A tree of steel

Canopy forms canopy for library atrium

At the center of the UvA's new university library will be a beautiful atrium where people can read, work and study. The glass canopy contains a steel structure that extends from a 20-meter-high tree like a canopy to the existing buildings of the former Binnengasthuis. Protruding landings and three footbridges are part of the steel tree, along with stairs and a liana structure for rainwater drainage. An extremely complex steel structure built by Buiting Staalbouw.

The atrium brings unity between the existing buildings and the new construction. It provides access to the old buildings, the study landings and the bicycle basement via walkways. In addition to the roof of the atrium, Buiting is also supplying the steel structures for the existing buildings and the mezzanine floors, which always come between two floors. The underlying main steel structure for the purpose of the artwork for the facade is also supplied by Buiting. Still, the tree with the atrium structure remains the most complex work the company has made so far, said Arthur Heesen, project manager at Buiting Staalbouw. "There are about fifty nodes in it where the roof bars come together. No node is the same, they are all unique. We put everything together in advance in a 3D design, but still a lot of manual labor and craftsmanship is involved. It's a very complex design."

The 3D model was created in Tekla Structures, in conjunction with BIM. The supporting scaffolding was also integrated into this. In this way, the required supports for the construction phase could be perfectly positioned. Once the model was perfected and the parts produced, the steel sheet roof was assembled in Buiting's factory. This is to make sure that all parts fit together accurately on the construction site. At the library, everything is placed on a 20-meter-high scaffold. Heesen: "Most of the construction will be brought to the building site by boat via the Amsterdam canals and in prefabricated parts. All in all, not only complex at part level, but certainly also in terms of dimensions. This is accurately plotted on site in advance with totalstation, then assembled and welded on site."