Design and construction of a novel stacked glulam wall structure

The architect for the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology, Sydney, was Frank Gehryof Gehry Partners LLP in association with Daryl Jackson Robin Dyke Architects. Arup has been engaged as thestructural consultant. This paper describes the structural design and construction of the unusual glulam and TCC(timber concrete composite) structure erected within the foyer of the building. The ‘logs’ comprising the wallof the structure are 450mm x 650mm glulam, fabricated from radiata pine. Inside the oval-shaped structureare two levels of 10m spanning TCC floors which use a V-notch shear connection method, itself the subject of aresearch program at the University’s Faculty of Engineering and IT.