Gabions in Architecture
30/01/2012
TRIED AND TRUSTED GABIONS SHOW A BRIGHT NEW FACE
After over 100 years doing sterling service in its usual job as a functional, efficient means of retaining earth embankments, the ubiquitous Gabion is now experiencing something of a renaissance in construction and has found a new aesthetic role in the world of architecture and landscape.
Stone filled, wire-basket gabions are traditionally used in construction projects to provide low-cost, easy to construct retaining walls for embankment stabilisation, earth retention, river-bank protection and general ground-works applications.
Their substantial physical mass and flexible composition means that gabion walls can accommodate severe differential settlement. Their un-bound stone infill also prevents the build-up of damaging hydrostatic pressures behind the wall and, because of these qualities; engineers throughout the world have made gabions their retaining wall, solution-of-choice.
More recently, architects and landscape designers have come to recognise the visual qualities of stone filled Gabions and have added them to their aesthetic palette. As a consequence, the use of Gabions as decorative cladding and landscape screening has taken off with a number of high profile projects making excellent use of the medium.
In Worcestershire, Architects, Howl Associates incorporated an array of sweeping, free-standing Gabion walls in the design of the new Kidderminster Crematorium for Client, Dignity Funerals Plc.
Here, the building’s curved geometry is defined by ‘thick’ rendered walls beneath large over-sailing roofs that provide covered areas for visitors to the chapel. To direct people around the building a series of ‘external rooms’ was created using 2700mm high, free standing Gabion walls that also help to define views both into and from the building.
Architect Phil Howl explains his design philosophy. “We wanted the high curved walls to contrast with the walls of the building and provide a robust, textured appearance. Stone filled gabions provided an ideal solution and their required structural thickness also continued the thick wall theme of the main building”. The gabion walls also incorporate strategically placed window-like apertures to add a sense of distance and perspective to the wider landscape setting.
Maccaferri Construction, who supplied and installed the Gabions, provided essential design and structural guidance on foundations, internal support columns and advice how the curved geometry could be achieved economically. They also helped with the selection of the stone, which was chosen after a rigorous appraisal of available types and colours, to ensure an appropriate match with the few stone buildings in Kidderminster
“Ensuring that the face stones were carefully placed within the Gabion baskets was very important for the required visual effect and Maccaferri has achieved an excellent dry stone wall appearance”. ” added Phil Howl.
The chosen stone, which needed to be accommodated within a constrained budget, addressed ‘end of life’ sustainability criteria for this BREEAM rated building, as it can readily be reused.
At BBC Wales’ new Roath Lock studios at Porth Teigr in Cardiff Bay, a huge, slender free-standing Gabion wall – thought to be the biggest in the UK - has been built to screen the site from its surroundings, and to provide an acoustic barrier to enable the filming of flagship BBC programmes such as Dr Who, Casualty, Upstairs Downstairs and the BBC’s longest running TV drama Pobol y Cwm, to take place in external filming areas.
The new studios are BBC Wales’ drama centre of excellence and are linked to the BBC’s commitment to double its production spend outside London. This completely new centre has been constructed on reclaimed land alongside the docks.
Here, VINCI Construction UK Limited was the main contractor for the £10million Roath Lock project which is part of a wider £30million redevelopment scheme.
As part of planning conditions, a 126m long, 6.5m high ‘green wall’ was required to screen the village from the public view and provide acoustic protection. Both architect and client were keen to use Gabions as the structural medium to create a ‘cliff face’ appearance using locally sourced sandstone paving off-cuts as the infill material.
Vertical features in the wall were created using structural steel columns clad with timber and different colours of stone were placed in the Gabions to form distinctive horizontal bandings and enhance the natural, cliff-face aesthetic. The top of the gabion wall was then planted with coastal plant species and with ivies at the base so the wall vegetates as it matures.
VINCI Construction UK Limited were keen to use an experienced installer to construct the wall and Maccaferri Construction was brought in at an early stage to provide technical assistance to the landscape architect, LDA Design and the designer, Bay Associates.
In the historic city of Edinburgh, the University’s Charteris Land Building recently received a striking external makeover care of an innovative use of thin walled Gabion cladding
Locally based Architects, Lewis & Hickey Ltd, chose the system to create an unusual but environmentally sympathetic external cladding to the original concrete facade.
The Gabion walls form a non load-bearing external leaf, secured to the block-work inner leaf using a system of bolts and whalers, and are up to 6.4m high in places. At 300mm thick they are narrower than conventional gabions [usually 1000mm] and were hand filled with locally sourced red basalt to be in keeping with the building’s surroundings.
The Charteris Land Building is located in the heart of Edinburgh Old Town near the Flodden Wall and close to the Scottish Parliament Buildings at Holyrood. Consequently, The City Planning Department wanted a finish that would be appropriate to the local heritage.
The stone facing provides a fresh modern feel but with a colour and visual texture that sits well with the surrounding architecture and the treatment has been very well received.
Maccaferri is known as the inventor of the modern Gabion, and has held the original patent since the 1890s. Today's Maccaferri Gabion is a rectangular wire mesh box, nominally 2.0mx1.0mx1.0m, made from double twisted hexagonal mesh of steel wire.
These mesh boxes are delivered to site flat-packed, where they are assembled and filled with stone Their modular nature means that they can be used in a wide range of applications and configurations and the woven units can also be easily altered on site and shaped to suit project requirements. For Architectural applications such as cladding and free standing walls, a more rigid welded wire mesh is typically specified.
Despite more than 100 years of familiarity with the Gabion, it is encouraging to see that new and highly original uses are still being found for this simple, functional, ecologically sound and visually appealing product.
