Steel and Stones Architectural & Environmental-Friendly ... · Concluding remarks • Gabions and...
Transcript of Steel and Stones Architectural & Environmental-Friendly ... · Concluding remarks • Gabions and...
Steel and Stones
Architectural & Environmental-Friendly Applications of
Maccaferri Wire Meshes
Contents
Introduction
Environmental aspects of steel wire mesh products
Architectural and aesthetic aspects of steel wire mesh products
Concluding remarks
Gabions and steel wire meshes products
Gabions and Mattresses are steel wire mesh boxes filled with rock in use since the early
1900s.
Shaped into retaining walls, foundations, and various forms, they are an ancient
environmentally friendly building method still in use worldwide.
Both functional and eye-catching.
Steel meshes modular units are typically used to form flexible, permeable and
monolithic structures such as retaining walls, river linings and erosion control structures.
Gabions and steel wire meshes products
They are also widely used
as landslide risk
mitigation solution.
Concept of Steel Reinforced Soil
Potential landslide
Concept of Steel Reinforced Soil
N
T
W
Concept of Steel Reinforced Soil
Concept of Steel Reinforced Soil
The intimate collaboration between
the compacted soil and the reinforcing
elements results in a “new” medium
identified as “reinforced soil” or
“reinforced earth”.
Steel meshes and Environment
Double twist steel wire products have shown an extraordinary capability to accommodate
the regeneration of the natural environment.
Gabions and Mattresses are filled with stones, which eventually provide favourable
conditions for the development of the vegetation.
Steel meshes and Environment
Gabions and Mattresses naturally blend in with the surrounding environment.
2000s1984
1994 2000s
Steel meshes and Environment
Wire mesh products have shown their suitability to restore natural ecosystems by
providing, at the same time, the engineering functions required to guarantee that
designed structures perform under safe conditions.
Carbon footprint of wire mesh products
A recent study demonstrates how the use of Gabions and Mattresses is a valid solution to
reduce the impact on climate change, having a lower carbon footprint than the one of the
equivalent traditional engineering solutions such as concrete walls or riprap revetments.
AT LEAST
80 % LESS
EMISSIONS
THAN
CONCRETE
Steel meshes and Architecture
Gabions and steel mesh products have also a rich
worldwide history for their use as architectural
elements.
They have been selected by landscape architects
and other professionals demanding a high-quality
construction finishing.
Steel meshes and Architecture
Architects of residential and urban constructions make increasing use of Gabions as a way
of cladding facades.
Coimbra Forum Building (Portugal)
Gabions are here used as landscaping walls, either retaining or part retaining / part free
standing or totally free standing.
Besides the aesthetic values, isolating properties and small scale natural habitat function
are assets of Gabions facades.
Coimbra Forum (Portugal)
The multi-purpose Gabion wall:
A well-constructed Gabion wall can provide an intimate and reflective area offering sound
proofing, privacy and beauty.
Hotel Chaves (Portugal)
A Gabion made facade was suspended from the insulated and sealed shell as a non-load-
bearing structure.
Hotel Chaves (Portugal)
Rock filled Gabion units are popular as cladding on buildings and other structures, to
provide a natural looking aesthetic feature.
Hotel Chaves (Portugal)
Main reason for the use of Gabions in facades and cladding is of course, the aesthetics.
It can truly be a piece of art. It is a fantastic way for an architect to make name for himself.
Other projects
Private College building (France)
Other projects
Public and recreation areas projects
The only limit is the imagination:
The applications for landscape structures is
endless and is only limited by the
landscape architects creativity in the use of
the mesh or Gabions.
Public and recreation areas projects
Parc Dondaines (France)
Public and recreation areas projects
Escota Manosque (France)
Other projects
Gabions can be used also as non-structural lining for cut slope and soil nailing facing.
Other projects
Earth Center Conference building (Spain)
The building that Grows (France)
The Building that Grows is a rare encounter between architect and developer in the field of
desires.
The desire was for something different, material, purposeful, pleasurable, ephemeral and
meaningful.
The concept of living skin merging rocks, steel wire and concrete has been created with
this project.
The building that Grows (France)
The building grows. Slowly. Its skin has become a kind of mini-ecosystem. The water
collects in the interstices, algae forms and then dies, mosses grow and herbs colonize the
resulting compost.
The Building that Grows (France)
The project was used in a campaign for architectural quality by the French Ministry of
Culture and Communication.
Concluding remarks
• Gabions and steel mesh products are historically used for civil and environmental
engineering purposes as retaining structures and landslides risk remedial solution
• Gabions and steel mesh products have an extraordinary capability for regenerating
the natural environment and can easily blend in with the surroundings
• Rock filled Gabion units are popular as cladding on buildings and other structures, to
provide a natural looking aesthetic feature
• Gabions and steel mesh products can be used by designers and architects as
landscaping walls, either retaining or totally free standing
• The use of wire mesh solutions leads to reductions in terms of CO2 emissions if
compared to traditional solutions (e.g. concrete walls)
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Matteo Lelli – [email protected]
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