The Newtecnic building envelope system

The company’s designs are achieved through a technology-based research-and-development (R&D) programme for new construction systems which are conducted in-house. R&D is focused entirely on emerging technologies of building enclosures of structures, walls and roofs for use on projects where the firm is appointed as the engineers, as the architects, or when taking up both roles.

The technologies of building envelopes are based on an understanding of corresponding current technologies used in contemporary buildings. We describe these current technologies in textbooks authored by the company, which are used in university engineering and architecture schools around the world. Examples of Newtecnic-generated construction systems are set out in case study books published by market leader Birkhauser.

The Newtecnic building envelope system is a set of high-performance assemblies, fabricated locally around the world without specialist knowledge.

Newtecnic provide innovative design and engineering solutions, leading to faster, cheaper, lighter construction, tailored to local, sustainable fabrication.

Newtecnic have developed innovative technologies for use in our projects over the past 20 years. This includes technologies for building envelope systems and supporting structural frames. Three built examples are illustrated here:

PANEL SYSTEM FOR LARGE SCALE COMPLEX ENVELOPES

Example: Grand Theatre Rabat

This project required the use of large scale, concrete based panels which were curved and non-rectilinear. Current technologies could not meet the design requirements, so we designed a system to support the panels based on first principles of engineering design. A limitation of current technology for the support of rainscreen panels is that they be either vertical or horizontal only as a result of different requirement for structural support, thermal insulation and waterproofing. The panel system developed be Newtecnic can be fixed in any orientation and across any surface geometry.

The cladding system has two parts; an innovative light-weight panel that utilises ribbing in the panel and a single fixing type that carries the loads of the panel at four points. Fixings are located away from the corners of the panel in order to benefit from a cantilevered edge, provided by the ribbed panel design. Fixings are arranged in the classic manner to provide structural movement while holding the panel in place. An additional benefit is that individual panels can be installed without following the classic installation sequence.

PANEL SYSTEM FOR GLAZED PANELS AND CEMENTITIOUS PANELS OF COMPLEX SHAPE

Example: KCTV Tower, Istanbul

Essentially, the facade system makes extensive use of prefabricated components and assemblies rather than the site-based assembly and installation method used in competing systems. The innovation lies in the ability to combine glazed and opaque panels in a prefabricated system which can be used in any geometric shape or orientation. In other words, the panel system can be used for both walls and roofs of complex shape.

An advantage of the system is its ability to be fabricated using traditional methods of prefabrication suited to most fabricators at work in towns and cities around the world. This approach allows the most expensive and energy-intensive part of a constructed building to be made locally from raw materials. This approach of low embodied energy fabrication is counter to the current expensive method of prefabricating in one part of the world, and transporting the components (usually by ship and road) to a part of the world far remote from the construction site.

PANEL SYSTEM WITH INTEGRATED SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR STRUCTURAL FORMS OF COMPLEX SHAPE

Example; KAFD Station, Riyadh Metro

Competing solutions use traditional methods of construction. When applied to buildings of complex form, this traditional solution requires four separate systems for windows or opaque panels, each being used for either walls or roofs only. With the traditional solution, the separate systems require a continuous joint, or ‘interface’, where they meet. These interfaces are slow and expensive to put in place, and are usually constructed using traditional methods which are often not optimised for their specific application in a wall or roof assembly.

By eliminating the need for interfaces, the system can be used on its own to enclose a complete building, while achieving all the visual and performance requirements which are characteristic of buildings of complex shape.

The approach brings the advantages of digital fabrication tools and traditional craftmanship to an industry which veers between high levels of high-energy high-performance prefabrication methods and low-energy, low-performance site fabrication. This innovative facade system uses the benefits of both approaches for high-performance, sustainable local fabrication.

Construction Sequence Simulation

Simulating and animating construction sequences will grow in popularity as city building sites become increasingly complex. Protected public spaces that need to account for pedestrians and transport systems can be simulated, along with buildings themselves. Putting them into context helps people better understand how to build harmoniously in tight spaces.

Real-world simulations that include noise and air quality impacts, delivery schedules, make worksite management simpler by allowing stakeholders to see both the big picture, and the fine details, brought to life.

On-site Construction Labs

While off-site manufacturing can be the right method for mass-produced building components, on-site Construction Labs are ideal for fabricating mass-customised parts. Bringing materials, in optimised form, to be made into components on-site, saves transportation costs and enables a level of manufacturing flexibility that no other system delivers. Portable, very high-tech production facilities can use data, gathered from LiDAR equipped drones to fine- tune manufacturing so that each component perfectly fits the as-built structure. The movement towards 3D printing is very well accommodated by the use of Construction Labs which capitalise on the growing trend towards industry-wide digitalisation.

Depicted in 2038, inside the Newtecnic Construction Lab additive manufacture is used to make replacement facade panels for the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Hub in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Each component fits perfectly because it is developed from data collected using Lidar scans from the as-built structure.

Training foreign workforces

Knowledge transfer to non-UK workforces in remote locations can be facilitated through design engineering that ensures construction and installation complexity is greatly simplified. That means very ambitious structures can be built by local workers who, when provided with the right project specific information and training, can achieve world class performance. 

Reducing crane use

Crane usage will be reduced by deploying specialist machinery and robotised systems able to more efficiently and safely carry, and potentially autonomously install, large building components. This trend is especially relevant to building refurbishment where, on low but wide buildings with continuous wall and roof facades, it may not be possible to use cranes to lift components into place.

Digital user manuals

Buildings are becoming smarter and more like consumer products such as smart-phones, but which can be upgraded throughout their lives. And just like consumer products, smart buildings require digital user manuals that can be continuously updated. Combining BIM data with engineering information, means that current and future occupants and owners can make the best use of resources, adapting and developing buildings and their interconnected machines and systems to make them future proof.

Waste reduction

According to the European Commission around 30% of all waste in Europe is generated by the construction industry. This is both unacceptable and unsustainable. The trend for engineering to find solutions is leading directly to increased efficiency, productivity and profits through eliminating wasted materials and time.

Robots and Cobots

Humans have always shared workspace with machines on construction sites. The development of robots, drones and cobots (i.e. robots that can work together with people) to automate tasks and help humans with heavy lifting and repetitive work, is underway. This trend is unstoppable and will accompany advancements in fully or semi-autonomous robotics.

Inspection of building facades by drones is safer and more thorough than using top-slung cradles because it allows operators better views from the comfort of an office. It will not be long before drones and robots go beyond inspection by also delivering components for installation. And because the engineering that makes this possible is being devised right now, I predict that in less than a decade those parts will be installed using robots and cobots.

Depicted in 2038, construction workers and cobots work together maintaining the façade of The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Hub in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Flying Lidar equipped drones inspect the structure feeding data to the building’s cloud hosted digital twin

Light weighting

When promoting the lightweight Dymaxion house in the 1920’s, Buckminster Fuller used to ask prospective buyers, “How much does your house weigh?” Today the same question is increasingly asked because each extra kilo requires more energy and resources to manufacture, transport and assemble, as well as to heat, cool, clean and maintain after construction. Immediate and substantial long-term saving can be made when weight is reduced. Therefore, the trend to produce precise weight calculations, such as are are made for all Newtecnic projects, will extend across the industry so that the immediate and long-term, consequential and extended costs can be accurately calculated.

Cloud

The major and growing trend for cloud operation in construction will expand over the coming months and years as its benefits become increasingly apparent. Working on the cloud means there is only one set of building data – one version of the truth – that is shared and used by all stakeholders. Information cannot be siloed or hidden. Cloud operation using 3D digital twins of buildings, their components and their construction methods, lets everyone better understand the project and their role in it. Anyone can see the big picture and its myriad details. That leads to fewer mistakes, better quality, and collaboration that avoids confrontation and disputes.

Generative design

When design is freed from traditional industry practices, shapes and components can be based on the interpretation of physics and mathematics. And, they can be ‘generatively’ created. This means that rather than being designed by a single person, geometry is based purely on functional requirements. In many cases the shapes that are generated have never been seen before, yet they are perfectly suited to purpose. This trend is often the starting point for human designers to adapt these shapes and to be inspired to develop new types of façade and detailing that can be manufactured using 3D printing.