Henning Larsen and Volvo are working on the design of a new consumer-facing experience center called The World of Volvo ahead of its debut early next year in the automaker’s hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Henning Larsen computational designer Leonardo Castaman recently explained on LinkedIn some details related to the project team’s seven-step process using the Kangaroo and Galapagos plugins on Grasshopper to create the wooden superstructure of the 236,800-square-foot building.

The design incorporates computer-fabricated glulam beams and columns with locally-sourced CLT floor slabs. The materials were selected to promote a circular economy in line with the philosophical notion of “Allemansrätten,” a Swedish concept that essentially translates to “leave nothing behind.” 

Castaman describes his workflow on the project as follows:

1. First, the plane over which the roof geometry is generated needs to be informed/optimized with #Galápagos (grasshopper plugin) to have its inclination follow the building.
2. The shape of the roof is generated from 6 profile curves, that were design-driven and optimized to keep certain heights across the building.
3. The base surface is then “relaxed” with #kangaroo (grasshopper plugin) to have a smooth geometry.
4. The structural logic is then applied, starting with the subdivision of the façade circle according to the desired glass panel sizes.
5. The façade points are projected to each of the 3 core circles, or tree trunks, which vary in radius but are equidistant to the geometric center point. This is what makes the transition between beams seamless at the ridge beams.
6. The points at the 3 core circles are then projected to the base in the Z-axis to create the columns and the full 3D geometry is generated.
7. Throughout the development of the structure, many options were tested, for example, adding columns at certain locations or tapering the columns at the base. The final geometry has varying depths and heights of beams, but the same fillet radius of 3 meters.

The firm expects work to conclude by the early spring of next year. More information about the project can be found here.