Case Study
To make a bold statement above the Cone Bar and Deli in Schiphol Airport, interior designers Virgile and Stone had a vision for a translucent elliptical cone whose silhouette would emulate the tails of aircraft, while funnelling light into the retail area beneath. The 9m x 9m truncated cone was made from glass-reinforced resin less than 4mm thick and suspended from six attachment points at ceiling level. To prevent the shell from buckling under its own weight, Gurit used Finite Element Analysis to calculate the buckling margins and optimise the laminate orientations and locations of the support points.
