Analogue automation : the Gateway Pavilion for the Headland Sculpture on the Gulf

Abstract

The Waiheke Gateway Pavilion, designed by Stevens Lawson Architects originally for the 2010 New Zealand Venice Biennale Pavilion, was brought to fruition for the 2017 Headland Sculpture on the Gulf Sculpture trail by students from Unitec Institute of Technology. The cross disciplinary team comprised of students from architecture and construction disciplines working in con}unction with a team of industry professionals including architects, engineers, construction managers, pro}ect managers, and lecturers to bring the designed structure, an irregular spiral shape, to completion. The structure is made up of 261 unique glulam beams, to be digitally cut using computer numerical control (CNC) process.

However, due to a malfunction with the institutions in-house CNC machine, an alternative hand-cut workflow approach had to be pursued requiring integration of both digital and analogue construction methods. The digitally encoded data was extracted and transferred into shop drawings and assembly diagrams for the fabrication and construction stages of design. Accessibility to the original 3D modelling software was always needed during the construction stages to provide clarity to the copious amounts of information that was transferred into print paper form. Although this design to fabrication project was challenging, the outcome was received as a triumph amongst the architecture community.