Inspired by large sculptures in the countryside and the rocky outcrops of the nearby Dartmoor moors, The Hux Shard - as seen on Channel 4’s Grand Designs - offers a striking, geometric appearance and provided structural engineers, TWP Consulting Engineers, with a significant challenge. Having been a Tekla user for 6 years, TWP once again turned to its trusted Tekla Structural Designer software for help in bringing the client and architect’s dramatic vision to life.
With the building’s geometric architecture inspired by Dartmoor’s wild granite tors, The Hux Shard’s exterior walls are formed of 34 shard-shaped sculptural panels, set in a jagged 70 metre line following the contours of the hill on which the property stands. It is the combination of these immense-sized shards and the exposed rural landscape that was perhaps one of the key challenges behind the project, with TWP Consulting Engineers appointed as the structural engineers on the project.
Based in Exeter, TWP, a structural and civil engineering consultancy, was tasked with engineering both the property’s superstructure and substructure, from the foundations and floor plates to the primary timber frame, supporting steel connections and exterior shards.
Speaking about the project, Nick Drew, Director at TWP said: "At TWP, we work on a wide range of projects, from simple extensions to multi-million pound commercial and industrial projects, as well as even a few art sculptures, with Tekla’s range of engineering software at the core of their delivery. This project, The Hux Shard, was certainly a fascinating and an ambitious one, with a significant reliance on the engineering principle to create and bring the vision to life."
