The Cloud, Auckland

THE CLOUD, AUCKLAND
PRESENTED BY:
DEVANSHI GHEEWALA
VIRTI SHAH
SHAILVI SHAH
DHRUVI VYAS
Architect: Jasmax
Structural Engineer: Wade Design Engineers
Convention center in Auckland, New Zealand
• The Cloud is a unique, modern structure that has quickly become a landmark
along Auckland’s waterfront.
• It was erected as a temporary structure to accommodate an inner-city fan
zone during Rugby World Cup 2011, and has since won a place in the hearts
of Aucklanders and visitors alike.
• At almost 180m long, the pillar-less exhibition floor can accommodate 120
3x3m booths, 900 people for a seated dinner, 4500 guests for cocktails and
works exceptionally well for large scale events.
• The Mezzanine room at the northern end of The Cloud is a beautiful room
for 200 guests for a meal with unparalleled view of the sea. It is the perfect
location for cocktail parties, meetings, receptions, dinners and weddings.
VIDYAMANDIR COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE SUB – ADV. STRUCTURE
North elevation
Located on Queens Wharf in downtown
Auckland, the $9.8m Cloud structure is unusual
for New Zealand
• At 178.5m long, this curvaceously-shaped ‘tent’ is sculpted in white PVC (roof), glass
(walls) and ‘super’ clear ETFE (walls and roof) and underpinned by a geometric steel
structure. Combining art and architecture, the form creates an exciting visual movement
along Queens Wharf, an area primarily dedicated to receiving cruise ships and tourists.
• The design works within its elongated harbourside location and has already generated a
persona of its own

South elevation
• The result is a repetitive structure of 30 identical truss frames, with several ‘individual’
elements at each end, pre-fabricated to speed up construction and installation.
• The twisted form is created by randomly altering the lengths of the legs of the
repetitive structure to build up the roof at varying intervals.
• The simplicity of the leg and truss structure creates a column-free rectilinear space,
ideal for housing exhibitions and large audiences, and dividable into three separate
event spaces, if required.
• As tensile fabrics don’t like to sit flat, by bowing the walls into the roof the fabric
follows its natural contours. Transparent ETFE side walls ensure that the building
touches very lightly on the wharf, creating its floating presence.
• The space is naturally ventilated and it seems to work well, maintaining a
comfortable temperature.
STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS
• Although far from looking symmetrical, a key to the Clouds
efficiency in fabrication, was the standardisation of all the
trusses. The Cloud’s organic form is achieved by varying the
columns length & angle.
• This was also important in fast tracking steel fabrication, so that
standard truss blanks could be fabricated while individual grid
shop drawings could be produced, showing all connection
cleats & details.
• Particular attention had to be made to sitting the building &
laying out of columns.
• The higher loads of the northern mezzanine end of the Cloud
proved very challenging to resolve, due to the limited loading
capacity of the 100+ year old wharf.
• In the mezzanine area, mezzanine columns had to be
coordinated with the wharfs own column layout, as the wharf’s
mid span capacity was not sufficient to carry some of the
resulting loads being generated by the Cloud in ultimate
earthquake scenarios.

MATERIALS
Main Roof – Ferrari – 1002 PVC
• The fabric was selected for its durability & self-cleaning properties.
• Mezzanine Roof & Walls – ETFE – Nowoflon
• Clear ETFE was selected for the walls as a light-weight alternative to glass. Clear &
fritted ETFE was used on the last two bays over the mezzanine floor to achieve a
sense of connection between the plush interior & the harbour.
• Vent Panels - Stainless Steel Mesh (SEFAR & Star Screens Australia)
• Woven 316 mesh with PVC keder edging was used to form ventilation panels above
door ways & incorporated into the highpoint of the southern elevation. (Supplied by
Star Screens Australia)
• SEFAR rigid welded 316 mesh was used to form the ventilation slot in the side eves
of the building.
• Structure - Steel
• All steel is finished in an Interthane 2 pot paint system.
• Powder coated aluminum fabric tensioning extrusions.
• Galvanised & stainless steel fixings.

FABRICATION
• Fabric – All PVC fabric membranes were completed in FSS’s
Whangarei workshop. FSS utilizes an Aeronaught plotter cutter, for the
cutting of fabric panels. With Ferrari’s T2 surface coating, all edges are
abraded prior to welding.
• Steelwork - Production of steel shop drawings proved to be a very
time consuming exercise due to the share number of individual
component pieces. To get a jump on steel fabrication standard truss blanks
were fabricated ahead of full shop drawings being completed. Once shop
drawings were issue the respective connection cleats could be quickly
added & then dispatched to the paint shop.

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THE CLOUD, AUCKLAND

VIDYAMANDIR COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE SUB – ADV. STRUCTURE

VIDYAMANDIR COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE SUB – ADV. STRUCTURE

VIDYAMANDIR COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE SUB – ADV. STRUCTURE

VIDYAMANDIR COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE SUB – ADV. STRUCTURE

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