Beaver Vault

KVA designed a wooden sculpture to enhance the entry area of the Beaver Country Day School. The sculpture is made of a series of interlocking plywood blades that form a vault spanning from a centrally-located building column up to the ceiling. This light structure is given stiffness by twisting and bending the plywood, then locking the blades together.

The structural form was developed together with Knippers Helbig, which provided support with both the overall geometric concept as well as the structural performance of the blades. A parametric model was created for the design of the overall geometry to be able to consistently check if the mechanical requirements of the material and the connections are met. All the pieces were CNC milled from okoume plywood and assembled on site.