JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #120 - April 2018 - 43

Building lnformation Modelling (BIM) will bring a paradigm shift in the construction industry

As planners, we have to take hold of
the reins of digitization ourselves.
It is time for a paradigm shift in the
construction industry. I would add
that coordination of approval process
is a somehow usual business for us.
Where do you see notable challenges
in the value chain in terms of research,
planning and construction?

B. P.: We are always facing the same
topic when it comes to load-bearing
structures and this is fire protection. In
our current textile concrete projects,
we experience a reluctance from the
executing companies to apply current
research in their construction work.
The transition of an application from
research into practice is lagging behind. Nobody wants to take the risk
of using innovative solutions. Furthermore, conventional procurement
procedures do not open the way for
constructive cooperation between the
different partners in the value chain.
As a planning office, we try to close
that gap.

dipl.-inG. boris peter

We consider it our responsibility to
translate between research and executive construction.
This is our strength. We often skip the
executing companies to create and use
new material combinations.
We conceive innovation as a kind of a
subversive act to stand up for the freedom of design.

However, traditional construction
methods are still predominant. Most
of the producers of prefabricated parts
we met are not motivated to do something apart from off-the-peg products.
We always attempt to explore the
boundaries, since we believe in progress and innovation.
Our sector must not confuse method
with innovation.
What are the main barriers to the
widespread use of composite structures
despite their outstanding advantages?

M. O.: Authorisation and approval
procedures are nowhere else as burdensome as in Germany, except France
perhaps.
Take again the example of our Pier 17
project in the US, a fabric construction with carbon fibres. If the scientific
tests are positive, we can go ahead.

Or take the example of bridge construction. In the Netherlands or other European countries, the number
of bridges made from glass fibre-reinforced plastics is extremely high due to
the positive properties of these materials like being non-corrosive, durable
and lightweight.
In the Netherlands, you will find thousands of flap bridges, in Germany only
a few.
The same with carbon concrete as a
new material that is not yet approved
for construction.
For the world's first and only carbon
fibre-reinforced concrete bridge in
Albstadt-Ebingen, we had to obtain
approval for that individual case
(ZiE - Zustimmung im Einzelfall).
More information:
www.knippershelbig.com

More information
Knippers Helbig Advanced Engineering is an internationally-operating consulting engineering practice with a
multidisciplinary team of civil and structural engineers, architects and façade engineers (around 70 staff members).
Knippers Helbig was founded in 2001 by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Knippers and Dipl.-Ing. Thorsten Helbig, who is now
running the company together with Dipl.-Ing. Boris Peter. In addition to the headquarters in Stuttgart, the company
has subsidiaries in New York City and Berlin.
The company's project portfolio encompasses a broad spectrum of very diverse buildings for various purposes, such
as schools, museums, airports, office buildings, shopping malls, art installations or bridges.
It has outstanding expertise in the use of a wide variety of materials and experience in creating innovative, integrated and sustainable engineering solutions, particularly with new materials such as membranes, glass fibre-reinforced plastics and ultra-high-strength concretes.

N°120 April 2018

/ jec composites magazine

Feature Building and Construction

We conceive innovation as kind of
a subversive act to stand up for the
freedom of design.

Restructuring the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, opera house in Berlin, the engineers have broken new ground
using the latest manufacturing techniques and innovative materials.
Copyright photo ©Marcus Ebener

http://www.knippershelbig.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #120 - April 2018