See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/322157772

Théâtre Vidy Lausanne - A Double-Layered Timber Folded Plate Structure

Article  in  Journal of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures · December 2017
DOI: 10.20898/j.iass.2017.194.864

CITATIONS READS

13 4,661

3 authors:

Christopher Robeller Julien Gamerro

Technische Universität Kaiserslautern École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
38 PUBLICATIONS   262 CITATIONS    9 PUBLICATIONS   38 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Yves Weinand
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
136 PUBLICATIONS   689 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Research Culture in Architecture - International Conference on Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration View project

Structural Timber Elements Using Wood-Wood Connections View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Christopher Robeller on 16 March 2018.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 JOURNAL OF

THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION

FOR SHELL AND SPATIAL

Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4
STRUCTURES

Prof. D. h-C Eng. E. TORROJA, founder

December n. 194

Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4

December n. 194
international association
for shell and spatial structures ISSN: 1028-365X

28/12/04 07:06:09
 Journal
VOL. 58 (2017) No. 4 contents
n. 194 December

Annual Letter from the President 255

S. Pellegrino

Memorial Statement
Memorial to Klaus W. Linkwitz 257
M. Kawaguchi and E. Ramm

Tsuboi Proceedings Award Paper for 2016

Structural Design of a Building with Shell and Flat Slab Hybrids 259
K. Noda and Y. Kanebako

Hangai Prize Papers for 2017

Parametric Study of Masonry Shells Form-Found for Seismic Loading 267
T. Michiels, S. Adriaenssens and J.J. Jorquera-Lucerga

Non-Standard Patterns for Gridshell Structures: Fabrication and 277

Structural Optimization
R. Mesnil, C. Douthe and O. Baverel

Tunable Frequency Band Structure of Origami-Based 287

Mechanical Metamaterials
H. Yasuda and J. Yang

Technical Papers
Théâtre Vidy Lausanne - A Double-Layered Timber Folded Plate Structure 295
C. Robeller, J.Gamerro and Y. Weinand

Upcoming Events 315

Reviewers of Papers 316

COVER: Figures from paper by K. Noda and Y. Kanebako

IASS Secretariat: CEDEX-Laboratorio Central de Estructuras y Materiales

Alfonso XII, 3; 28014 Madrid, Spain
Tel: 34 91 3357491; Fax: 34 91 3357422; iass@cedex.es; http://www.iass-structures.org
Printed by SODEGRAF ISSN: 1028-365X Depósito legal: M. 1444-1960
 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR SHELL AND SPATIAL STRUCTURES: J. IASS

THÉÂTRE VIDY LAUSANNE – A DOUBLE-LAYERED TIMBER

FOLDED PLATE STRUCTURE
CHRISTOPHER ROBELLER, JULIEN GAMERRO and YVES WEINAND
Laboratory of Timber Construction IBOIS, EPFL Lausanne
christopher.robeller@epfl.ch, julien.gamerro@epfl.ch, yves.weinand@epfl.ch

Editor’s Note: Manuscript submitted 5 February 2017; revision received 30 September; accepted 8 November 2017.
This paper is open for written discussion, which should be submitted to the IASS Secretariat no later than June 2018.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20898/j.iass.2017.194.864

ABSTRACT

This article describes the first full-scale realization of a double-layered, folded plate structure (DLFP), for a new
hall for the Théâtre Vidy Lausanne. (Fig. 1). Enabled by a novel double-tenon connection technology, the shape
of the components simultaneously serves as a joining aid for rapid and precise assembly, as well as for a direct
transfer of the forces between the plates and in between the two layers of the construction. This is made possible
by project-specific CAD plugins. These allow an algorithmic generation of the component geometries and the
CNC ISO6983 G-code for the fully automatic 5-axis simultaneous machining.

Keywords: Integral Attachment, Folded Plate Structures, Origami, Digital Fabrication

Interesting studies on folded plate cylinder vaults,

Figure 1: Interior View of the Théâtre Vidy during the
construction phase in December 2016
1. BACKGROUND
Folded plate structures combine different load-
bearing functions in their form. Due to the rigid
combination of several oblique surfaces along their
edges, the elements function simultaneously as a
plate, slab and frame. [1] The resulting stiffness
makes it possible to span larger distances without
intermediate support. The majority of such
constructions were realized with concrete in the
1960s and 1970s, the plates being folded in only
one direction (so-called prismatic folding).
in which the plates were folded in two directions,
were examined in the 1970s built from glass-fiber
reinforced plastic plates (GFRP). This plate
material, which was new at the time, was well
suited for such lightweight surface supports because
of its good ratio of weight and strength. [2] The
construction of such a fold with the material of
wood, which in addition to the excellent ratio of
weight and strength also allows for sustainable
constructions, was only possible with the
introduction of cross-laminated timber plates (CLT)
and structural laminated veneer lumber (LVL). A
first example of such a construction, inspired by
Japanese origami paper folds, is found in the
Chapel of St-Loup. [3]
The first prototypes with plywood plates were
fabricated and assembled with the help of custom
made templates. [3] An experimental folded plate
barrel vault made of a total of 144 elements could
be built using analogue manufacturing technology
in the form of a circular saw that could be tilted for
angular cuts. However, as a result of manufacturing
and joining with templates and guides, it was
necessary to work with repetitive plate geometries,
in order to minimize the required templates and
guides. The prototype was built using 8

Copyright © 2017 by Christopher Robeller, Julien Gamerro and Yves Weinand.

Published by the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) with permission. 295
 Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4 December n. 194
geometrically different elements, with which only
singly-curved folded surface structures could be
realized.
1.1. Integral Attachment of Timber Plates
More complex, double-corrugated, folded surface
structures, consisting of a large number of
differently shaped components, have recently been
achieved using integral attachment techniques [4]
[5] [6]. This oldest principle of joining technology
uses the form of components to transfer forces
between them. A transfer of traditional wood panel
connections from the carpentry sector was
demonstrated in a research project. The integral
dovetail tines served not only to transmit the forces,
but above all also as a joining aid for a fast and
precise assembly of a large number of differently
shaped components. Dovetail joints belong to the
group of the so-called prismatic, single-degree of
freedom connections. The shape of such connectors
allows only one insertion direction, which allows
one to embed the only possible, correct positioning
of the components in the final construction in the
prefabricated connection. Thus, a complex, double-
curved overall shape of the load-bearing structure
was made possible by means of the joining
technique. The deflections on this double-curved
folded plate structure were up to 40% less than in a
comparable singly curved variant. [4]
A further development with which the number of
differently shaped edge connections was once again
significantly increased are two-layered folding
structures (DLFP) made of wood panels. A novel
connection technology with double penetrating
tenon connectors allows for a complete integral
connection of both layers. For example, all four
panels can be joined directly along folded edges,
the double tenons also serving as spacers between
Table 1: Increasing relevance of integrated joining aids for the assembly of folded surface structure
Project Number of plates Differently
Origami Folded Plate, 2006 [3] 144
Chappelle St-Loup, 2010 [3] 39
Interlocking Folded Plate, 2014 [4] 107
Théâtre Vidy Lausanne, 2017 304
296
the two layers and absorbing shear forces [5] [6].
With a comparison of previous prototypes and
buildings with the new pavilion for the Théâtre
Vidy Lausanne, Table 1 illustrates the increasing
relevance of integrated joining aids.
2. THE THÉÂTRE VIDY
The Théâtre Vidy is an open space for everybody
and dedicated to contemporary creation, a meeting
place between art and people. The theater, located
in a building designed and built by architect Max
Bill for the National Exhibition in 1964, enjoys an
exceptional location on the edge of Lake Geneva.
Creation Centre of French Theater in the heart of
French-speaking Switzerland, the Théâtre Vidy in
the unique location of the Vaud capital, at the
crossroads of Europe, is an open place in the world
where dialogue of Latin theatrical culture and
Germanic art is possible.
The theater currently has three permanent buildings
and a temporary room, located under a tent set up in
the adjoining park. The temporary solution of the
heated tent should now be replaced. With the
permission of the City of Lausanne, a permanent
solution in the form of a thermally insulated
pavilion, with the ability to be dismantled in the
future, if necessary, was planned as a collaboration
of the Timber Construction Laboratory IBOIS at the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne
EPFL and the Bureau d'Études Weinand, who were
the responsible architects and engineers.
The construction of the Théâtre Vidy pavilion
allows for the implementation of a novel type of
load-bearing structure, exclusively made of wood
panels. The double-corrugated, antiprismatic folded
plate structure achieves its mechanical performance
through the rigidity of the joints. All plates are
joined by innovative wood-wood connections.
Differently shaped
shaped plates edge joints
8 4
39 67
107 239
304 456
 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR SHELL AND SPATIAL STRUCTURES: J. IASS
The objective of this project was to further develop
and implement the knowledge gained through
recent research at the EPFL IBOIS laboratory.
These innovative wood-wood connections will be
applied to the scale of a building for the first time.
The wood-timber connector’s peculiarity is that
they are an integral part of the panels. This
construction therefore requires a customized
prefabrication: connectors are cut in the factory
together with the panels in a single operation. Once
assembled, these wood panels ensure the building
structure solely, and minimize the need for metal
connectors.
2.1. Construction System
The construction system for the Théâtre Vidy
Lausanne represents a consistent development on
the basis of the previous prototypes. The two-layer
construction explicitly uses the possibility of the
Figure 2: Ground plan of the Théâtre Vidy Lausanne
integral connection technology to join particularly
thin plate cross sections. This allows the structure to
span a distance of 16 to 20 meters without
intermediate supports, with a plate thickness of only
45mm. The distance between the two layers is 300
millimeters from the upper side of the outer plate
layer to the lower side (simultaneously the visible
side) of the inner plate layer.
The hollow interspace with a depth of 210
millimeters is also used for the insulation, which is
blown in through the holes in the upper plate layer
on site. Thus, the double-ply construction offers, in
addition to the static properties, a decisive
advantage over a single-layer construction with
thicker plates. The latter requires, of course, a less
demanding geometry generation and joining, but a
significantly more complex solid-state insulation,
which can only be realized on such a folded-roof
roofing at high expense.
297
 Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4 December n. 194

The load-bearing timber construction of the theater .

is constructed in 11 building segments between the
12 main axes (figure 2). Each segment between two
axes is prefabricated in 3 parts, two wall elements
and one roof element. On site, the wall segments
are connected to the respective neighboring wall
segment, afterwards the roof segment is placed on
top of them. There are thus 18 joining steps for each
of the 11 building segments, 17 of which are
prefabricated and one on the construction site.

In the two-layer joining technique used, there are

four different steps, each with different tenon
shapes, as shown in figure 4, depending on the
respective position of the folding edge in the
construction. A general distinction is made between
two situations in which either one segment is
connected to one adjacent segment (figure 4, steps 1
and 2), or the case where one segment is
simultaneously connected to two neighboring
segments (figure 4, step 3 and 4). While in the first
two cases the tenons are oriented at right angles to
the edge, the two other cases require a rotation of
the tenons within the plate plane, so that the
insertion direction of all the tenons of the plate is
parallel.
Figure 3: Double-layered folded plate assembly principle
A special case is illustrated in figure 4, step 4. Here,
plates with slots must be connected to multiple
neighbors with tenons at the same time. The
insertion of this plate is only possible, if the tenons
on the other 4 plates all are parallel. However, since
these plates are located on differently oriented
planes, there is only one possible insertion direction
for the plate with the slots to be inserted. This
direction is found along the intersection of the two
planes of the two adjacent segments, which we
obtain from the cross product of their two normal
vectors.

Figure 4: Assembling an axis segment. In steps 1 and 2, a segment is connected to an adjacent segment, the ports are
perpendicular to the edge. In steps 3 and 4, the tenons are rotated to allow a parallel slide-in. Step 5 does not take place in
the prefabrication, but on the construction site

298
 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR SHELL AND SPATIAL STRUCTURES: J. IASS

2.2. Structural Analysis of the plate joints 150 millimeters, and the fiber direction of the plate
cover layer was respectively along the orientation
The global mechanical behavior of the Théâtre of the tenon like in the real project.
Vidy is complex, especially with the anisotropic
characteristics of wood materials and the folded
shape. For this reason, various experimental tests
have been carried out to examine the strength of the
compounds, taking into account various parameters,
in order to determine the most suitable wood-based
panels.

In previous studies on the strength of integral tine

and tenon joints, only Laminated Veneer Lumber
panels (LVL) were used, which have a very
homogeneous structure due to the many cross-
linked layers, each only 3 mm thick [8] [9]. For the
project of the Théâtre Vidy, Cross Laminated
Timber (CLT) panels were for the first time also
considered for an integral connection. One of the Figure 5: A simplified, single-layered finite element model
reasons for this was the special sustainability, since was used for initial examinations of the expected bending
forces
in this case regional Swiss wood could be used. A
special feature of the Swiss panels, which are
examined in the following section, is the additional
lateral gluing of the board layers. This results in a
more homogeneous behavior, which is of great
importance for the integral connections.

The focus of the investigations was on the behavior

of the double-tenon and single-tenon joints under
bending stress. This stress is decisive in folded
wooden structures. Figure 5 shows a simplified,
single-layered finite element model with the help of
which the greatest expected bending moments were
determined (highlighted area in figure 6).

2.3. Comparison of different plate types

The first series of tests was carried out by means of Figure 6: The picture shows the position of the plate and
a single-layer tenon-hole connection between two the edge with the highest bending load which was used as
plates at an angle of 90 °. The tenon width here was the basis for comparison

Table 2: Overview of the three tested wood-based panels, 13-ply LVL compared to 3-ply and 5-ply CLT

CLT 40 CLT 45 LVL 39 (KERTO-Q)

tplate (mm) 40 45 39
Composition I–I I–I–I II–III–III–II
tlayers 12.5mm / 15mm / 12.5mm 5 x 9 mm 13 x 3mm

299
 Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4 December n. 194

In order to obtain a comparison of different wood- boards. The 45mm thick CLT with the 5-ply
based panels, two different CLT panels were tested structure is the best solution for several reasons:
(with side-glued boards) and a LVL panel (see
Table 2). In addition, four series of different - Higher stiffness compared to 40 mm BSP
geometries and properties were tested for a total of
- Higher yield moment
12 specimens per panel type. With the aid of this
experiment, the influence of the tenon rotation - Allows larger rotation in elastic part
along the folding edge could be investigated. This is compared to 40 mm CLT
important because the folding angles in the theater
roof are different and require such rotation θ of the - Ultimate moment almost twice higher than
tenons. It was found that there is no difference in 40 mm CLT
the bending stiffness between a rotation of θ = 0 ° - Homogeneous behavior even with oblique
and a rotation of θ = 15°. tenons (examined at 0 and 15 °)
The influence of an additional screw connection
was also investigated. The test results were more
homogeneous with the screw connection, since an
ideal initial position of the plates is ensured. In the
average, this resulted in a higher bending stiffness
of approximately 10%.

Figure 7 shows the bending test setup for the single-

layer joint. A 20 kN cylinder, which presses on a
steel lever arm, transmits the rotary motion to the
horizontal plate with the tenon hole, while the
vertical plate with the tenon is fixed rigidly by
means of 4 bolts. The lever arm ensures that the
force input to the horizontal plate is always
perpendicular. The angle of rotation and the forces
were detected by 2 inclination captors and 4 force
measuring cells. During these tests, the rotation was
limited to 30◦. A joint with larger strain is
structurally useless and doesn’t enable to satisfy the Figure 7: Rotational stiffness setup for single-layer tenon-
service limit state of current European standards. slot wood connection

At the slot plate (see Fig. 7), a protrusion comprises

the tenon. The length of the protrusion in the test
specimen and final structure is identical to the plate
thickness. In the region of the tenon, this block
cannot follow the bending of the outer regions.
First, there is a fracture of the longitudinally
oriented covering layer of the plate while the
underlying transverse layer is still intact. In the case
of a further bending, the rolling shear in the
transverse position becomes too great and a break
occurs.

The investigations with the single-layered

connections with different types of plates have
shown that, for the specific integral tenon joints
used in this project, CLT panels showed better Figure 8: Moment as function of rotation for all materials
mechanical properties under bending than LVL used

300
 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR SHELL AND SPATIAL STRUCTURES: J. IASS
2.4. Double-layered experimental testing
Following the investigation of the single-layer
tenon joints and the selection of the 45mm CLT
panel as the most suitable material, bending tests
were conducted with the actual two-layer structure.
In this case, the upper layer of the test sample is
connected to a single tenon while the two lower
layers penetrate each other with a double tenon and
are subsequently connected to the upper layer. The
experimentally examined configuration of the
tenons shown in Figure 9 is a special case in which
one of the four connecting lines is not integrally
joined. This special case occurs with the in-situ
connections in which the prefabricated roof part is
placed on the prefabricated wall segments. Here, all
four connection lines must be joined in a
concurrently executed step. In the figure, the
connection points of this connection line are shown
in red. This particular compound was chosen
because it obtained the highest bending moments in
the finite element model (see Fig. 5).
Figure 9: Test specimens for the investigation of the
bending load at two-layered corners, folding angles 90 °
and 110 °. The red points show additional screw
connections which ensure the position of the components
during assembly. (in the final building, only the top screws
were put)
Tests showed a considerable increase in the
mechanical efficiency due to the two-layer design.
In principle, the connection behaves as the single-
layered variant: in order to compensate the bending
moment, two opposing forces act, the intensity of
which is proportional to the lever arm. In the case
of a single-layer construction, there is no lever arm.
With the two-layer construction, the value increases
to 250mm. As a result, the forces compared to the
single-layer variant are reduced to one-fifth.
3. AUTOMATIC GENERATION OF PLATE
AND JOINT GEOMETRY
The generation of all plate component geometry is
done automatically using a CAD plugin that was
custom built for the Théâtre Vidy project,
developed with the software development kit (SDK)
Rhino Commons and the programming language
C#. The Grasshopper software is used as a user
interface, in which the input parameters of the
design can be edited and modified, including a
realtime preview of the 3D components.
The parameters of the project-specific DLFP-
generation CAD plugin are listed in table 3. The
details are as follows:
Table 3: Joint parameters. User defined inputs include
insertion direction of the joints
No Input Output
1 DCEL mesh 3D preview
2 tplate Vinsert,1 preview
3 toffset Vinsert,2 preview
4 Joint type 3D poly out
5 Fold type 3D BREPS out
6 Vinsert,1 2D matrix out
7 Vinsert,2
1. A single-layer polygon mesh with planar
triangular surfaces for the roof elements, and planar
quadrangular surfaces for the wall elements. (figure
11) Using this surface model, the identification
numbers are managed for all components and edge
connections. This is made possible through the use
of a double-connected-edge-list (DCEL) data
structure, which allows for neighborhood request.
These requests are crucial for the automated
geometry generation through the algorithmic tool.
2. the plate thickness tplate, which was set to 45mm
for the final building components.
3. the total thickness of the double-layer elements.
This offset starts at the bottom side of the lower
plate, which lies exactly on the surfaces of the
DCEL polygon mesh and ends at the upper side of
the upper plate. It therefore includes the two plate
thicknesses and is not influenced by changes of the
tplate value. The toffset for the final project was to
300mm.
301
 Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4 December n. 194

4. The type of joints, managed through an Excel adjusted, the geometry can be output into the CAD
spreadsheet file (see table 4) containing data and program through three switches for different
overrides for the parameters which are assigned representations.
automatically by the algorithm. As illustrated in
table 4, the joint type differentiates between regular
joints and special joints, such as on naked edges
like the ground plane (grnd), front and back end of
the building (vend), and at the 10 vertical
separaration planes between the prefab segments
(vcon). A second column gives additional
information on the location of assembly. The joints
between the roof and wall elements are connected
on site (in-situ), which is a special case with a
special joint geometry.

5. The fold type indicates whether a joint is a

positive or negative fold, considering all normals of Figure 10: DLFP-generator CAD plugin for the 3D plate
the base polygon mesh facing outwards. Negative geometry and 2D plate matrix for fabrication
folds are treated differently by the algorithm.

6./7. Two insert vectors for each regular joint (see

table 4, vins,1 and vins,2). These 3d vectors have been
calculated with a separate algorithmic tool, which
ensures that plates can be inserted. This requires
that multiple edges per plate, which must be joined
simultaneously, must share the same insertion vetor.
These vectors must lie on the plane of the plate they
belong to. They are perpendicular to the plate edge
wherever it is possible, when two edges are joined
at the same time, the bisector between the two
edges is used. Additionally, the njoints parameter
provided an override for the manual definition of
the number of joints, separate for the inner and
outer layer.

Outputs include a 3d preview of the plate geometry

including all joints, as well as a visualization of the Figure 11: Base geometry polygon mesh (DCEL mesh),
insertion directions for each regular joint edge in Plate ID numbers are visualized in blue color, edge ID
the polygon mesh. Once the parameters are numbers are shown in black color

Table 4: Joint parameters. Values for edge IDs 1-8, taken from the Excel DLFP configuration spreadsheet
ID type loc fold vins,1 x vins,1 y vins,1 z vins,2 x vins,2 y vins,2 z njoints,1 njoints,2
000 vend pref pos -0,412 0,911 0,000 -0,412 -0,911 0,000 3 3
001 grnd pref pos 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 3 3
002 regl pref pos 0,000 0,000 1,000 -0,901 0,000 -0,434 3 3
003 regl situ pos 0,118 0,854 0,507 -0,361 -0,907 0,216 6 3
004 vend regl pos 0,061 -0,954 -0,293 0,061 0,954 -0,293 3 3
005 regl pref pos -0,438 0,899 0,000 -0,385 -0,923 0,000 14 13
006 grnd pref pos 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 3 3
007 grnd pref pos 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 3 3
008 regl situ pos 0,000 0,000 1,000 -0,901 0,000 -0,434 3 3

302
 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR SHELL AND SPATIAL STRUCTURES: J. IASS
In addition to the 3d plate contours, boundary
representation solids (BREPS) can be output, which
was required for the evaluation of masses and
visualisation purposes. Also, all plates can be sorted
and layed out on the world XY plane, prepared for
the fabrication. Here, each plate geometry is
transformed from its own local base frame, to the
world base frame. The dimensions of the grid are
based on the maximum dimensions of the plates.
3.1. Relevance of fold angles in the structure
One of the most critical parameters for the
fabrication is the cutting angles, at which the tool
must be inclined to produce the plate components.
This angle β results from the dihedral fold angles
phi in the basic polygon mesh. If the dihedral angle
is at phi=90 degrees, no alignment of the tool is
required. Also such orthogonal folds are structurally
beneficial. However, it is not possible or feasible to
achieve the overall geometry without a deviation β
from these orthogonal angles (see figure 12).
Figure 12: The tool alignment angle β results from the fold
angles deviation from 90°. Very obtuse or acute fold angles
require a large inclination of the tool during cutting
On the CNC machine used for the cutting of the
plates at the plate manufacturer and wood
processing facilities, the maximum tool alignment
angle was β =60 degrees. This allows for a
maximum fold angle of 150 degrees. Taking into
account the tool holder profile, in this case a slim
thermo-shrink chuck, the required clamping length
of the shank-type milling cutter can be calculated.
This protrusion is to be kept as short as possible,
because it makes the cutting prone to vibrations
which reduce cutting speed and cut quality. Larger
protrusions therefore require larger milling cutter
diameters, however this increase in diameter would
have a negative effect on the notches, which are
required for the cutting of the concave corners in
the plate contours (see section 4).
3.2. Optimization of fold angles and edge
lengths
The basic polygon mesh for the Théâtre Vidy was
first designed to suit the architectural constraints
and requirements of the building. The almost
rectangular cross section in the XZ plane allows for
an efficient use of the interior spaces, but it also
results in a challenge for the folding system. The
solution was to combine a prismatic fold for the
wall elements with an antiprismatic fold for the roof
elements. The joints between these two systems
have the most obtuse fold angles in the building,
which increase from the center of the structure to
the front and end symmetrically.
Figure 13: Visualization of the tool alignment angle β.
Inclinations larger than 55° require a slow cutting velocity,
larger than 60° cannot be fabricated with the setup
Following the initial design of the polygon mesh,
the CAD plugin allowed to display all fold angles,
as shown in the color coded Cad model in figure 13.
Subsequently the mesh was modified for a more
efficient fabrication, optimizing the maximum and
average values for the length of edges (resp. max
plate sizes for transport and machining), as well as
the fold angles. In the optimized version of the
CAD model, the edge lengths were reduced to a
maximum of 12.2 meters and an average of 5.5
meters. The dihedral angles were reduced to a
maximum of 148 degrees and an average of 125
degrees. This keeps the maximum tool alignment
for regular cuts limited to a maximum of 58°. The
average tool alignment of 35° allows for an
efficient production.
303
 Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4 December n. 194

3.3. Output of the plates for fabrication

Figure 14 shows the plates from one of the 11 axis

segments of the building (in this case the segment
No.1, between the axes 1 and 2, see Figure 2),
prepared for the production data. Each axis segment
consists of three prefabricated components: two
wall elements, shown in red color in figure 15, and
one roof element, shown in blue color. The wall
elements are attached to the base and the adjacent
axis segment on site, then the roofing element
consisting of a total of 20 prefabricated plate
components is placed on the wall elements. This in-
situ tenon connection is also designed as a double
tenon connection, but with some adjustments for
Figure 14: 5-axis CMS CNC production center at the
easier on-site attachment. Normally, as shown in
wood processing factory Schilliger Holz, CH-Küsnacht
figure 3, the lower plate in the double-layer
connection is inserted along a vector on its own 4. FABRICATION
plane (regular insertion), while the upper plate is
inserted along a vector that lies on the plane of its Due to the 114 different folding angles in the basic
counterpart (inverted assembly). This creates an folding form of the theater, various slanting cuts are
interlocking assembly, where the two parts of a required for the fabrication of the components. The
neighboring segment cannot be removed along the parts were therefore manufactured with a 5-axis
same direction, as their insertion directions are at a CNC NC-PMT/190-TUCU/ISO40 machining
large angle away from each other. A disassembly is center from the manufacturer CMS, which was
only possible one plate after another. available at the facilities of the timber plate
manufacturer Schilliger Holz AG. The setup is
For the in-situ joints in between the prefabricated illustrated in figure 14. With an X-axis length of
wall and roof segments, this assembly principle 28.5 meters, the machine allowed for the cutting of
could not be applied, since the two plates of the the up to 15 meter long raw plates.
wall cannot be inserted separately, because the
entire wall segments were prefabricated including 4.1. Cutting of concave corners
insulation material and external ventilated cladding.
The same applies to the roof prefab elements, where Due to many concave corner points in the polygons,
also the upper and lower plate are already for example between the penetrating tenons or at
connected and cannot be inserted separately. As a the slot cutouts within the plates, inclined cutting
consequence, the in-situ joints were inserted in one with a shank-type finger cutter was required.
step, where the entire roof element is lowered onto
the wall tenons, along the World Z axis.

Figure 15: 28 DLFP Plate Contour Polylines of axis segment 1

304
JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR SHELL AND SPATIAL STRUCTURES: J. IASS

Figure 16: Automatically generated 2D matrix of 308 individually shaped plates

Figure 17: 5-axis CNC production center at the wood processing factory Schilliger Holz, CH-Küsnacht

305
 Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4 December n. 194
The necessary 5-axis CNC machining, which is
required at approximately 500 different component
edges, with thousands of differently inclined tenon
geometries, could not be efficiently generated with
standard CAM software solutions for regular timber
construction tasks.
Instead, we use a custom developed DLFP-
Fabrication CAD plug-in for the automated ISO G-
code generation of integrally inserted wood-based
panels. The underlying algorithm has already been
used in previous projects and has been further
improved and adapted for the Théâtre Vidy [7]. One
of the necessary adaptations was a special
postprocessor for the CMS machine of the industry
partner company. Using the CAD plugin, various
special details of integral connections can be
created automatically. These include, for example,
notch cuts in the concave corners, which are
necessary for the insertion of the sharp corners on
the inserted tenons.
4.2. Development of a custom interface
Figure 18 shows the CAD plug-in, programed in
Microsoft Visual C#, which was implemented in the
visual programing environment Grasshopper®,
which is part of the Rhino 3D® CAD software.
This interface allowed converting the plate contour
data out of the 2D plate matrix shown in figure 16,
Figure 18: Generation of the G code program for CNC machining with a DLFP-Fabrication CAD plugin. After a hatch-
selection of pairs of plate contour pairs, the machine-specific G-code is output automatically
306
automatically into ISO G-code that can be sent to
the machining centers OSAI Series 10 control
system, simply by a hatch selection.
The custom-developed plugin required inputs for
the general cutting parameters, as well as a list of
polyline contour curves, defining the plate shapes.
Within this list, the program automatically finds top
and bottom contours that belong together, defining
an outside contour or inside cutting contour (tenon
slot). The differentiation between outside and inside
contours was achieved through the different
orientation of the curves, inside contours were
clockwise, while outside contours were counter-
clockwise. The application was designed to
automatically respect details, such as the previously
described notch cuts, and constraints of the
construction system, as well as limitations and
functions of the specific CNC machine that was
used. This plugin was split into five main
components:
- drilling of temporary fixation points
- 5-axis cutting shank-type cutters (fig 18a)
- 5-axis cutting with saw blades
- Visualization of tool paths (fig 18b)
- Simulation of machine (fig 18c)
 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR SHELL AND SPATIAL STRUCTURES: J. IASS
Figure 19: Simulation of the machine movements in the
DLFP-Fabrication CAD plugin: The production of the
plate components with concave corner points and
differently inclined flanks is achieved by means of 5-axis
machining. The tool is rotated about both axes of rotation
of the CNC machining center, while at the same time a
translation movement takes place
This special “app” that was supplied to the
manufacturer, was an alternative to the generation
of CNC G-Code files directly by the planning team.
The chosen CAD plugin solution however allowed
for a much improved flexibility at the manufacturer.
While the company was not able to program the G-
Code for the fabrication of the plates for the theater
with their usual CAM software packages, the
chosen solution for this project was to provide the
head CNC technician at the factory with project
specific tools, which allowed him to generate the
required G-Code by himself, rather than providing
pre-generated G-code files. This allows for the
nesting of the final plate geometries onto raw plate
work pieces by the company. With this strategy it is
also possible to respond to changes in the project, or
to re-arrange or re-fabricate individual plates during
the production process, or to change the order of
production.
4.3. Simulation for customized 5-axis cutting
Another important aspect of this chosen strategy
was the possibility to integrate customized
functions for the tool path display and a cutting
simulation component (figure 19)
This simulation tool allows to display the machine
motions during the cutting, which is particularly
important with the large amount of cuts at different
angles. It was also impossible to check this code
manually, because the CNC files for the fabrication
of individual plates were more than 10.000 lines
long. The CNC technician at the factory could use
this function to check every CNC program for
possible errors, before sending it to the machine. A
slider in the visual programing environment allows
to scroll through the program line by line, from the
beginning to the end of the G-code. This standard
procedure was required for safety and therefore a
crucial component in the collaboration through a
custom-built code generator.
4.4. Perpendicular cutting
As explained in section 4.1, concave corners in the
plate contour polygons require the cutting with a
cylindrical shank-type cutter (with only convex
corners, simple cutting with a saw blade would be
possible). For the theater project, a cylindrical
cutting tool with a diameter of 12mm was chosen.
This relatively small diameter required three cuts
along the entire plate contour, splitting the total
depth of the cut into smaller parts, which reduces
tool vibrations.
A particularly critical parameter in this context is
the tool alignment angle β during the cutting. In
many situations, the cutting with an inclined tool
introduces a pull on the work piece, which can
cause strong vibrations. The first counter measure
to this problem was an improved clamping strategy.
While the thicker CLT plates which are usually cut
at this factory at a 90° angle are not clamped at all,
the plates for the theater project where clamped
with an average of 10-20 wood screws onto the
machine table. The holes for this clamping
techniques were also handled by the CAD plugin. A
second measure to avoid vibrations was to avoid
tool inclinations along the axis of motion of the
current toolpath. Considering a lower and upper
polyline defining the plate contours, this can simply
be done by choosing a tool orientation axis, which
is the shortest path between the two rails. However,
this is not always possible. Figure 20 shows how
the fabrication tool deals with this problem.
The tool moves along this contour in a counter-
clockwise orientation (climb cutting) from the right
side of the image to the left. It first encounters a
concave corner, where the tool must be inclined.
307
 Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4 December n. 194
Figure 20: Automatic extension of tool paths on convex
corners
Figure 21: Double-penetrating tenon joints
On the next segment, the end corner is convex.
Therefore, the toolpath must start with the inclined
orientation from the previous cut, but it can change
its orientation to a (perpendicular) shortest line
between the upper and lower cutting polygons.
Before this change of orientation, the tool retreats to
a safety plane 20mm above the plate, and returns
with the perpendicular orientation. At the end of the
line, an extension of the tool path is calculated to
fully separate the pieces with the required length.
The following line segments in the picture follow
the same logic. Whenever the tool inclination along
the cutting line can be avoided, the cuts are instead
extended. Concave corners however are preserved
and tangential notches are added.
4.5. Hybrid cutting technology strategy
The previously explained principle is further
improved through a hybrid cutting strategy for line
segments with a concave start point and a concave
end point, using a saw blade for certain cuts
automatically. The figures 15 and 16 show that the
plate contours of the Théâtre Vidy contain various
concave corners, which require the cutting with a
shank-type cutter. However, there are also longer
308
straight lines in the cutting paths, where the shank
type cutter is unnecessarily slow. Along these line
segments, cutting with a saw blade improves the
efficiency greatly. This problem was addressed
through the integration of a threshold value, which
indicates the segment length, where the use of a saw
blade improves the overall efficiency. This value
was finally set to 500 mm, which proved to be the
length under which the continuous cutting with the
shank type cutter would be faster. All longer cuts
which qualify for a saw blade cut are skipped in the
initial cutting procedure with the shank type cutter,
which will instead pull off and start a rapid (ISO
G0) motion above the end point of the line, where it
returns to the next cut.
The workflow of the G-Code production was as
follows: First, the plate contour polygons from the
2D plate matrix on the world XY plane were nested
onto the raw CLT work pieces, trying to reduce the
waste material as much as possible, as illustrated in
figure 22. In the next step, fixation points for the
clamping of the plates were added, each with a
safety distance away from the tool cutting paths. In
order to transfer these points onto the raw plate on
the CNC machine, a drilling program was generated
in order to mark the fixation points, by the CAD
plugin.
Figure 22: Nesting of 3 roof plates out of segment no 2,
onto a 9400 x 2300mm 45mm 5-layer CLT raw piece.
4.6. Variation in plate thicknesses
The 5-layered CLT plates that were used for this
project were not sanded down to a precise thickness
after the lamination procedure. Therefore, as
generally with timber plates, there was a variation
in thickness of 45mm – 48mm. Here it was ensured
that the thickness would not be less than 45mm, and
a complementary strategy was chosen to ensure that
the penetrating tenon joints fit precisely into their
neighboring plates.
This was achieved through an additional “planning”
program for each plate, where rectangular pockets
were milled along all tenons and double-tenons.
The depth of these pockets was set to exactly 45mm
 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR SHELL AND SPATIAL STRUCTURES: J. IASS

above the CNC tables zero plane. This would make
sure that the plate thickness of the final plates is
exactly 45mm in these critical areas, where the
tenon size should be equivalent to the slot size in
the roof counterparts, once the parts are jointed.
Generally, the plates where produced with a
thickness slightly above 45mm. In combination
with this pocket-milling strategy, gaps between
penetrating tenons and slots in the final structure
where reduced as much as possible.
required for the construction of the roof elements in
three consecutive steps, for the insertion of the
center plates (A), intermediate plates (B), and outer
plates (C). This procedure requires four supports in
the form of vertically, in the YZ plane positioned
planar “M-shaped” plates, with the approximate
negative shape of the intermediate roof plates (B).
Figure 23 shows this setup, which was designed to
be re-used for the eleven roof elements of the
theater.

5. PREFABRICATION ASSEMBLY

5.1. Supports for the insertion pre-positioning

A key advantage of the integrally attached, double-

layered folded plate construction system is that it
allows for the construction of wide spanning shell
structures without the need for a full-size mold or
elaborate support structure, as it is necessary in
concrete shells or other types of timber shell
structures. Instead, the integral connectors act as
assembly guides, defining a unique insertion
direction for each of the plates. This does not only
allow for a much reduced construction cost, time
and manual labor, but it also allows for the
construction of large amounts of individually
shaped plates. In the Théâtre Vidy, this allows for a
double-curvature in the roof structures, which
provides a shell behavior rather than the cylindrical,
singly curved vaults that were used in previous Figure 23: Crane/Vacuum lift assisted insertion of the
prototypes of antiprismatic folded surface intermediate plate elements (B) of a roof segment. The
structures. However, in the full-scale prefabrication photo shows the assembly step 1 from the schematic figure
assembly, a certain, minimal support structure was 4, which requires two re-usable linear supports

Figure 24: Re-usable supports for the prefabrication-roof assembly

309
 Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4 December n. 194

In order to define the right angles for the geometries. Figure 25 and Table 6 show how this
intermediate plates, which is individual for each chamfered double penetrating tenon joint is
roof segment, the short connecting posts between generated by the algorithm. Values such as the total
the M-shaped plates and the ground supports were double tenon width of 270 mm, the shoulder width
fabricated with different lengths for each roof (e.g. p3l to p4l) of 35mm and the single tenon width
segment. The exchange of these posts allowed for of 180mm. In order to compensate for tolerances,
the rest of the supports to be re-used. the chamfers do not begin directly after the
intersection of two plates.
In figure 4, Step 2 it was already shown that the
intermediate segments must be connected first.
Therefore, these elements must be placed on the
support structure, in a position that allows for the
insertion of the remaining plates. A precise
placement is required especially for the center
elements, as those connect to the intermediate
elements on both sides simultaneously. For the
final, “locking” plates in each roof segment, the
system was designed to have the insertion direction
from above for all top layer plates, which simplifies
the assembly. Generally, the plates were moved and
inserted with the use of portal cranes mounted at the
roof of the factory and equipped with vacuum
grippers (Figure 23). This allowed for a simple and
precise handling of the large and heavy pieces. Figure 25: Chamfered double penetrating tenon joints
Therefore, the insertion and placement of the parts
in the full-scale prototypes proofed to be
unproblematic.
Table 5: Calculation DTTJ tab length, perpendicular and
In a final step, the thermal insulation material along oblique insertion vector
isofloc was injected into the hollow spaces of the
Loffset,perp p(toffset,1 - tplate) / cos(π * φdeg / 180.0)
prefab segments. In order to monitor the
effectiveness of the vapor barrier and infiltration ltab,perp tplate / cos(PI π * φdeg / 180.0)
with water, an electronic monitoring system was θ VectorAngle(vinsert, nperp)
installed in between the layers, on the lower ends of loffset,ins1 loffset,perp / cos(θ)
all roof segments on both sides. ltab,ins1 ltab,perp / cos(θ)

5.2. Insertion-optimized chamfered joints

After the assembly of the first building axis, which
was used as a test element, but also used in the final
building, the procedure was optimized with
chamfered penetrating tenon joints, where the tips
of the tenons are 15mm less wide on two thirds of
their protrusion length. Similarly, the sides of the
double-penetrating tenons decrease in their width
by 15mm on each side, on two thirds of the
intermediate space between the two layers of timber
plates (see figure 25). This chamfering allowed for
a quicker positioning and insertion of the plates.
The implementation of these chamfer details at a
late stage of the project was easy to implement, due
to the algorithmic generation of the plate
Table 6: Calculation of DTTJ polygon contour
p6l p0 - nedge * 135
p5l p6l + vins * (loffset,1 * 0.3);
p4l (p0 - nedge * 125) + vins * loffset,1
p3l p4l + nedge * 35
P2l p3l + vins * (ltab * 1.2)
p1l p3l + vins * (ltab * 2) + nedge * 20
The values loffset,1 and ltab represent the offset and tab
lengths of the specific edge, on which the
penetrating tenon joint is generated (see table 5). In
the case of figure 22 this is a penetrating tenon joint
which is perpendicular to the edge. For oblique
tenons, the length is calculated respectively.

310
 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR SHELL AND SPATIAL STRUCTURES: J. IASS

5.3. Measurement of deflections on roof

segment 1

Before the final production phase, the roof segment

of the first building section was produced for testing
purposes, along with two shortened versions of the
wall segments. All connections, fabrication and
assembly steps were carried out as in the final
building. After the assembly (figure 26), the
additional weights were added to the ground plane
to prevent any motions. On the roof, a load of 2x
10kN was introduced, as illustrated in figure 26.
Afterwards, a vertical deflection of 12-14mm was
measured at the reference points illustrated in the
figure. Also, a horizontal deflection at the supports
of 24 mm was measured. After the unloading, the
vertical deflection was reduced by 6-7mm, while
the horizontal deflection remained at 24mm
unchanged. Figure 26: Load testing setup for roof segment number 1

Figure 27: Load testing of roof segment number 1. Schematic view of the loads and measuring points

Figure 28: Transportation of a prefabricated roof element. [Photo: Ilka Kramer]

311
 Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4 December n. 194

6. IN-SITU ASSEMBLY

6.1. Transportation to the site

The prefabricated wall and roof parts were

transported from the assembly in the factory, to the
building site on special trucks. This was necessary
due to the size of the parts. Table 7 shows the
dimensions of these assemblies. While the width of
the elements was fixed at 2.6 meters, the length
increases towards the center of the building up to 21
meters. The total height of the elements increases
towards the front and back of the building, up to a
maximum of 3.85 meters.

Tab.7 Transportation size of prefabricated roof elements

ID Length Width Height

01 18.66 2.6 3.85
02 19.49 2.6 3.66
03 20.1 2.6 3.54
04 20.5 2.6 3.44
05 20.8 2.6 3.38
06 20.9 2.6 3.33

6.2. On-site Assembly Figure 29: On-site assembly of the walls [Photo: Ilka
Kramer]
The Figures 29 and 30 show the on-site connection
details of the prefabricated wall elements. On the
ground plane, half-lap jointed, pre-cut slants were
mounted on the floor slab. This concrete plate was
specifically cast along the folded shape of the walls.
Figure 29 also shows the ventilated exterior façade,
which was pre-mounted on the wall elements in the
factory, before the parts were transported to the site.
In between the eleven segments with a width of
each 2.6 meters, the prefabricated building
components meet on ten vertical connection planes
in the XZ plane. Here the elements are connected
with wood screws diagonally inserted from the
outside. After the connection of the wall elements
with the ground supports, and with one another, the
roof elements could be inserted using a mobile
crane. As previously described, the in-situ
connections of walls and roof are subject to the
highest bending moments in the structure, hence
these connections were designed as penetrating
tenon joints, even though the assembly had to be
carried out on site. The insertion vector of these
joints was vertically along the world Z axis, which
allowed for a simple and rapid assembly. As for all
connections in the entire structure, joints were Figure 30: Half-lap joint ground plane details on site,
produced without gaps. December 2016. [Photo: Ilka Kramer]

312
 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR SHELL AND SPATIAL STRUCTURES: J. IASS

Figure 31: Insertion of roof element number 1 on site, December 2016. [Photo: Ilka Kramer]

7. CONCLUSION rapid and precise joining, even with 308 different

The Théâtre Vidy project shows how automated
production technology, which is already widely
used in timber construction, can be used for new
solutions in joining technology – and ultimately
lead to new structural typologies. The novel integral
connections in this structure allowed not only to
transfer forces between the components, but they
also served as integrated locator and positioning
aids. In the prefabrication, a unique correct
alignment of the components can be embedded into
the shape of the connections. This allows simple,
plate shapes, 456 different joint angles and over
3.000 automatically generated and fabricated tenons
and slots. For the Théâtre Vidy Lausanne, the
connections are of particular importance.
The two-layer design offers great advantages both
statically and also with regard to prefabrications.
The system allowed for the integration of
inexpensive flock-insulation between the layers,
which had great advantages over solid thermal
insulation on such a complex shaped folded plate
roof structure.

313
 Vol. 58 (2017) No. 4 December n. 194
The project demonstrates a successful realization of
the previously proposed double-layered folded plate
construction system with integral double penetraing
tenon joints [6]. This system does not only use the
connections to join the plates within the upper layer
and within the lower layer, but it also connects the
two layers with each other with the double-tenons,
which also act as spacers to define the correct
distance between the plates.
The automatically generated and fabricated integral
joining technology was made possible through the
development and application of project-specific
CAD plugins, which have allowed for a new type of
digital workflow, connecting the fabrication
technology and its capabilities closer with the
architectural planning process. While the algorithms
for the generation of the 3d geometry were only
used by the planning team, the fabrication
algorithms were packaged into a custom made
software tool for the CNC technicians at the wood
processing factory. While this workflow integrates
the constraints and logic of the construction system,
it remains transparent and leaves room for
modifications until the final production.
This computation-enabled flexibility has proven to
be crucial in the design, optimization and
calibration of the plate geometries. The basic
parameters, such as the folding form, plate
thickness and offset between the plate layers,
remained variables throughout the project, which
could be optimized following test results,
calculations and observations.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The construction of the Théâtre Vidy was supported
by the Swiss federal environmental office BAFU
and by the NCCR Digital Fabrication, funded by
the Swiss National Science Foundation (NCCR
Digital Fabrication Agreement #51NF40-141853).
Architect and Civil Engineers: Bureau d'Études
Weinand, Atelier Cube Architects, Wood
processing partner: Blumer-Lehmann Holzbau AG.
REFERENCES
[1] Engel, H. Tragsysteme, Hatje Cantz Verlag,
2004.
314
View publication stats
[2] Huybers, P. See-through structuring: A
method of construction for large span plastics
roofs, PhD Thesis, TU Delft, 1972.
[3] H. U. Buri, Y. Weinand (Dir.). Origami -
Folded Plate Structures. PhD Thesis, EPFL,
n° 4714 (2010).
[DOI: 10.5075/epfl-thesis-4714]
[4] C. Robeller and Y. Weinand. Interlocking
Folded Plate – Integral Mechanical
Attachment for Structural Wood Panels, in
International Journal of Space Structures,
vol. 30, num. 2, p. 111-122, 2015.
[DOI: 10.1260/0266-3511.30.2.111]
[5] C. Robeller, Y. Weinand (Dir.). Integral
Mechanical Attachment for Timber Folded
Plate Structures. PhD Thesis, EPFL, n° 6564
(2015), pp 136-137,
[DOI: 10.5075/epfl-thesis-6564]
[6] Robeller, C., and Weinand, Y. 2016. Robotic
Fabrication in Architecture, Art and Design
2016. Sydney: Springer International
Publishing, Cham, Fabrication- Aware
Design of Timber Folded Plate Shells with
Double Through Tenon Joints, pp 166–177.
[DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-26378-6_12]
[7] Robeller, C., and Weinand, Y. 2016. “A 3d
cutting method for integral 1DOF multiple-
tab-and-slot joints for timber plates, using 5-
axis CNC cutting technology.” In
Proceedings of the World Conference on
Timber Engineering WCTE 2016. Vienna:
Curran Associates Inc.
[8] S. Roche, J. Gamerro and Y. Weinand.
Multiple Tab-and-Slot Joint: Improvement of
the Rotational Stiffness for the Connection of
Thin Structural Wood Panels. World
Conference on Timber Engineering, Vienna,
Austria, August 22-25, 2016.
[9] Roche, S., Robeller, C., Humbert, L., and
Weinand, Y. 2015. “On the semi-rigidity of
dovetail joint for the joinery of LVL panels.”
European Journal of Wood and Wood
Products 73, 5: 667–675.
[DOI: 10.1007/s00107-015-0932-y]