BIM & TIMBER
LIVING IN A SCULPTURE
01 Inspired by large sculptures in the countryside and the rocky outcrops of the nearby Dartmoor moors, The Hux Shard – as seen on Channel 4’s Grand Designs – offers a striking, geometric appearance and gave structural engineers a significant timber challenge. With the building’s geometric architecture inspired by Dartmoor’s wild granite tors, The Hux Shard’s exterior walls are formed of 34 shard-shaped sculptural panels, set in a jagged 70m line following the contours of the hill on which the property stands. It is the combination of these immense-sized shards and the exposed rural landscape
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that was perhaps one of the key challenges behind the project, with TWP Consulting Engineers appointed as the structural engineers on the project. It provided structural engineers, TWP Consulting Engineers, with a significant challenge. Speaking about the project, Nick Drew, Director at TWP said: “The Hux Shard was certainly a fascinating and an ambitious project, with a significant reliance on the engineering principle to create and bring the vision to life.” The building design required a series of large concrete pad foundations and steel short columns, which in turn supported the gigantic timber frame’s floor structure and roof. The primary building frame consisted of 282 glulam timbers, which were bolted together with steel brackets to form a wooden skeleton reaching over seven metres into the air. The property’s exterior walls
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were then formed from 34 insulated timber shards, each around 600mm thick and clad in zinc, and interspersed with 46 equally complex glazed panels. As if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, the whole structure was also partially suspended, raised between 0.5 and 1.5 metres off the ground. Nick explained: “Perhaps the main challenge on this project was the shardshaped panels that formed the building exterior, and which served to create the dramatic geometric impact of the overall building. Due to the intended architectural aesthetic, there was no uniformity to the panels, no parallel elements and no true-90 degrees. Each of the shards was wholly individual and unique, all at different angles to one another, and the whole property was also slightly curved on plan. “As if those design complexities weren’t challenging enough, the shards were also incredibly large – some as tall as a
