These last two weeks I have been working on a new project, a hangar that implements the use of “new wood” in the shape if an arc and it’s an idea Johan came up with years ago. New wood is a SIP (Structural insulated panel) material that consist of two outer layers of ply wood and an inner layer of polystyrene. This construction of these materials results in a light-weight material that insulates very well and has an appealing exterior that looks like solid wood.
Plans now are to make the hangar 6 meter wide and the length adjustable by 2.44 meters segments. The entire construction will be made of new wood, making it very light and insulated but also very quick and easy to build. The purpose of these hangars is to have a workshop that is quick to build and has plenty of space while being insulated. In addition to that the plan is to provide a workspace of these new wood hangars for student to work on projects. These project can be from working on planes to simply cars or even bike, anything is possible really.
For time being I have been focusing on designing the hangar in fusion and trying some new stuff and adding some touches and ideas. Such as work benches integrated in the walls and shelfs that fit the shape of the arc, I have also made beds and wall ideas this would allow the students to sleep in the hanger making it possible for them to work longer on their projects . I have also been busy researching the materials such as the different kinds of polystyrene or different kinds of plywood and how to make the hangar so thing like, how to bend the wood and the different ways to do so. The end for now goal is to make a scale model of the hangar that demonstrates the construction and gives a feel of how light is will be.
I have two ideas for making the arc for the hangar one is Johan’s original idea to bend the wood and foam and glue it together and the other, my idea is to assemble the parts and cut them in a way that it can bend. I still have to test which one of the ideas is better strength wise but also effort wise as the bending is harder and requires more materials such as moulds.