Japanese architect Arata Isozaki won the Pritzker Prize in 2019, the most highly regarded award in the world of architecture. Since the 60’s, Isozaki has been showing outstanding innovative ideas in his works. The 87-year-old architect boasts multiple built projects of different scales all over the world — from Tokyo and Shanghai, to Barcelona and Qatar. Despite designing buildings both inside and outside Japan, Isozaki has been described as an architect who refuses to be stuck in one architectural style, highlighting “how each of his designs is a specific solution born out of the project’s context”.
© Nelson Garrido. ImageQatar National Convention Centre
Qatar Convention Centre
For this particularly challenging project, Victor Buyck Steel Construction took care of the steel structure of the entrance hall. At 300 m long, 30 m wide and about 30 m high, the entrance hall is the main attraction of the 65,000 m² Qatar Convention Centre in Doha. It is in fact a large steel roof, supported by 4 gigantic tree structures of 8 m diameter at its base.
Image courtesy of Hisao Suzuki
The trees have the shape of the sidra tree or lotus tree, which the local Islamic population considers sacred. For the construction of the trees, Victor Buyck chose an internal supporting structure, consisting of octagonal pyramidal tubes composed of heavy plates. Around this, a total of no less than 4,000 mostly double-curved steel plates were fitted. The roof structure was pre-assembled on the ground and lifted using strand jacks.
Image courtesy QNCC
About the Author:
Bruno Dursin – Managing Director at Believe in Steel. Bruno has more than 30 years of experience in promoting steel & steel solutions. His clients benefit from his extensive network within the building industry.
