Salon Architects has appointed it to coordinate the design of structure, fa莽ade and mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineering. 鈥淥ur role is to simplify complexity to make the Museum buildable and to make it work for visitors, curators and the city itself for many decades.鈥� said Newtecnic CEO Andrew Watts.
The building, located in the Topkapi district, is currently under construction and due for completion in mid-2019.
Newtecnic had already had an involvement in the project since the early design stage. As part of its new role Newtecnic will optimise the fa莽ades, main structure and MEP of the design for fabrication, assembly and installation. The work will be carried out by Newtecnic offices in both the UK and US.
聽鈥淭he deceptively simple building envelope gives the appearance of being a solid mass that, through the provision of massive splits in the fa莽ade, invites visitors to explore the 8,000-year story of Istanbul as though they are entering an archaeological site,鈥� said the company.
Newtecnic鈥檚 US and UK based research and development teams have produced original algorithms to ensure the interrelated structural and MEP parameters of the building are fully examined, understood and optimised. This includes all building components, fabrications and assemblies, and their junctions, comprising the 100m-long museum.
The museum facades have been engineered by Newtecnic so that the building鈥檚 cantilevered floors appear to hover while the main building mass is detached above the glass walled ground floor. Lidar-equipped drones can be extensively used throughout the construction phase to monitor the accuracy of the as-built construction against its digital counterpart.
The triangulated and folded monolithic fa莽ade is designed to help take visitors on a journey through the city鈥檚 rich history. Within the 38,000m2 museum, natural transformations of light and shade are modulated using perforated metal veils that provide glare-free vision and efficient insulation against Istanbul鈥檚 extremes of temperature.
鈥淚t is very gratifying to be appointed to complete the designs that we initiated at the competition stage,鈥� said Watts. 鈥淏y blending enclosed exterior open-air rooms and exposed interior spaces the Museum will be an exciting place of discovery and learning.鈥�
Newtecnic will oversee the local construction of large high-performance metal facade panels and specially designed fixing assemblies.聽 Watts said: 鈥淭he use of additive manufacture and 3D printing of verified building components, in advanced on-site construction labs, means that this project could be delivered on time, within budget and to a very high-quality level.聽 Through extensive use of technology, we have achieved and surpassed all aesthetic and performance expectations.鈥�
The idea is that, for future maintenance, a Newtecnic Construction Lab will generate replacement fa莽ade components that are installed by robots and 鈥榗obots鈥� 鈥� collaborative robots.
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