Structure

The bike store has an armour type structure which consists of two key blocks, the portal frame and the two trapezium shaped frames, (front and back facade).



Types of structures in use

 
There is a chance that armor could have served as a source of inspiration of the whole building



A turtle armor abstracted to the building's structure and the surface pattern


The main structural element is a pair of portal beams, ...

Portal beams elevation

… which are being repeated 24 times …

Portal beam structure

… create a load bearing structure and unified inner space of the building

Load bearing mechanism

Inner space of the Bike Store

The other structure in use is presented by a grid of wooden joists

Trapezium shaped facade frame

bermondsey market
The overall structure is strong enough to carry the load many times greater than its own

Book test of the structure

We conducted 3 tests. Each time we were adding books until the structure could no longer stand. We restored the model after two first collapses and kept testing by books the same model. In the beginning (test 1) the model structure was able to carry up to 9 books before collapsing. During the third test the model was able to carry only 5 books.

Test 3