For the design of this new bonobo enclosure in ZOO Planckendael, we made intensive use of Diamonds’ 3D structural analysis capabilities. This enclosure was designed by SFAR and built by Dillen Bouwteam. With a total surface area of 450m2, this is the largest building of its kind on European soil.
Bonobos are very social animals, and in the wild, they live in strongly varying groups. That is now perfectly possible in the new enclosure, which is divided into separate areas from which the bonobos can choose where to stay. Between the individual spaces, a winding pathway allows visitors to observe the animals in their natural habitat. Finally, besides a few technical rooms, this building also contains stables where the bonobos can be cared for and offices from which the ZOO Planckendael biologists can monitor the animals.
As a result, the interior space is rather complex. Whereas the offices are always limited to a single floor, the bonobos' living quarters extend over several floors. Furthermore, to ensure sufficient incidence of light in those living quarters, large openings were made on the green roof. And what makes it more complex - from a structural point of view - are the many level differences and the requirement to use as few columns as possible in the rooms that animals and visitors have access to.
The result is a 3D structural analysis model that - inside and out - looks like Swiss cheese. Because of the absence of columns and the irregular layout of the interior spaces, concrete walls and wide slab floors must optimally work together to ensure a sufficient load-bearing capacity. 3D structural analysis with Diamonds is, therefore, an absolute must.
In addition, recesses were provided in many places at the bottom of the wide slab floors to accommodate the attachment of light fittings. As a result, it can no longer be guaranteed that sufficient reinforcement steel can be placed everywhere. We, therefore, included those conditions in the Diamonds structural analysis model to determine where extra reinforcement should be placed. The same problem arises when ducts are to be installed into wide slab floors, which is often done to meet energy performance standards. Thanks to the possibilities offered by Diamonds to model various types of slabs (isotropic, orthotropic or load-bearing in 1 direction), we can easily include such recesses in our structural analysis models.
Finally, a word about the many steel floor grates in this new bonobo enclosure that ZOO Planckendael's biologists and keepers frequently use. We built detailed Diamonds models to estimate the deflection of these steel floor grates in serviceability limit state. Our primary design concern was to prevent biologists and keepers from feeling unsafe due to excessive deflections. Using the Diamonds analysis models, we can easily estimate the impact of adjustments to one of the supporting steel beams or the deployment of another type of grate. Thanks to the expressive Diamonds visualisations, we can easily communicate such impact to all stakeholders."
The great thing about Diamonds is that it’s an easy-to-use tool that enables you to analyse various structural designs. As we said before, we really like the BuildSoft products’ user-friendliness and BuildSoft’s top-notch customer service. We have been big fans since the 1990s, and that continues to be the case today!"
