Sheffield's Winter Garden by Pringle Richards Sharratt Architects is beautiful in its conceptual clarity and majestic in its expression of structure. It might even have been a fantastic example for Technology Studio in Year 3; as much as the mere recollection of Year 3 makes me shudder.
The flame-coloured laminated timber arches soar to some 20m high (or so I’m guesstimating). You see bulk. Firmitas; with a capital F. Yet the structure’s massiveness is tempered with elegance in the way each arch bows more humbly than the next. Not all of them are secured to the ground. There is an alternating rhythm. Perhaps this ingenious touch is what really brought out the clarity in the design. There is no visual clutter. Each arch is given space to breathe.
But when they do meet the ground, the steel joinery is exquisite. Thank goodness the architect didn’t simply shove them into rectangular steel boxes. Each footing is a robust armature custom designed to secure a pair of cross-braces on either side which in turn hold up a dual purpose circular steel beam – acting as a tie for all the arches and as supporting structure for the arches that don’t meet the ground.
Structural brilliance aside, it’s got a gentle form on the outside and fantastic space on the inside. Most delightful.
