 ). Structurally , this form is naturally trying to twist the building to collapse . Using parametric modelling , a structural column scheme was generated that counters this action in an economical way .
Figure 2 shows a plan view of the tower . Each floor plate is rotated 1.2 degrees clockwise from the floor below . The three tips of the triangular building are therefore leaning in a clockwise direction around the centre of the building . It is like building three leaning towers around a central core structure which holds them together .
Figure 1 : Dramatic spiralling form of the new PwC Tower
16 Parametric Modelling