The Savill Garden gridshell: design and construction

The paper describes the design and construction of the roof and supporting structures to the Savill Building. The structure is a timber gridshell, a technique described in detail in previous papers1,2. The timber for the Savill Building was harvested from the surrounding woodland. The form of the roof was derived from a simple geometric shape; the analysis and design checks were carried out using the Eurocode.

Construction details and process, which developed from the techniques established on earlier buildings, are described.

Prof. Richard Harris BSc, CEng, FIStructE, FICE, MIWSc
Professor of Timber Engineering/Technical Director, University of Bath / Buro Happold

Steve Haskins BSc, CEng, MIStructE
Director, Engineer HRW

Jonathan Roynon MEng, CEng, MIStructE, MSt (Cantab)
Associate Director, Buro Happold