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The Bio-based composite bridge is a 3TU project which aims to design and realize a 14m span pedestrian bridge made from fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP) and which is introduced in part 1 of this paper. Part 2 will focus on various studies about bio-based materials, which are suitable for structural applications: this includes bio-based resins, bio-based fibres, bio-based core materials as well as bio-based coatings. In order to understand the mechanical behaviour of different material combinations various tests (tension, compression, bending as well as moisture absorption) are carried out. In addition different production processes are evaluated to find the optimal technique for the selected design and material choices.

The Bio-based composite bridge is a 3TU project which aims to design and realize a 14m span pedestrian bridge made from fibre-reinforced polymers (FRP) that have a high percentage of bio-based content. The bridge will be installed over the river Domel, at the campus of the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands. The present paper investigates the design potentials and challenges of bio-based fibre-reinforced polymers, which is a relatively new material in architectural and structural bridge design. Along with the design possibilities of the material, the paper presents the entire design process followed from conceptual stage to detailing, focusing on the evaluation of different structural typologies and the optimization of selected geometry.

This paper presents a design for a topology-optimised concrete floor slab, of which the structural optimisation process is guided by manufacturability constraints from a vacuumatic formwork. Ihe design has been obtained using an open-source, tliree-dimensional topology optimisation algorithm. Traditional floor systems are cost-optimised but can have the disadvantage of being structirrally inefficient. Topology opthnisation allows for efficient material distribution, and thus a reduction in weight. Topology-optimised floors are typically regarded as being difficuft to produce, however, and cost too much to be considered in building designs. In order to reach a compromise between a low self-weight and low production costs, two features are included in the optimisation process. First, manlifacftirability is directly incorporated in the optimisation, rather than afterwards. Secondly, the highly malleable vacuumatic formwork system by Huijben [7] has been used as a premise. Its advantages may cause the formwork costs to be reduced considerably when producing floor slabs.

The integration of architectural (functional spaces) and structural design is especially crucial for the conceptual design of large multi-functional sports halls, due to the strict regulations for functional spaces, the requirement of large-span structure, and the complex interrelationships between these two aspects. This on-going research aims at developing a computational method to support this integration during the conceptual design of large sports hall. This paper proposes a parametric modelling process to support a design exploration which is an important part of the computational method. A typical and simplified large multi-functional sports hall is used as an example case to demonstrate this process.

This paper presents the development of a novel computational framework with which expert analysis knowledge can be captured, stored and dynamically retrieved when required to determine the performance of a building design with respect to user-defined requirements. By subdividing the engineer's and designer's knowledge into discrete steps, and storing these steps in a database along with a description of the context in which the knowledge is to be applied, a searchable knowledge base is created. Given a context consisting of a BIM model and one or more building requirements for which metrics are to be provided, the applicable knowledge can be iteratively retrieved from the knowledge base. Through computational reasoning an analysis is acquired as a chain of logically connected analysis steps. Foreseen benefits of use of the framework include safekeeping and disclosure of AEC expert's knowledge and automation of analyses without loss of analysis transparency.