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The MERO Spaceframe
In the late 1930's, a German entrepreneur, Dr Ing. Max Mengeringhausen (1903-1988), developed a method of recreating the structural methods used in the natural world into construction technology, enabling structures to be built with huge spans between supports, in a lightweight and economical yet strong way. In 1943, a company was setup under the name MEngeringhausen ROhrbauweise (translated as Mengeringhausen's tubular structures) producing the structures that Max had invented. In the "Stadt von Morgen" (City of the future) hall of the 1957 Berlin International Construction fair, Professor Karl Otto presented the construction shapes of the future, with MERO's construction methods being highly emphasised. Using individual hollow steel tubes connected together at points into steel balls (nodes), in a predetermined geometry, the MERO spaceframe pioneered a new method of construction, opening up a whole range of possibilities for construction. All loads onto the structure are taken at the node points, reducing structural issues of lateral loading and buckling of the tube members. By using bolted connections between tube and node, MERO's spaceframe system had the advantage of requiring no on-site welding during construction, and all components could be shipped in crates before being assembled on site, reducing transportation and packaging costs and also making the system ideal in hard to access site locations. Using bespoke geometry with the spaceframe system, complex domes, pyramids, and free form shapes could be developed. The simple idea behind the spaceframe geometry and construction methods enabled it to be easily adapted to other markets, and during the 1960's, the MERO spaceframe system was developed into the market areas of raised access floors and aircraft dock maintenance frames. With the patents to the MERO spaceframe construction system lapsing in the 1970's, rival companies were able to take full advantage of this unique method of construction. Today, many companies worldwide offer spaceframe construction systems based on the MERO tube and node method.
Notable MERO Spaceframe Structures
- Stockholm Globe Arena, Sweden - Dome with diameter of 110 m, (1989)
- National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, UK - 128x90m single span spaceframe roof (1990)
- The Eden Project, Cornwall, UK - Biome structures
- The Glasgow Science Centre, Glasgow, Scotland, UK - Exhibition Hall and 3D Cinema to the Building Design Partnership designed science park (2001)
External links
See also
Category:Construction and civil engineering companies of the United Kingdom Category:Construction and civil engineering companies
