Centro de Arte Moderna Gulbenkian | Kengo Kuma and associates

The museum occupies a garden site in Lisbon alongside a library and a scientific research centre that together form the campus of the Fundaçao Calouste Gulbenkian. The new museum building fosters smooth and open connections with the garden surroundings. The museum building was designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, and Buro Happold was responsible for engineering design of the sweeping roof structure, a focal point of the project.

Kengo Kuma & Associates proposed to introduce a canopy inspired by the Japanese engawa, creating a new transition space between the CAM Gulbenkian and the park beyond. Buro Happold was commissioned to provide structural engineering for the concept and scheme design phase. Translating the architectural vision of a roof that seems to float on a series of columns into a stable and buildable engineering design was the main challenge. The free-standing canopy structure is approximately 100m long by 15m wide and consists of a gently curved rigid plate supported by two rows of columns. For the area adjacent to the entrance, a second curved roof plate was devised to cover a wider area. To achieve the impression of a floating roof, very slender steel-blade columns were designed and paired to form a V-shape.

With slender columns pinned on both ends of the roof, the structural system relies on the simplest and most minimal load path. Stability in both directions for the roof is provided by the front row of short V-shaped columns, which allow the slender columns to sway and move more freely. Buro Happold suggested the construction of bespoke timber box sections and fabricated steel beams to realise a rigid, light plate of uniform depth. This solution enables an economic structure that is carefully tuned to prevent long term deflections, especially at the lower free edge—a linearity that is critical for the overall appearance of the canopy.

Architect: Kengo Kuma & Associates
Structural Engineering: Buro Happold
Landscape Architect: Vladimir Djurovic