Hangzhou Tennis Center - Steel saving petals

Courtesy of NBBJ - CCDI

Rhino is part of another unique and distinctive design. This one focused on Grasshopper and taking advantage of parametric design.

NBBJ, in collaboration with CCDI for structural design, designed the Hangzhou Tennis Center.

One of NBBJ's goals was both environmental and cost-saving: to reduce the amount of steel used in the structure's envelope. They did so, now boasting a 67% steel savings over similar arenas.

Grasshopper was first used to generate an accurate logarithmic design for the shell. The generated double curve surfaces took a form of petals. Grasshopper was used for the model to convert the petals to structural elements.

The Hangzhou Tennis Center, located in Hangzou, China, is scheduled for completion in 2015-2016.

Arch20 featured the project on their web site as a study of computational design.