Sherborne Gridshell

Xylotek undertook this exciting project involving renovating an English manor house for a private client. Tasked with designing, fabricating, and delivering a glazed gridshell that would form the entrance hall of the manor house.

The challenge was creating a structure that would perform optimally in structural terms while having a pattern that would 'node out' at the roof perimeter. To achieve this, Xylotek used an innovative approach, form-finding the gridshell's shape to meet structural and aesthetic requirements.

The gridshell is made of glue-laminated oak elements, with each lath having a unique double-curved geometry. The team carefully mapped out the shapes of each piece so that they could be formed from long finger-jointed oak lamellas through twisting and single-axis bending. The lamination was done on bespoke profiling jigs in Xylotek's Bristol workshop.

A full pre-assembly was carried out in the workshop to ensure a perfect fit in the surrounding steel frame. At this point, a 3D survey of the node points was conducted to form the geometric basis of the glazing penalisation.

The glazed envelope of the gridshell is made up of triangular high-performance double-glazing. Each panel is supported at its corners by stainless steel node clamps, which are carried by extensions of the bolts that hold the wood elements together at each crossing point. The glazing was detailed and installed by IPIG, a subcontractor to Xylotek.

The finished gridshell is a stunning example of Xylotek's timber detailing and fabrication expertise. Its unique double-curved geometry and triangular glazing panels create a visually striking entrance hall that complements the manor house's historic architecture.

Xylotek's use of finger-jointed oak lamellas and bespoke profiling jigs in the fabrication process minimised waste and optimised the use of materials. The result is a beautiful and functional structure and a sustainable one.