3.3 MOTAT Aviation Display Hall, NEW ZEALAND

Photographs: Patrick Reynolds Manufacturers: Autex, Decortech

MOTAT is lucky enough to have two sites, M1 and M2 which are connected by our complimentary tram ride or a short drive. The multi-award-winning Aviation Display Hall at MOTAT Meola Road (M2) hosts a large collection of recreational, military, topdressing, and commercial aircraft which celebrates the evolution of New Zealand aviation since February 1911 when Vivian Walsh achieved sustained and controlled flight in a British Howard Wright biplane. Visitors will also be able to see aircraft which saw service with the Royal New Zealand Air Force such as the de Havilland Mosquito and the modern Skyhawk and Aermacchi. Other highlights include the Solent and Sunderland Flying Boats and the Lancaster bomber.

The Aviation Display Hall is a major new museum facility for the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT)’s collection of historic aircraft. It was designed to extend the existing aviation building on the museum’s Meola Road site in Auckland. At 3300m2, the extension will enable MOTAT to house all of their aviation exhibits, some of which are the only remaining examples in the world, in a protected environment for the first time. From the outset, sustainable design measures have been an integral part of the overall design approach. The building utilizes a ventilation strategy that favors natural ventilation in conjunction with a ‘heat chimney’ on the north of the building and requires only a low provision of mechanical heating. Glazing to specific areas of gallery space also maximizes natural light where appropriate space is required.

Designed to showcase the historic aircraft, the Aviation Display Hall houses an inwardly-focused ‘black box’ exhibition space, while the exterior provides visual expression of the building’s form and contents from the street frontage. The naturally ventilated northern façade glazing, floating beneath the projecting roof, reveals the rhythm of the structure and the gallery wall beyond. The double legged portals are exploited to create a second light-filled gallery space on the north of building that also acts as a 12m high heat chimney, supporting the natural ventilation strategy. On the south of the building these double legs are utilized to locate the mezzanine, classroom and support spaces within the primary exhibition space.

The building’s design has been resolved as a timber interpretation of the hangar form. Unusually for its size, the structure is almost entirely fabricated from Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), and uses the unique capacities of LVL portal frames to encompass the large wingspan of the aircraft. At 42 meters internal width, the building has the largest clear span of any LVL timber structure in New Zealand.

PORTAL FRAME CONNECTIONS

The portal frames were designed with pinned base connections and fixed knee (column to rafter) and apex connections. To allow transportation of the portal frame elements to site each portal frame was split into eight components; four column and four rafter segments. Splitting the rafter into four pieces resulted in three moment resisting connections along the member, one at the apex and two approximately at points of contraflexure (locations of low flexural demand).

BUILDING FORM

The primary structure is a series of portal frames. These support the roof structure and provide the lateral resisting system in the north-south direction. Cross bracing is used to form a roof diaphragm and to resist horizontal loads along the building in the east-west direction. The portals frames have double columns and a clear span of 42 m. The structural ridge line is off center and the south column slopes outwards to create visual interest. The portal frames, purlins (secondary roof members), girts (wall members) and wall cross-bracing are all made from LVL.

LAMINATED VENEER LUMBER (LVL)

As discussed above, the majority of the structural elements are made from LVL. This is an engineered wood product manufactured from timber which is rotary peeled, dried and laminated together in continuous long lengths. Typically, the veneers are laminated together with all the timber grain orientated in the same direction. For the MOTAT project span (a LVL product produced by CHH Wood products) was predominantly used in the primary structure, with lower stiffness chord used for secondary framing such as purlins where cost advantages exist. These products are manufactured at Marsden Point, New Zealand, from sustainably grown New Zealand plantation pine forests.

From the outset, sustainable design measures have been an integral part of the overall design approach, and since its completion, the Aviation Display Hall has won a number of Sustainability awards. Situated on a former landfill, the building effectively makes use of recycled land. High- and low-level banks of actuator-controlled windows and louvres throughout the building provide natural ventilation, meaning that no mechanical air conditioning is required. Life cycle analysis, including empirical research into relative carbon balance and embodied energy of various structural options, was commissioned prior to structural material selection. This supported the use of LVL in the building. A rainwater harvesting system is employed to service the toilet facilities, and gas management strategies were also implemented in response to prevailing site conditions.

INFERENCES

-The aviation hall is structured with timber mostly and if not well maintained there are chances of structural degrade due to moist climate and termites. -The hall is now extended and been added with utilities for visitors and special dinning place but lack to have a hanger not just for display but also for repair and workshops. -Lack visual-audio room for tourist information and no storage places for tourist has been provided. -Every time a repair or maintained need to be happened the whole of display area is shut for tourist which is not effective.