IMITATIONS OF NATURE

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28822, 17 February 1959, Page 10

IMITATIONS OF NATURE

Principles In New Grandstand Imitations of nature were the principles of the engineering design of a luxury class of grandstand to seat 3500 members of the Auckland Racing Club. It was described by Mt H. E. Wallace as having several unique features when he presented a paper to yesterday’s conference of the New Zealand Institution of Engineers. Describing the spaced frame tubular-steel grandstand, Mr Wallace said members were seated in two galleries and had full overhead coverage. No pillars interfered with the view which was downwards on to the track and upwards to steeplechase hill. At the rear of the galleries all services and amenities, such as totalisators. dining rooms, lounges and bays, were housed in the equivalent of a five-storey building, served by three lifts and 10 staircases. Walls arid roof were clad in aluminium, the roofing being under the framework instead of above, thus giving birds no sheltered roosting places. >

The space frame consisted of breaking the structure into cells in imitation of honey combs. The use of tubes was based on the knowledge of the great strength of tubular bamboo. The joints were all concealed by allowing them to merge into each other, in the same manner as branches merged into tree trucks.

The tubes used varied in size from 18 inches to 1 inch in diameter and the wall thicknesses from 1 1-8 inches to 1-8 inch. More than 11 miles of steel tubing were used and the cost of tha stand was reckoned at over £lOO a member. *