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When two worlds meet - how the special steel and building envelope of the award-winning Jedlik Ányos High School was made - interview

Published

2023. 07. 06. 09:44

bim.GROUP drew on a decade of experience to design the complex structure.

The engineers of bim.GROUP Kft. have designed the new building of the Jedlik Ányos High School in Csepel using innovative (for Hungary) parametric-algorithmic design methods. The future educational facility is not yet fully completed, but it has already won second place in the Construsoft TEKLA BIM Awards 2023 competition in the region and two public vote awards, qualifying bim.GROUP for the international round of the competition.

The design company, as well as several other companies and strategic partners of KÉSZ Csoport, performed significant tasks in the spectacular project of the Jedlik Ányos Grammar School: on behalf of the main contractor LATEREX Építő Zrt., bim.GROUP Kft was responsible for the design of the steel structure and building envelope of the new, modern wing extension. The complete construction of the steel structure and façade cladding was carried out by KÉSZ Metaltech Ltd. , while the steel was manufactured by KÉSZ Ipari Gyártó Kft.. Their partners included dvb Kft., who manufactured the prefabricated reinforced concrete, and Baumetall Design Kft., who manufactured the roof slabs. Incidentally, bim.GROUP was also the general designer responsible for the building's implementation design, so based on both their prior knowledge of the project and their professional experience, it was only natural that the company would also be commissioned to design the roof.

Arnold Gyuricza, Project Manager Structural Design and Ádám Szabó, Senior Architectural Designer, General Project Manager

The development has seen the construction of a new school building with a unique look and feel to meet the needs of Csepel - including a community space/ assembly hall - which is now getting closer to handover and has essentially achieved its final, spectacular form from the outside. The bim.GROUP specialists, Adám Szabó, lead architect and general project manager, and Arnold Gyuricza, project manager and structural engineer, presented the design tasks from their respective perspectives.

The benefits of flexible, parameterised, algorithm-driven design processes were discussed, and examples were given of why this was particularly useful in the design and build type development of the Yedlik Ányos project. In this type of project, design and construction go hand in hand, and the collaboration is beneficial for the client.

The plans are based on a concept by Csepel residents

Ádám Szabó pointed out that the design task itself was a multi-stage process. "First of all, a concept plan was prepared. This was not yet underwritten by us, we did not even participate in the competition, but Zoltán Reznicsek and his team of young architects prepared sketch plans. After that, the municipality put out the tender for the concrete further design - also within the framework of a tender. The predecessor of bim.GROUP, BIM Design Kft., was awarded the tender: first the licensing and then the tender design documentation was prepared. There was a short pause in the process until the design tender itself was completed, after which design and build construction method was used to achieve the current state of affairs."

Our interviewees provided most of the detailed information on the most interesting part of the building design - and the most visible to experts and lay people alike. This is the lobby and the "freeform" steel structure covering it in the newly constructed part of the building:

"The design has been prepared with the help of Csepel and people who have played a key role in the life of the school. From the very beginning, a panel was formed to discuss and set expectations. From our point of view, this was a sympathetic approach, it helped the design itself, and the fact that the client had formulated all aspects in advance also significantly reduced the design time" - said Ádám Szabó, pointing out a positive factor on which the bim.GROUP specialists could build with their own solutions.

Speaking about the unique design of the auditorium, Arnold Gyuricza said: "We have designed a huge support structure - 84 metres long and 25 metres wide - covering an elongated and elongated auditorium. A Zambelli RIB-ROOF metal roof with a Rainscreen cover was placed on the steel frame, which is visible from below, and a glass dome in the middle. The steel structure is supported by two monolithic reinforced concrete perimeter beams, curved in plan and in elevation. The steel frame was also designed to match the contours of the perimeter beams."

Support structure design optimised for production and assembly

The engineer told us about the laminated steel structure: several sections of bim.GROUP worked on it. "Over the years, it has become common practice, or even necessary, for the 'leg' projects of the KÉSZ group to carry out trial production and trial assembly here too, in order to design a support structure optimised for production and assembly", he added.

It was then discussed that the optimum requires a concerted effort between design, manufacturing and assembly, so that everyone brings their own technical insights and capabilities to the process. For the KÉSZ Csoport, this is now routine, and the agreed design solutions can be further fine-tuned and optimised along certain metrics in a trial production and assembly run.

With just a few type solutions, appropriately chosen for the support system, the complete design model can be built relatively easily and in a controlled way, using parametric-algorithmic design, to fit any geometry. In such a process, it is relatively easy to integrate the results of test production and test assembly, which ultimately reduces both lead times and costs.

"With algorithmic design, it is possible to avoid adding further design errors to the structure, since all operations are mathematically perfectly accurate. There are no longer any substantial site problems or difficulties"

- the engineers summarised.

The parameters can be changed, the algorithm calculates the final result

Arnold Gyuricza and Ádám Szabó were happy to talk about this solution in more detail: "We use a parametric-algorithmic design method, which we call this because one of our main considerations when using it is to model the structure with parameters that allow the design to be easily recalculated if needed. The working method we use is not only a tool for optimization, but also a tool for the complexity of the task in general. By applying it, it is possible to speed up both the conceptualisation and preliminary design, as well as the decision preparation and the production design modelling, thus reducing both time and costs.

If, for example, the customer's requirements or the supplier's specifications change - for example, they can supply glass panels with a different geometry than originally envisaged - then the entire concept can be modified quickly, dynamically, in a short time and automatically by means of an algorithm. All changes are sequential."

As the engineers explained, in layman's terms, this translates to the fact that if anybody involved in the project decides that something needs to be changed, it can be tracked with the push of a button: the model will very quickly track and generate all the necessary changes. Writing the code to do this is a longer process, but the larger initial investment of time will result in a later payback in all areas.

Although the production of plans is a time-consuming phase, it pays off in the long run. "The process of establishing this design culture in the company started about ten years ago and over the years we have acquired the necessary technical knowledge to do it. With the complexity of the design tasks expected today, this approach and toolkit is necessary. For example, in the case of the Jedlik Ányos Gymnasium project, the design of a freeform structure would have been very difficult or, in some cases, impossible to carry out using traditional manual methods" - said Ádám Szabó, pointing out the effectiveness of the system.

Where does the sun shine in the glass-roofed lobby?

Although there was not enough time to go into all the elements of the complex design, Adam Szabó said, "To develop the concept of the auditorium and the glass roof, we also had to consider what compulsory school events there are. Whether it's the opening of the year, the end of the year, graduation, national holidays: these are the times when a lot of people gather at the same time in the same place. On these dates, we had to keep track of how the sun would travel, which surfaces would be heated the most through the glass roof. We had to decide how to size the glass structure in terms of heat load and how to modify the layering of the glass structure to reduce the heat load. The aim was to maintain a comfortable temperature even with large crowds, without creating points where the heat focused by the glass could cause the occupants to faint. This was successfully achieved."

Experience made the complex task routine

"The Csepel project is a great source of pride for the office, among other things because, despite its complexity, we have been able to handle it routinely. I also applied for it because this innovative and forward-looking design process and way of working was necessary for this project, if only because of its form. A real prestige project" - - said Arnold Gyuricza and added:

"We have had a very positive experience of working together and cooperating with the companies involved in the implementation, both in terms of professionalism and attitude, and we would like to thank them for this. In particular, we would like to highlight the professionals at KÉSZ, who contributed greatly to the final technical solutions with their knowledge of the production and installation. And in conclusion, on behalf of all bim.GROUP Kft. employees, we are very proud of the result."

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